HABBERLEY Valley local nature reserve is a location many of us choose to visit over the summer holidays to take in the beauty of the landscape, enjoy an easy stroll and relax in the countryside away from the strife of modern life.

What makes Habberley Valley an appealing place to visit is the number of different habitats and landscapes this nature reserve possesses despite covering a relatively small area.

There are areas of dark and shady ancient woodlands which have an almost spooky feel.

There are lush, deep green woods of bilberry and meadows of scorched brown acid grasslands. These have feathery stems of wavy hair grass and remnant patches of purple flowering heather.

Another habitat at Habberley which, as far as I know, is unique in the district but unfortunately cannot be visited, is the upper reaches of the 120ft Ridgestone Rock.

The plants that make up the community here include the deep shocking pink flowers of the cross-leafed heather which crowns the massive and impressive rock face.

Growing among this is the small, delicate and beautiful, spring hair grass. Trees cling to the rock with twisted gnarled roots.

There are three main tree species. Oaks grow the fastest and hence live the most perilous lives.

These trees fight a constant battle against gravity and, once they have grown so large that their roots can no longer find enough perches to support their mass, their lives end in a cataclysmic fashion, as the trees tumble into the wooded valley below.

Yew trees, with their slower growth and spreading roots, seem to fare better. There are some which seem to be almost taunting the mighty force of gravity as they lean perilously over the rock into the abyss below.

The third tree, the wild service tree, is quite a shock to find.

This tree is usually associated with ancient woodland on clay-type soils but here you find it growing in heathland conditions and it is found locally in abundance.

Wild service trees in the Wyre Forest district are reaching the limit of their range and are only able to reproduce from suckers.

Therefore, this small scattering of trees may well be the last descendants of a group of trees which lives in the Habberley area from times when most of the Wyre Forest district was one large forest.

Even if it is difficult to visit areas like this, it is still a comforting thought that, even in a densely populated area, wildlife has found a way.

We find that a fragment of our ancient natural history has managed to struggle by on this harsh cliff face found at Habberley Valley's Ridgestone Rock.