New Year’s Eve

The old Oak leaves twined with the new Honeysuckle shoots seemed a fitting image to post on the last day of this year. 

Looking back on 2010 there has been a huge amount of change on the reserve.  Signing our contract for Higher Level Stewardship with Natural England in March has enabled us to enhance the reserve in a variety of ways.  The most obvious change has been the new hide and bridge at the lake.  Along with the widening of the paths this means that everyone, regardless of ability, can access our beautiful piece of Swaledale. 

The Outdoor Classroom will be another fantastic facility when it is completed, and along with the electronic whiteboard in the classroom will really enhance the experience we can offer to school groups who come here.   The new website has also made a difference in lots of ways.  Everyone seems to like our new look.

The next phase, scheduled for March 2011, is to extend the lake back up the little valley, which will give us a much larger area of open water.  This should be better for the birds, whilst the extended margins will be better for our Water Vole population.  It will also give a greater area for the emergent flora which looks so beautiful all summer.  

We've also said 'Goodbye' to the four Highland cattle this year.  It was sad to see them go, but we no longer needed them to graze our moorland all year long.  Next year we will welcome some new cattle onto the site, but just for a short while in the summer.   Thank you to the farmers who have helped us with the cattle over the years.  It has been much appreciated.

We take this opportunity to say a BIG THANK YOU to everyone associated with us who has helped in any way this last year.  There are so many people who give their time freely, from the regular volunteers and those who come on the Saturday work days to the people who help with guided walks and school groups.  From the bird ringers, who get here at unearthly hours of the morning to the people who help with fundraising and the coffee mornings. 

We hope you all have a HAPPY NEW YEAR.  See you in 2011.