The RSPB are delighted to have accepted the land known as Lade Pits from building materials supplier CEMEX UK. Lade Pits is a restored gravel quarry covering 70 hectares and is located next to RSPB Dungeness Nature Reserve in Kent. The site was handed over to the RSPB this year, which will allow the RSPB to give nature a home on a site that previously produced over four million tonnes of sand and gravel for local construction projects.

Lade Pits is a unique site and is equipped with three Sound Mirrors, which are large concrete structures used as an early warning system to listen out for enemy aircraft coming over the English Channel between 1928 and 1935. However, at the start of World War II, the Sound Mirrors became redundant due to the technological advances of radar and subsequently the structures were soon abandoned. They are still, however, an iconic feature on the South Kent coastline and attract much attention from the public, artists and film companies.

The team at RSPB Dungeness are looking forward to the future at Lade Pits, where they will be working closely on habitat management to improve the site for wildlife and working with the local community to develop the site as an area for peaceful enjoyment of nature. The RSPB are also currently developing plans on how members of the public who wish to experience and learn more about the Sound Mirrors can access the site.

RSPB Dungeness is the organisation’s oldest reserve and home to an array of wildlife. Huge flocks of wintering waders and summer swifts visit Dungeness every year – there is always something to see! The reserve is also home to a wide of insects, with the reserve playing host to the recently reintroduced short-haired bumblebee.

RSPB Dungeness is a fantastic and unique nature reserve and can be visited all year round. There is always something different to see as the seasons change; from the waders and ducks filling our lakes in the winter to a variety of wild flowers colouring the reserve with deep purples and bright yellows in the spring.

Photo credit: Tim Webb