Throughout the autumn, visitors will notice flowers (green with yellow anthers) on the ivy plants which cover some of the trees across the site. The flowers secrete abundant nectar, providing an important, late food source. Later, the flowers develop into black berries which are eaten by many birds.
Common Ivy Hedera helix
As October progresses, the evenings are becoming shorter. British Summer Time ends on Sunday 25th October at which point sunset will be at 16:45 and will get progressively earlier over the following weeks. In line with this, the car park closing time will move to 17:00 (5:00 pm) starting on Monday 26th October. This will stay in place until mid-February next year.
It’s important that all visitors leave the car park promptly. There are clear signs as you drive on to the site indicating the current closing time. Opening and closing the car park gate is done each morning and evening by a dedicated group of volunteers. In the evenings, whoever is locking up will always check to see if vehicles are still in the car park. When that occurs, they will spend a short time looking round to see whether anyone is nearby before locking the gate. However, we do not expect our volunteers to spend extra time waiting for owners to return to their cars. Once the gate is locked, you will not be able to retrieve your vehicle until the following morning. The car park will be unlocked by 08:00 (8:00 am).
You can always check the News page on the website for the latest opening and closing times.