THE future of wildlife at a Bromyard beauty spot looks bright following a boost of lottery funding.

Thanks to a grant of £165,550 from Heritage Lottery Fund, the Bromyard Downs Common Association and Herefordshire Wildlife Trust can bring to life plans to safeguard the future of the Downs.

Spanning 114 hectares and reaching 700 feet, the Downs is a key landmark and home to an array of species, including the increasingly rare bullfinch and adder.

The plans aim to boost visitor numbers and create a wide area of well-managed habitat stretching from Bromyard, through Brockhampton Estate and on to Bringsty Common.

Training days will equip volunteers with skills and training needed to carry out a range of essential practical work, including ecological surveys.

This work will help to reverse the decline of the landscape and its wildlife to ensure the Downs remains a haven for finer and rarer species as well as the more common flora and fauna that thrives there.

Project manager, Hannah Welsh, said: “Just last week we had more than 30 volunteers including the senior section of the Guides out on the Downs for a big litter pick as part of the Big Community Clean Up weekend. It was great to see the community coming together to help preserve the Downs for people and wildlife.”

There has been little to no grazing on the Downs for years but the project will reintroduce traditional breeds of sheep and cattle to temporary fenced areas to help manage the area.

The money will also help fund research in to the history of the Downs. Working with the National Trust, archaeological investigations will look into the Downs’ long-gone racecourse and a fabled Second World War Mercian bunker.

As part of the project, Brockhampton Academy will be used as a base for an educational resource created to inspire the next generation of custodians of Bromyard Downs.