North Cliffe Wood Nature Reserve

Get yourself down to North Cliffe Wood to gaze in awe at the stunning bluebells and flowering heathland, and listen in wonder to one of the best dawn choruses anywhere

Location

Sand Lane
Market Weighton
East Riding of Yorkshire
YO43 4XE

OS Map Reference

SE859374
What 3 words: shadow.lunging.facelift
A static map of North Cliffe Wood Nature Reserve

Know before you go

Size
33 hectares
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Entry fee

Free
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Parking information

Limited parking in roadside laybys

Grazing animals

Hebridean sheep graze the land in the spring

Walking trails

It’s a straightforward walk through the wood, with some exposed tree roots and other minor trip hazards

Access

Limited for wheelchair users. Please note that in winter and after heavy rain footpaths can be soft and flooded locally. Please note there are no facilities on site

Dogs

No dogs permitted

When to visit

Opening times

Open at all times. We recommend a visit of half a day or enjoy a full day out with a visit to nearby North Cave Wetlands

Best time to visit

March to June

About the reserve

Purple haze all around

A stroll through peaceful North Cliffe Wood on a still spring day – when the sight and scent of the bluebells are at their peak and birdsong carries through the air – is a glorious experience.

Alongside the wet and dry broadleaved woodland, including an area of high oak forest and an old hazel coppice, there’s a small reedbed and areas of lowland heath. The heath supports typical plant species like ling heather, heath rush and common cotton grass, while pools in both the woodland and heathland provide homes for damselflies and dragonflies. In summer, the grassy clearings in the wood are bustling with busy butterflies, and on the heath you can see solitary bees and wasps excavating their burrows in the sandy soils.

In autumn the colours change again, bringing the warm hues of autumn leaves, bracken dying off to a rich gold and a smattering of purple from the flowering heather. It’s also the season for appreciating North Cliffe’s diversity of fungi.

Nature’s great sing-song

This is one of the best places in the East Riding for moths, and home to a thriving population of grass snakes, which emerge from hibernation in spring.

As spring approaches summer, the woodland canopy hosts one of nature’s great free concerts – a dawn chorus starring migrant willow and garden warblers, chiffchaff and blackcap, along with residents such as treecreeper, great spotted and green woodpeckers. The woodlark is a welcome recent addition to the line-up.

In autumn, flocks of siskins feed on the birch and alder seeds, while winter’s a great time to see woodland birds, including marsh tits and nuthatches

Contact us

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

About

Occupying flat land on the eastern side of the Vale of York, this woodland has a very varied structure comprising wet and dry mixed broadleaved woodland, a small reedbed, and areas of restored lowland heath. The lower lying western areas flood in most winters, providing suitable conditions for willow scrub. To the south of the main entrance there is an area of high oak forest, with a clump of multi-stemmed alders nearby, being evidence of coppicing activity that took place in the original forested landscape. In the south west corner there is substantial clearing of lowland heathland that supports typical species including ling heather, heath rush and common cotton grass. Several pools within the woodland and heathland areas provide homes for damselflies and dragonflies and grassy clearing within the wood are a hive of activity for summer butterflies.

In spring a stunning carpet of bluebells greets you and on a still day the scent of the flowers is irresistable. Grass snakes emerge from hibernation and can often be spotted basking in sunny glades or the edges of paths.

In the woodland canopy from spring and into summer, migrant warblers, including willow and garden, plus chiffchaff and blackcap, add their songs to the resident species, such as treecreeper, great spotted and green woodpeckers. In recent years, woodlark has colonised, adding their rich and evocative song to the chorus. Then head out onto the heathland and watch for solitary bees and wasps as they excavate their burrows in the sandy soils.

Autumn is the time to look to the ground and appreciate the diversity of fungi found in the woods. Also look out for flocks of Siskin feeding on the birch and alder seeds. The colours on the reserve are ever changing through the autumn with the leaves slowly changing, the heather coming into flower and the bracken dying off to a rich gold.

With the leaves off the trees winter is a great time to look for wood peckers, both green and great spotted can be seen as well as treecreeper working their way up tree trunks looking for invertebrates in the bark.

Seasonal highlights

  • Spring: Plants - Bluebell; Greater stitchwort; Primrose; Reptiles - Grass snake; Birds - Chiffchaff
  • Summer: Plants - Cotton grass; Birds - Garden Warbler; Blackcap; Invertebrates - Speckled wood
  • Autumn: Mammals - Fallow deer; Red deer; Birds - Siskin
  • Winter: Birds - Green Woodpecker; Great-spotted woodpecker; Marsh tit; Nuthatch

History

North Cliffe Wood was drained in the late 19th Century and the mature trees clear-felled in 1921. Bracken and rabbits were then able to fully exploit the sandy soils and prevent the regeneration of trees until myxomatosis destroyed the rabbit population in 1954. Conditions were thus set for the rapid spread of birch and mountain ash, the seeds of which are readily distributed by wind and birds respectively. These two species are still the most common trees in the wood today, although over 20 species have been recorded.

Directions

Public transport
Irregular bus service from Market Weighton to North Cliffe village.

By car
From A1079 Market Weighton head south down Cliffe Road. Then turn right after two miles, down Sand Lane. Park on the left by the wood.

 

Accessibility 

Many of our reserves are small and beautiful but remote. Visitors will have different access needs and abilities and we want to provide some basic information about the reserve to help you decide whether this is a place you would like to visit and to help you plan. 

Walking in North Cliffe woodland

A woodland reserve with 3km of grass footpaths provide a circular trail around the reserve.

The routes can be very muddy during winter and there are lots of tree roots and uneven surfaces across the reserve. There are two spring pedestrian gates and a small bridge with no steps. 

Parking

Parking is on a grass verge at the reserve entrance and can accommodate four cars. This is on a quiet country road with little traffic. 

Facilities

Our North Cave Wetlands reserve is two miles away and has accessible toilet facilities. There is also a mobile café open Tuesday to Sunday 0830 – 1430. Market Weighton is the nearest town for shops and other amenities, 

There is a very good phone signal. 

The What3Words code for the entrance is searching.rental.widest
 

Nearby