Aldridge Triangle

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The area known as Aldridge Triangle was once a gravel pit when the village was responsible for the maintenance of roads within the Parish Boundary. John Aldridge purchased it in 1952 and gradually filled it in with road rubble. On the 1788 Davis map the area is marked “Cock Pit”

 

In 1979 John Aldridge gave the freehold to the village, with the Parish Council as Trustees, for it to be used as a village amenity area.  In 2012 the triangle was dedicated in celebration of the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II as a public open space for the benefit of the inhabitants of Benson and thereabouts and the site was titled the Queen Elizabeth II Field, Aldridge Triangle.

 

In 2014 BNG, named BEST at the time, was given approval to develop a part of the triangle as a wild flower area to encourage pollinating insects and highlight the importance of these insects. The current management includes cutting the vegetation in late summer and removing the material, in order to reduce the nutrient in the soil, together with some limited introduction of flower seeds and plants.

 

There is some evidence of the positive effect of this management especially with increased coverage of flowering bulbs in early spring.