Tetney Blow Wells

21st May 2007

Tetney Blow Wells is a nature reserve that is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest. It is usually not open to the public. The images on this page were taken during the 2007 Lincolnshire Wolds Walking Festival, one of the rare instances that the gates were open. It's not difficult to see why it is normally closed: the reserve contains a number of areas of deep water, which feature bold signs forbidding swimming and outlining the dangers of drowning, entrapment, or contracting Weil's disease. It's not the kind of place that would be safe for families with small children to visit on a regular basis.

However, this relative isolation has allowed nature to thrive here. Pictured below is a cardinal beetle, one of the many insect species to make its home at Tetney Blow Wells. Bird life includes swans and ducks.

The wet land makes a good environment for plant life as well. Of course there is willow, and various grasses such as pond sedge grow well in the damp conditions.

Blow wells occur where underground water escapes through the chalk through a weakness in the boulder clay above it, reaching the surface under pressure.

A cardinal beetle

Tetney

Tetney is a village to the south of Grimsby and Cleethorpes, on the route of the Louth Navigation Canal. The canal meets the sea near Tetney Lock. The village is the location of the church of St Peter and St Paul, built in 1363.

The village is close to areas of natural beauty such as Tetney Haven Bird Reserve and Tetney Blow Wells, so it's a good place to visit if you're interested in wildlife watching.