WYRE Forest District Council's Ranger Service looks after some 10 nature reserves around the district.

Some like Hurcott Pool and Habberley Valley are well known, while others like the Devil Spittleful and Rifle Range are large.

Several have nationally recognised rare wildlife like Puxton Marsh and others are very popular places for people to visit such as the woods of Spennells Valley.

There are a few, though, that harbour some really wonderful wildlife, which very few people even know about and certainly have never visited.

These would be Redstone marsh in Stourport with its lovely marshland flora and, probably most obscure of all, Vicarage Farm Heath.

As its name suggests, Vicarage Farm is a heathland reserve and, as such, has some really rare wildlife. What its name does not suggest, however, is just how beautiful this wildlife is, especially at the moment.

I entered the reserve from the access near the Loom and Shuttle Pub in Kidderminster and went up the hill into the scrublands.

This path trails around the boundary of the reserve before dropping down into the main body of heathland.

The first real blast of colour was on this path as growing here were the most fantastic display of hawkweeds. These plants are often overlooked as they superficially resemble dandelions, but the flowers are far more delicate and have some wonderful hues of yellow.

These were much more difficult to overlook, though, as they were the orange hawkweed, which have the most spectacular blooms and appeared in such numbers as to rival many a formal garden display.

I thought things could not get any better, but I was so wrong because, as I descended onto the heath, I found it to be an amazing blast of colour.

Once again there were some lovely pale yellow hawkweeds, but the real show stealer was the masses and masses of the intriguingly named sheep's bit scabious. This plant covered the grassy banks with wonderful dusty blue flowers which made the reserve look like a little piece of fairytale land.

Unfortunately, the beauty of Vicarage is best observed selectively as, while the foregrounds of this reserve are absolutely amazing, the raised sloping topography of this nature reserves offers some stunning views of Kidderminster's more industrial heritage.

Vicarage is also quite small at just 11 hectares and has no car parking, although if you fancy seeing some of Kidderminster's more spectacular hidden wildlife, Vicarage Farm is well worth the visit.