Gilmorton Cricket club

The cricket club at Gilmorton doubles as a proper nature reserve, which is the sort of thing you'd miss entirely if someone didn't point it out. It's near Lutterworth, in that part of Leicestershire that doesn't make it onto many tourist radars, but that's rather the point.

What you're actually looking at here is grassland and scrub habitat - the kind of place where local wildlife enthusiasts get genuinely excited about breeding birds and wildflower management. The club maintains these grounds with conservation in mind, so it's not just manicured cricket pitches. You'll find nesting opportunities for ground-breeding species, and the less intensively managed areas attract insects and small mammals that most caravan parks never come near.

This works best for birders and anyone interested in how sports facilities can do proper ecological work. Kids won't find it thrilling for long unless they're already into spotting and identifying. It's more the sort of quiet stop you'd make on a walk around the area rather than a destination in itself.

Access and facilities are unclear from what's available, so it's worth ringing ahead before turning up. If you're based at Rosemarie Caravan Site just down the road, or anywhere else nearby like Valley View Escapes, it's a lovely excuse for a gentle afternoon wander. Go during breeding season - late spring through early summer - if you want to see the habitat actually doing what it's designed for. Bring binoculars, expect to see very little at first, then suddenly spot something that makes it worthwhile.