A white Christmas: Living and working at the remote Warburg Nature Reserve, high up in a frost pocket in the Chilterns, I’m used to the cold. But the past few weeks have felt like a battle with the elements.

Like many others, I had to bail out of my Christmas shopping when the first flakes of snow appeared and spent eight hours driving the 15 miles home from Reading to the reserve. We arrived at 10pm and the place looked magical with the deepest snow we’ve ever seen there.

The deep freeze: The joy of such a beautiful scene was tempered by the thought of lots of hard work to come. The first priority in these conditions was the welfare of our livestock. Our 27 sheep and four Dexter cattle were very grateful for their delivery of hay every morning.

During the worst of the cold spell they were eating hay as fast as we could put it out and I even had a go at reviving the once common practice of feeding them holly; they didn’t seem to mind the prickles and our Jacob sheep in particular stripped the branches clean.

Livestock are vital for grazing the chalk grasslands on the reserve as this helps to maintain the right conditions for orchids and many other wildflowers to thrive in the summer.

The cattle’s water trough and the bowser supplying it kept freezing over, so a couple of barrels of hot water were added every day.

I soon got used to carrying a flask of hot water with me to deal with frozen locks.

And so it went on. Just as we thought we might see the postman again, the second dose of snow hit us and we then had ten inches to deal with.

Glorious winter: Walking around checking livestock was a great opportunity to look for wildlife. I had some great views of fallow deer in their dark grey winter coats and spotted the footprints of rabbits, badgers and foxes, although the snow was too deep to make clear prints.

The bird feeders have been incredibly busy with the likes of great spotted woodpeckers and nuthatches competing for space on the peanut feeders, while robins and dunnocks feast on the fallen pieces underneath. I wonder how the wintering woodcock will be faring?

I imagine they must have had to go elsewhere to find some unfrozen soil to probe for food.

While tending to livestock and unlocking gates there was a bit of time to enjoy the countryside shrouded in snow.

A friend brought some skis over one day and I had a fantastic time gliding down the hill from Maidensgrove Common into the reserve.

Find out more: The reserve is open all year providing there is no obstruction from the snow. There is something to see in every season with spring and summer being particularly spectacular for wildflowers and butterflies.

The Visitor Centre is open from 9am to 5pm daily.

There are also two bird hides overlooking small ponds, a picnic area, a wildlife garden and many paths to choose from.

To find out more about the reserve, events and opportunities to volunteer with BBOWT go to www.bbowt.org.uk