In the valley of Alconbury Brook, near Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire, lies Brampton Racecourse SSSI, which survives as a result of a combination of local interest in natural history and the establishment of a racecourse. This led to the preservation of one of the best examples of unimproved lowland hay meadow in Cambridgeshire, and here Pat Doody describes the history of Brampton Racecourse, its conservation and management, and the vegetation that the site is known for.
I have written before on the loss of lowland herb-rich hay meadows along the River Great Ouse in Cambridgeshire (BW 31: 352–358), while, in the parish of Brampton, I described the problems associated with follow-up management of a small remnant of Brampton Meadow SSSI (BW 28: 24–29).