• Spring: Plants - Wood anemone; Spring cinquefoil; Cowslip; Invertebrates - Orange-tip; Brimstone
• Summer: Plants - Clustered bellflower; Rock-rose; Field scabious: Invertebrates - Dark green fritillary; Marbled white
• Autumn: Fungi - Woodland fungi Birds - Fieldfare; Redwing
• Winter: Plants - Stinking hellebore; Birds - Nuthatch

We're working to protect and manage this special place so it's a thriving home for wildlife. To minimise disturbance to wildlife, camping, cycling and rock climbing are not permitted.

Brockadale is seeing huge numbers of people visiting at the moment. Please help us look after wildlife including ground nesting birds this spring by keeping dogs on leads and stick to paths. Leave only footprints and park responsibly - the small car park can get very busy.

We are unable to fully close the reserve for a number of reasons. Because of this, we might ask people not to visit where we see real damage occurring to the reserve. This gives us a chance to assess the situation and repair any damage.

We ask that you keep your dog on a lead at all times during your visit and pick up and dispose of your dog poo responsibly by either putting it in the bins provided, or if full, taking it home with you. This is because even a well-behaved dog can cause detrimental damage to the reserve:  

• As dogs run and sniff around the reserve, they disturb animals and birds that are in the undergrowth. As an example, when an adult bird is disturbed and flies away, they may not ever return to their chicks. We want to ensure that Brockadale is a thriving home for a variety of wildlife, and minimising disturbance is an important first step.

• We have livestock grazing our land. Not only can dogs disturb or even threaten livestock, there are several nasty diseases which can be transmitted to cattle via dog poo which can be life threatening. At the same time, dogs could be infected by similar nasty illnesses.

• Dog poo does break down in the undergrowth, but it can also change the quality of the soil and can threaten the growth of specialist plants which our native wildlife depends on for food and shelter. In addition, simply putting it in a plastic bag and leaving it around the site doesn't look very nice and adds to plastic pollution which is now recognised as a significant threat to all wildlife. It is also a health risk to our staff working on these sites and to other visitors, especially those with younger families whose children may explore in the undergrowth along the pathways. There is a risk of ocular toxocariasis, which is a disease transmitted from roundworms to humans via fresh and old dog and cat poo. Although rare, it most often affects young children and can have severe effects including blindness.

We want to keep Brockadale looking beautiful! Thank you to all those dog walkers who are conscientious and considerate when bringing their dogs onto the reserve, helping to protect our wildlife from disturbance and disease.

Public transport
There is an infrequent bus service from Pontefract to Doncaster which stops at either Wentbridge, Kirk Smeaton or Little Smeaton.

By car
From A1 take Wentbridge and Kirk Smeaton turn. Drive east to Kirk Smeaton, go through the village to Little Smeaton and head north west up New Road. Once out of the village turn left down Leys Lane to the car park at the end.