Ashes Pasture Nature Reserve
The largest of our cluster of reserves at the north-eastern tip of Ingleborough, this diverse grassland is home to nationally rare flower species, including ten species of orchid. A rare example…
The largest of our cluster of reserves at the north-eastern tip of Ingleborough, this diverse grassland is home to nationally rare flower species, including ten species of orchid. A rare example…
Would you like to get stuck into some outdoor conservation work?
Join us for a day of mowing and raking at Ashes Pasture Nature Reserve.
The petals of the rare Lizard orchid's flowers form the head, legs and long tail of a lizard. They are greenish, with light pink spots and stripes, and smell strongly of goats! Spot this tall…
The bee orchid is a sneaky mimic - the flower’s velvety lip looks like a female bee. Males fly in to try to mate with it and end up pollinating the flower. Sadly, the right bee species doesn’t…
This unassuming orchid is easily overlooked. It is found patchily across the UK, but has been declining for decades.
The Early purple orchid is one of the first orchids to pop up in spring. Look for its pinkish-purple flowers from April, when bluebells still carpet our woodland floors. Its leaves are dark green…
The pyramidal orchid lives up to its name - look for a bright pinky-purple, densely packed pyramid of flowers atop a green stem. It likes chalk grassland, sand dunes, roadside verges and quarries…
A short, but pretty plant of unimproved grasslands, the Green-winged orchid gets its name from the green veins in the 'hood' of its flowers. Look for it in May and June.
Autumn is the best time of year for finding unexpected jewels and magical moments; migrating birds pass overhead, calling noisily, or appear in hedgerows, mists shroud our woodlands in mystery,…
The fly-shaped flowers of this fascinating plant are attractive to insects - but not the ones you might expect!
This small pasture is being restored after years of sheep grazing. It is an important wild
link between neighbouring Ashes Pasture and Ingleborough National Nature Reserve
This is probably the most widespread and commonest of the marsh orchids.