Törringelund, Naturreservat

Törringelund Nature Reserve is located at Oxie, south-east of Malmö. It is a wooded small hill that rises above the surrounding farmland. There are crooked old oaks and pillar-like beeches. The old trees and the large amount of dead wood provide a habitat for many different insects, mosses and lichens. The proximity to Malmö makes the area a popular destination for excursions. There are both nice walking trails and a rest area for those who want to barbecue or take a coffee break. Adjacent to the nature reserve is a restaurant and dance floor.

100-year-old visitor destination

Törringelund was a popular excursion destination as early as the 19th century. At that time, city dwellers came here to watch theater and to dance. But it was not until 1916 that the dance floor was built. Less than ten years later, in 1925, a summer restaurant was built.

Tree-bearing old meadow

There have been trees here since ancient times, but they used to be sparse. In the 18th and 19th centuries there were even flowering meadows between the trees. Later, and until the middle of the 20th century, the land was grazed by deer in pens. The fact that it has been brighter and sunnier is also reflected in the large and wide crowns of the old oaks.

Old trees teeming with life

The grand old oaks are at least 200 years old. Their bark is home to many mosses and lichens that are unusual today. Rare beetles spend their first years as larvae in hollows in the old and dead trees. The area's flowering shrubs and flowers later become an important source of pollen and nectar for these insects. There is also older beech forest. It resembles a pillared hall with tall and straight tree trunks. The old beech trees also provide shelter for the small inhabitants of the reserve. In the spring, the ground is covered with a magnificent grove flora with whitethroats, yellow anemones, small-leaved helleborine and lily of the valley.

Golden curl moss, beech ox and oxeye daisy

One of the more exclusive species in the area grows on elderberry bushes and trees such as ash and maple. It is called elderberry lichen. A moss that also likes this type of bark is the golden cap moss. Among the more unusual insects, we find the box elder. It is a rather large, black and flat beetle with large jaws. As a larva, it lives on beech, preferably in rough old stumps and trunks. The wood may be rotted by some fungus. The oxeye fungus and ticks such as the stone tick, large tick and oak tick are all tree fungi that make oak and beech wood soft and welcoming to many bugs.

The area is also an oasis for birds. Many birds feed on the bugs in the decaying wood and nest in the hollows of the trees. Species you may encounter are wood pigeon, lesser spotted woodpecker, greater spotted woodpecker, skylark, starling and summer wren.

Outdoor life

The Törringelund nature reserve is a small forest island in the field landscape outside Oxie. Its proximity to Malmö makes it a valuable outdoor area. Right next door is the restaurant and dance floor from the early 1900s, which attracts visitors. The area is slightly hilly and there are two trails that are suitable for children. A yellow trail that is just over 1 km long and a blue trail that is just under 2 km long. The reserve is small and surrounded by an old earth bank that is the border with the surrounding farmland. Parking is available adjacent to the restaurant and dance floor. A little way into the forest there is a small pond with a viewing bridge, but fishing is not allowed. There is a rest area with a fireplace in the eastern part. Remember to bring charcoal or firewood if you are going to barbecue and to take your rubbish home.

In English

Welcome to Törringelund Nature Reserve

Törringelund, a small tree-clad hill in the middle of the agricultural landscape of Skåne, has been a popular destination since the 1800s. People came here then to watch theater

and dance. Today people come to see the gnarly oaks, the pillar-like beech trees, and the dense carpets of yellow and wood anemones in the spring.

Old oaks

The old oaks with their large crowns testify that many of the older trees grew up in much more open conditions; the area probably used to be a meadow. At one time there was even a deer enclosure here. Today, the roughly 200-year-old trees are home to many different species. The presence of dead wood is appreciated by insects, fungi and lichens grown

on the coarse bark, and birds and small animals live in the cavities. One of the fungal species that can be seen is called wood ear. Just as the name suggests it looks like a human ear. Wood ear is not listed in the Red Data Book (threatened), but many other of the fungi species that live here are.

A glade in the middle

In the middle of the site, there is a glade, with several natural seating areas and trees suitable for climbing. The path that leads you there is surrounded by a carpet of yellow and wood anemones. Lily of the valley and Corydalis intermedia flower a little later. Once in the glade, you can smell wild garlic in the late spring and early summer, which grows in the wetter parts of the woodland.

Regulations

Within Törringelund Nature Reserve it is forbidden to:

• bring a dog that is not physically held on a lead,
• light a fire other than with a camping stove or in a designated barbeque area and with your own wood or charcoal,
• break twigs, fell or in any other way damage or remove living or dead trees, branches, or bushes,
• dig, bore, paint or in any other way damage the ground, stones, boulders, stone walls or other archaeological features,
• erect any kind of installations.

Without written permission from the County Administrative Board it is also forbidden to:

• catch insects, spiders, snails, or other invertebrates other than with nets, by hand or other selective methods, with subsequent re-release within the nature reserve. This requirement does not apply to one-off specimens of each species on the condition that the record is registered in Artportalen, or an equivalent national database for threatened species, and that the collection does not contravene any protection regulations.
• pick wood-living fungi with the exception of one-off specimens.