The Glow Worm's Nottinghamshire distribution and the NGWS

We had automatically assumed that many years ago, the Glow Worm had been a familiar sight to generations of children. We were obviously wrong. Working at the time as a care support worker, I had asked everyone I ever visited, whether they had seen Glow Worms and I must admit to being more than a little surprised when none of them said they had ever seen one.

So with most of the records we had collected dating back to the 1990's or earlier, we formed the Nottinghamshire Glow Worm Survey (NGWS) in an effort to try and more accurately determine the Glow Worm's status in VC56 Nottinghamshire. In 2008, four years before the formation of the NGWS in 2012, our knowledge of the Glow Worm's distribution still relied more on what we thought, rather than what we actually knew. Overall, we realised that we knew little more about the distribution of the Glow Worm in Nottinghamshire, than Victorian naturalists had some 100 years previous.

We didn't even know whether the Glow Worm had actually declined in the county. In 2008, there was certainly a lack of recent (modern) records from many of its known sites, but we didn't know whether or not this was genuine decline, or just a lack of recording effort. It turned out to be the latter at some sites, but the former at many.

The main problem was that no one had spent time in the field recording Glow Worms, or if they had indirectly seen Glow Worms while looking for Nightjar, then they weren't reporting them. So a handful of other Glow Worm enthusiasts and ourselves started going out to known sites, checking other potential sites and recording any Glow Worms we found. The NGWS was able to confirm that Glow Worms were still present at a number of known sites and a number of new sites were found. Very small Glow Worm populations were often found close to existing sites, yet now distanced enough to be regarded as separate populations in their own right.

Glow Worm decline and getting the message across

Even before the formation of the NGWS and after realising that there was a problem, Martin Dale and ourselves highlighted the plight of the Glow Worm in Nottinghamshire at every available opportunity. But perhaps because Glow Worms were occasionally reported from new sites (often gardens) our continued warnings about the beetle's decline in Nottinghamshire never seemed to be taken seriously. It seemed that negative comments, even when backed up by statistics gained through years of research and study, weren't welcomed.

But the Glow Worm's decline in Nottinghamshire is undeniable and has now been effectively proven, through the efforts of those assisting the work of the Nottinghamshire Glow Worm Survey.

A large percentage of Glow Worm sites seem to have been lost through various means and the distribution maps show a contraction in range to the Sherwood Forest area. The Glow Worm has no conservation status in the UK, so isn't afforded any protection against the development or clearance of sites, change in land use and inconsiderate site management (it has been known).

The A614 barrier

When the above map showing all of the county's known Glow Worm records, the band of records running north-south through the centre of Nottinghamshire was immediately evident.

Apart from a 1992 Blyth record, there are no confirmed records from areas north of Worksop, east of Ollerton and Nottingham, around Southwell, Retford or Newark. But there is a record near Newark - from Stapleford Moor, which is as close to the Lincolnshire border as it could possibly be, although still just in Nottinghamshire. J.W. Carr in his 1916 book 'The Invertebrate Fauna of Nottinghamshire' does state that 'Glow Worms were reported from the Retford district' (Pegler) but his rather vague statement is unfortunately as much as we know.

But another interesting point is the lack of Glow Worm records anywhere east of the A614 road. Even at Clumber, there are at least two known populations which lie within yards of the road, yet there are no reports east of it. There must be Glow Worms nearby somewhere.

Mercia Mudstones comprise much of the Trent Valley flood plain and is the lowest part of Nottinghamshire. This whole area is depleted of Glow Worm records but for the Carlton, Colwick and Holme Pierrepont areas of Nottingham and Keyworth in the far south of the county. The dot in the very east of the county map is near Stapleford, but by this point, Mercia Mudstone has given way to Lias Limestones.

The map on the right shows all traceable Glow Worm records from within Nottinghamshire, up to the end of 2020 and includes all the county's historical sites. The map on the left shows only those records between 2010 and 2020. The 1km grid squares indicating Glow Worm sites are laid over the county's woodlands and there is an obvious link to woodland, heathland and sites lying on light, sandy soils. The Glow Worm's distribution in Nottinghamshire, is governed as much by geology as anything else, Glow Worms obviously preferring soils other than that found along the Trent Valley. Most presently known sites are still to be found on Sherwood Sandstone, which many years ago would also have been woodland and heathland.

The aim has been to 'clean up' the list and make it easier to reas and up to date. Hopefully this has worked. There are new summaries of the county's various Glow Worm populations (many of which are very limited interms of numbers) and which have over the past ten years, benn found to make up several large complexes in the wider Sherwood Forest area. Recent notable sightings and negative reports (just as important) will be added as they come in.

Nottinghamshire's main areas for Glowe Worms are still Sherwood Forest and Clumber Park. Glow Worms are spread widely within the two areas and some parts are strictly provate and off limits to the general public. Many well spaced, very small populations exist in both areas and these make up rather obvious larger complexes, spread over the whole area. Seven such complexes have been identified, all encompassed within the wider Sherwood Forest area of the county.

But Nottinghamshire does have several Glow Worm sites which are isolated, seemingly forming no part of any complex, yet all except the recently reported Ruddington site in south Nottinghamshire, have geographical and geological links to eachother, as all lie on the dry soils found on Sherwood Sandstone.

The map on the right shows the locations of all Nottinghamshire's Glow Worm sites in the Sherwood Forest and Clumber Park areas. Only the Ruddington site isn't showed. The map clearly illustrates how the various Glow Worm populations are distributed through the wider Sherwood Forest area, becoming confined to areas of forest and heathland remaining after much of the land was given over to agriculture many years ago.

Glow Worms are tenacious beetles and have proved able to survive at low population levels for many years. But the threat they face in Nottinghamshire continues and one of the greatest threats comes from commercial forestry operations. We have worked with Forestry England a number of years ago and to their credit, they did make some effort to protect Glow Worms where felling was to take place.

However, both the felling and timber removal processes are extremely destructive to both habitat and the insect diversity found within that habitat. Survey work undertaken after felling and removal of the remaining Pines at Clipstone Old Quarter in 2019, has revealed that Glow Worms have been almost completely wiped out along some sections and it is believed that any recovery to near previous numbers found in these areas, will probably take several decades.

* Sites with a blue asterisk, have been recorded as (or still are) active since 2010

The Nottinghamshire Glow Worm Survey is an ongoing project. If you would like to help and join in the survey, click the banner below for more information and how to contribute. Or if you know of any Nottinghamshire sites for Glow Worms, simply send any records or details directly to us.