When it comes to award-winning spaces, there’s a natural born winner a few miles east of Farnham.

Runfold Ridge has been named England’s ‘Nature Space of the Year’ by The Land Trust which manages 86 similar sites around the country.

The beauty spot, which is part of the elevated Hogsback chalk ridge, has been transformed from a former agricultural site to a natural wonder.

Judges at the Managing Partner Awards were impressed with the site’s restoration and transformation into a chalk grassland which encourages wildflowers, insects, rare butterflies and other invertebrates.

The site has established an annual grassland cut-and-collect regime whereby cuttings are removed which in turn reduces nutrients and encourages chalk grassland plants. In turn, the hay is used to provide a habitat for reptiles.

Work has been carried out by volunteers from Blackwater Valley Countryside Partnership (BVCP), which manages the land in partnership with the Land Trust, and from the charity Butterfly Conservation and the community interest company Hive Helpers.

Together they have set up butterfly and bee surveys, planted local provenance cowslip and created kidney vetch seed scrapes to encourage the small blue butterfly to extend its range along the North Downs.

They have planted disease-resistant elm trees in hedgerows to encourage the white letter hairstreak and have created a chalk scrape and raised bank to encourage chalk grassland invertebrates and wildflowers.

During the work BVCP uncovered a WWII pillbox and installed a bat-accessible door.

Marie-Anne Phillips from the Land Trust said: “A lot of hard work has gone into getting Runfold Ridge to the place it is today.

The award for “Nature Space of the Year” is great recognition for the achievements at the site over the last 12 months. The site continues to offer an attractive place for locals to visit while also being a place where nature can thrive.”