About the reserve

This site is currently closed due to health and safety reasons

Milford Cutting includes the species-rich grassland banks of the former Castleblaney, Keady and Armagh Railway, and a woodland, which runs along part of the River Callan in Co Armagh.

A summer visit is essential to see the spectacular display of orchids. Common twayblade, fragrant, common spotted and the rare marsh helleborine, which is only found at only a few sites in Northern Ireland, paint the reserve with shades of green, pink and purple. 

There is, as you’d expect, vibrant bird life in summer, including willow warbler, chiffchaff and blackcap bursting into song. The long corridor is the perfect hunting ground for buzzards and sparrowhawks, and on the nearby river, you might well see a kingfisher speeding past. 

Hidden in the woodland are several rare Irish whitebeam trees – the largest colony of this species in Northern Ireland. The trees bloom with white flowers in May and globular red fruits in September.

At Milford Cutting, we mow the grassland banks to ensure the survival of the orchids and other flowering plants, which in turn support a host of insects and birds.