File:Duchie's Piece, Aldbury Nowers Nature Reserve - geograph.org.uk - 1347745.jpg

• Duchie's Piece is on the south side of Aldbury Nowers and is bisected by an ancient track which is now part of the Ridgeway National Trail http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/ridgeway/ .
• It is managed by the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust http://www.wildlifetrust.org.uk/herts/ and is part of the National Trust Ashridge Estate http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-ashridge .
• Duchie's Piece is the small grass area below the woodland to the left of 1345079.

The following information comes from notice boards on the site:

Duchie's Piece, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, is a fine example of chalk grassland and is renowned for its butterflies. In 1991 this particular site became protected as a nature reserve and was presented to the Queen Mother to honour her 90th birthday.

CHALK GRASSLAND.

The most important habitat here is the special mixture of wild flowers and grasses called chalk grassland. Many of these plants are now rare in the countryside and their flowers are often small and overlooked. Within a square metre of turf there can be over forty species of wild flower. Typical species include the yellow flowers of cowslip, the small purple flowers of common milkwort, small yellow spikes of lady's bedstraw, and later in the year the blue flowers of clustered bellflower. These plants flourish in short grassland in open sunny conditions and some will only grow on chalk. For many years this area was not grazed by sheep and this allowed the grass to crowd out the flowers; trees and bushes quickly moved in overshading and smothering the chalk grassland. Since becoming a nature reserve sheep have been reintroduced to help conserve the grassland. Some shrubs are gradually being removed but these have their own interest and include a variety of chalk-loving species such as whitebeam and warfaring tree. A careful balance is being struck between areas of scrub and open grassland.

BUTTERFLIES.

The area here is often mentioned as the best site in Hertfordshire for butterflies. Over half of all the British butterfly species have been recorded here and it is the last place in Hertfordshire where the rare Duke of Burgundy butterfly still survives. More obvious but still an unusual species is the marbled white, it reaches its peak in August. The purple flowers of thistles are often good places to watch the variety of butterflies found here, as they feed on the nectar. Common ones may include red admiral, small tortoiseshell, brimstone and painted lady. The grazing favours some types of butterfly but the management has to be carefully monitored so as to benefit the wide range of wildlife that lives here.

CHALK GRASS RESTORATION Its been over a year since the restoration work on the chalk grassland at Aldbury Nowers started. There is already a noticeable difference in the amount of bramble and scrub within the grassland with regular winter cutting and grazing keeping this under control. Patches of thistle in the newly scraped areas will be cut in order to reduce their spread and allow the less competitive chalk grassland flowers to colonise. Quadrats in each compartment are being monitored to assess how the grassland regenerates over time, which is an important part of the restoration project. Plants to look out for include rock rose, wild strawberry, harebell, St John's wort, wild thyme and agrimony.

Large amounts of blackthorn scrub and dogwood were removed from this enclosure, together with piping being installed to provide water to troughs for the sheep. Management work in this enclosure includes: Pulling Hungarian spurge, a non-native invasive plant. Topping thistles in the areas where scrub was cleared.