Letchmire Pastures Nature Reserve

Letchmire Pastures Nature Reserve
Lapwing © Matthew Christou 2019

Lapwing © Matthew Christou 2019

Bee orchid credit Martin Batt
Snipe © Allen Holmes 2020

Snipe © Allen Holmes 2020

Mining bees now use the exposed coal bank of this former colliery, bee orchids bloom in the meadow, and the lagoons are a magnet for dragonflies!

Location

Station Road,
Allerton Bywater,
Nearest town: Castleford (1.6m/2.5km)
West Yorkshire
WF10 2BW

OS Map Reference

SE42373 27609

View on What3Words

A static map of Letchmire Pastures Nature Reserve

Know before you go

Size
12 hectares
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Entry fee

Free
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Parking information

Small lay-by in front of the reserve entrance.

Walking trails

Marked walking trail around the site. Be aware paths are often muddy so please wear or bring appropriate footwear. 

Access

Network of paths around the site, however they are unfortunately not suitable for wheelchair users. 

Dogs

On a lead

Please respect the resident wildlife and keep dogs on a short lead. 

When to visit

Opening times

Open at all times. We recommend a 1 hour trip for this reserve. For a longer outing make it part of a day out in the Lower Aire Valley, or combine with a walk on the Lines Way.

Best time to visit

June to September

About the reserve

When the last days of spring merge into the early summer, Letchmire Pastures is at its finest. The meadow – one of a number of habitats on the reserve – bursts into colour, with bee orchids, stork’s bills, lady’s bedstraw, oxeye-daisies, meadowsweet and ragged robin.

The site is a low-lying blend of wetland, bare earth, young woodland, hedgerows and grassland. It’s a great place to see a variety of insects, but the star performers are the dragonflies and damselflies, including brown and common hawkers, darters, skimmers and chasers. You can see them in large numbers, and they’re relatively obliging for photographs – ruddy darters might even stay still for a while as they sun themselves on the fences around the lagoons.

Take a gentle, quiet amble around the site and see what you can find. The dark, bare earth warms up in the summer, creating special conditions for unusual plants and burrowing insects such as beetles, wasps and bees, like the mining bee – very aptly named for this site! The ground here subsided after its coal-mining days, and small, shallow ings developed as water collected in the hollows. Landscaping has enhanced these wetland features to create a number of ponds of different sizes and depths, which take on a glistening, wintry appearance in ice and snow, and we’re encouraging reed-beds to grow.

The insect life, damp grassland and muddy pond margins attract birds, and if you visit at a quiet time you might spot lapwings, common snipes and ringed plovers, but they’re easily disturbed by dogs. You might also see little egrets circling overhead.

Contact us

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

Environmental designation

Local Nature Reserve (LNR)

Did you know?

With the appearance, texture and even scent of a female bee, bee orchids are perfectly designed to attract passing male bees. But our British bee orchids self-pollinate so they don’t really need this incredible mimicry!

Ruddy darter dragonfly (Sympetrum striolatum) immature female at rest on bell heather (Erica cinerea). Minsmere RSPB reserve in Suffolk. July 2011. - Chris Gomersall/2020VISION

Magical Wildlife Moments...

A row of ruddy darters sunning themselves on the fencing around the lagoons.

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?
£