GeoGraph - photograph every grid square

Grendon Wood

Grendon Wood is a close-packed mature broadleaved wood of about 21 hectares, predominantly oak, with ash, field maple, aspen and birch. This wood, together with the larger Doddershall Wood which adjoins it to the south, and the smaller Lee Wood to the east, is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The woods have long been known as a site of exceptional importance for butterflies of which no less than 35 species, some now very rare, have been recorded. The River Ray runs south-east to north-west through the wood.

A part of these woods was within the medieval hunting Great Forest of Bernwood, see SP7221 : Finemere Wood. The woods are part of the estate of Doddershall House which is 2.5km to the south-east, SP7120 : Entrance, Doddershall House. The village of Grendon Underwood is 1.5km to the south-west. The name Grendon means 'green hill', and the addition of Underwood is believed to signify its vicinity to the forest of Bernwood.

This is a ride that runs in a straight line from the north-west edge of the wood, which is just behind the camera, to the south-east edge, a distance of 500m. The trees and bushes on this side of the ride are very dense with no paths or breaks. In other parts of the wood, there has been some felling and replanting.