We’re pleased to announce the nature reserve, visitor centre, toilets and shop at Brandon Marsh will reopen for both members and non-members after our recent building works on Friday 12th July.
The café is undergoing some final pieces of work and we will announce its reopening on our social media and website, so please keep checking for updates.
Once re-open, the café’s opening days will be Wednesday - Sunday whilst we complete training for our new staff and volunteers. We will open seven days a week once all staff and volunteers are fully trained.
The final building works are now taking place in the barn and the classroom, so the mud kitchen will remain closed whilst these works are completed in the adjacent buildings.
Closures at Brandon Marsh
Temporary closures of our visitor centre and nature reserve at Brandon Marsh
We’d like to update you on building works that will be taking place at Brandon Marsh through to the summer, which will mean periods of disruption during this time.
Here’s a summary of what is happening and when:
May – Our head office building will be closed during May, and you’ll see fencing and signage in place to keep visitors, staff and volunteers away from the works. There will be no disruption to members or visitors accessing the rest of the site during this time, the cafe, visitor centre and toilets will be open, so enjoy the beautiful month of May at Brandon Marsh!
June – The visitor centre building including the café, shop, and toilets will be closed throughout June to allow us to complete building upgrade works. Warwickshire Wildlife Trust members will be able to access the nature reserve only through the members’ gate using the access code, however we will not be able to welcome non-members or members of other Wildlife Trusts in June due to the lack of facilities and staff presence.
July – We hope to re-open the visitor centre, cafe, shop, and toilets on 8th July and we will be looking forward to welcoming our members and visitors back to Brandon Marsh. A small section of the site including the barn, classroom, mud kitchen, education garden and pond will be closed for a few weeks during July for upgrade works, however this will have limited impact on the majority of visits.
What's happening and why?
Over the last two years, a huge amount of work has taken place to plan upgrades to the whole site at Brandon, including installing a sustainable, greener, heating system that will make sure the buildings are warm and comfortable for our members, visitors, volunteers, and staff. We will be undertaking the infrastructure upgrade project throughout May, June, and July.
Along with many other organisations, we have become more conscious of our own impact on the environment as we carry out our work. As an environmental organisation, we have an even greater responsibility to lead from the front in taking measures to reduce our carbon footprint. Our previous heating system relied on biomass heating technology that at the time of install, nearly 20 years ago, was the most innovative and sustainable solution available to the Trust. This system has finally reached end of life, and we will be installing air source heat pumps as part of our commitment to reducing carbon emissions. Transition to clean and sustainable energy sources is a priority for the Trust and has been a central principle throughout this project.
The buildings at Brandon are now over 30 years old and need some additional love and care, which will also help to reduce our carbon emissions as well as creating a better environment for our members and visitors to experience. This work includes upgrades to insulation, radiators, and pipework to ensure that our heating system is the most efficient and cost effective it can possibly be. We will also be installing accessible automatic doors at the entrance and exit to the visitor centre as part of our ongoing commitment to improving accessibility for our visitors.
The works will take place at head office in May, the visitor centre in June and the barn and classroom in July, and during this time each building will be closed so they can be upgraded and refurbished. There will be some disruption to our public facing services, volunteer, and staff access to Brandon Marsh Nature reserve during this time, most notably throughout June.
We know that Brandon means a lot to our members, visitors and volunteers, and that disruptions of this nature can be very difficult. We hope that you will bear with us during these improvements and support the Trust’s commitment to reducing the carbon footprint of our buildings in line with our carbon reduction strategy.