About the reserve

The Dillay Brook runs through the valley bottom and access is from a track from Slad village. The reserve is fenced with stiles and gates and is grazed by Dartmoor ponies. There is an old derelict building known as the Old Shop at the northern end. All that remains is a walled enclosure and pile of stones. The limestone grassland supports early purple, fragrant and pyramidal orchids as well as autumn gentian, vervain and clustered bellflower. The scrub areas includes dog-rose, field-rose, hawthorn, dogwood and there are wayfaring-trees. alder, white willow, ash and hazel grow along the edges of the stream. Whitethroat, marsh tit, skylark, tree pipit and grey wagtail are some of the birds recorded at the reserve. There are good populations recorded of small blue, marbled white and green hairstreak butterflies.