Newbiggin Pastures Nature Reserve

It’s only down the road from Aysgarth Falls, one of the Yorkshire Dales’ best-known beauty spots, yet picturesque Newbiggin Pastures feels remote and undiscovered, and has stunning views over Bishopdale.

Location

Newbiggin-in-Bishopdale
Aysgarth
North Yorkshire
DL8 3TF

OS Map Reference

SD 98799 85093
What.3.words///september.scars.foster
A static map of Newbiggin Pastures Nature Reserve

Know before you go

Size
28 hectares
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Entry fee

Free
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Parking information

Limited roadside parking.

Grazing animals

Sheep and cattle grazing.

Walking trails

Please keep to field edges. A visit can be turned into a strenuous circular walk by joining the public right of way at the top of the site and following it down into the village. From here another footpath returns you to the road at the bottom of the valley where you will find a convenient Inn!

Access

Enter via gate on Ellers Lane. This reserve is one continuous and steep uphill slope. Extra care to be taken in very hot or wet conditions, especially when descending back down the slope. Please keep to the field edges and avoid disturbing livestock. No wheelchair access.

Dogs

No dogs permitted

When to visit

Opening times

Open at all times. We recommend a half day trip for this reserve.

Best time to visit

March to September

About the reserve

Newbiggin Pastures is managed as a patchwork of flower-rich traditional hay meadows, developing open woodland, and upland grassland. In time, we hope the six hectares of sparse juniper woodland that volunteers helped us plant will attract black grouse – it’s a part of their favoured habitat. Watch and listen for lapwings, curlews and wheatears in spring, spotted flycatchers in summer, ravens in autumn and barn owls in winter. Visit in summer to admire the wildflowers, including lady's mantle, eyebright, yellow rattle and agrimony.

Contact us

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust
Contact number: 01904 659570
Contact email: info@ywt.org.uk

About

Newbiggin Pastures is located in Bishopdale and is a mosaic of habitats including flower rich meadows and upland grassland of the high moors. Stretching from the valley bottom up to the edge of Wassett Fell, you will enjoy spectacular views.

A work in progress, the Trust manages part of the site as a traditional hay meadow with grazing by sheep in the autumn and a hay cut following the seeding of the wildflowers. The rough grassland at the upper end of the site is managed to provide a variety of habitats suitable for upland bird species and volunteers have helped us plant six hectares of woodland including areas of sparse juniper - the preferred habitat of black grouse.

In spring the call of lapwing, curlew and wheatear remind you of the changing seasons. In summer the meadows are rich in flowers including lady's mantle, moschatal, corncockle and agrimony. In autumn the call of the raven can be heard over the site and in winter the juniper comes into its own.

The working agricultural landscape of the Yorkshire Dales can be appreciated from Newbiggin Pastures. The lower fields of the dale are small and enclosed by dry stone walls: these are the traditional hay meadows that would be cut for hay in the summer. Many of these fields have stone barns in which the hay would be stored and cattle housed over the winter. Further up the slope the fields are larger and managed as rough grazing pasture. Higher still and the landscape changes to open moorland managed by light grazing often under commoners rights.

Newbiggins Pastures is grazed by a local tenant, so we ask that you do not disturb the livestock.

Seasonal highlights

  • Spring: Birds - Lapwing; Curlew; Wheatear
  • Summer: Plants - Lady's matle; Moschatel; Corncockle; Agrimony
  • Autumn: Birds - Raven
  • Winter: Plants - Juniper

Directions

Public transport
The nearest village with a bus service is Worton, a 20-25 minute walk away. The nearest train station is at Garsdale which is 10¼ miles away.

By car
Turn off the A684 Leyburn to Hawes road onto the B6160/Ellers Lane. Continue on this road for 3¾ miles past West Burton and the Street Head Inn and caravan site. The nature reserve is on your left half a mile after passing the pub. Limited roadside parking. Enter the nature reserve through the field gate.

Wheatear © Richard Scott 2019

Wheatear © Richard Scott 2019

Magical Wildlife Moment...

The flash of a wheatear’s white rump as it flies up to perch on a dry-stone wall. 

A tree top canopy with a blue sky.

Guy Edwardes/2020VISION

Let’s go wild for Yorkshire's wildlife!

From the heights of Ingleborough to the tip of Spurn, our nature reserves are a home (often the only home) to Yorkshire’s rarest and most incredible wildlife. Will you help us continue our work and provide these vital sanctuaries for nature?
£