Buckler's Forest named Land Trust Site of the Year 2026

Buckler’s Forest in Crowthorne has been named Site of the Year 2026 by the Land Trust, the national green space charity whose estate it belongs to. The award, announced with the trust’s other Managing Partners Awards on 20 July, recognises what the trust called the site’s continued success in wildlife conservation, education, health and wellbeing, and community growing. Fort Burgoyne in Dover was highly commended in the same category, so the Crowthorne site topped a field drawn from the trust’s sites across the country. (The Land Trust, Managing Partners Awards 2026)

The 42-hectare site combines wildlife habitats with community growing gardens, and is looked after day to day by Bracknell Forest Council’s parks and countryside team on behalf of the trust. Announcing the win, Cllr Guy Gillbe, the council’s cabinet member for planning, transport and countryside, said: “We are delighted that Buckler’s Forest has received this award, recognising its importance for nature conservation and its value to the local community. Our parks and countryside team, who manage the site on behalf of the Land Trust, play a key role in that success.” The council’s announcement pictured two of the people behind that work, community garden manager Clare Klesel and parks and countryside ranger Joe Richens. (Bracknell Forest Council, 29 July 2026)

From test track to crossbills

Buckler’s Forest sits on land that was part of the Transport Research Laboratory’s Crowthorne site, where transport research was carried out before the land changed use. The Land Trust records that the land was repurposed as a public green space in 2018, with the trust itself taking on the site in March 2022. Relics of its research past are still part of the landscape, including the old fire tower, the banked test curve and Garages Pond, alongside 1960s Scots pine plantations and newer broadleaf woodland. (The Land Trust, Buckler’s Forest)

The site earns its keep ecologically as well. It was created as a SANG, a suitable alternative natural greenspace, designed to draw walkers away from the neighbouring Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area and so shield that fragile heathland from the recreational pressure of new housing. It was designated a Local Wildlife Site in 2024, and the trust lists crossbills, wood larks and a range of butterflies among its residents. (The Land Trust, Buckler’s Forest)

What it means for you

If you have never visited, the trust gives RG45 6HZ as the postcode for the site in Crowthorne, and there are three waymarked circular walks of 1.3km, 2.4km and 3.6km, so it works for a quick loop with a buggy or a longer walk through the pines, heath and wetland. (The Land Trust, Buckler’s Forest)

If you are looking for things to fill the school holidays, the forest sits alongside the borough’s other big free green spaces; our things to do in Bracknell guide covers the pick of them, indoors and out.

If you want to get involved, the council says the community growing gardens give residents opportunities to learn, volunteer and connect with nature; its announcement and contact routes are in the council’s news story.