Hauxley Wildlife Discovery Centre
Hauxley Nature Reserve was originally part of Radcliffe open-cast mine but was purchased by Northumberland Wildlife Trust in 1983 and transformed into the haven for wildlife you see today.
The reserve has recently been extensively remodelled and extended, and the latest addition, the new eco-friendly building, has been a labour of love, being constructed by an army of dedicated volunteers. Believe it or not, it really is a straw-bale building and has a number of other highly innovative ‘green’ features that make it an appropriate home for a Wildlife Trust team.
East Cramlington Pond
Reedmace also occurs around the main pond. The grassland areas contain a good variety of relatively common species including early purple orchid and cowslip. The ponds form a good habitat for common frog and toad as well as great-crested newts. In the autumn there can be thousands of tiny toadlets making their way from the pond. Dragonflies such as the common and ruddy darters and azure damselflies are prevalent. A number of small mammals are present on the site.
Harbottle Crags
The site is largely covered by upland heather. The peat bog at the eastern end of the lough has formed from a layer of sphagnum moss growing over deep water. The bog flora includes the carnivorous round-leaved sundew whilst the damp flushes contain bog myrtle. The reserve is managed in partnership with Forestry Commission. The site contains important outcrops of the fell sandstone group and consists of extensive areas of dwarf-shrub heath with associated blanket bog and valley mire. The plants and animals are typical of upland moorland communities some locally rare.
Big Waters
The largest of the South East Northumberland subsidence ponds and one of the largest bodies of open water within the area; the site has surrounding fen and carr. The pond formed in the 1920's as a result of mining subsidence along the Hartley Burn; impounded by tipped colliery shales. Most of the reserve is open water, reedbed and a skirting rim of wet woodland.
Arnold Memorial
The reserve, an old quarry, is within Craster Heugh, an outcrop of the Whin Sill that provides an important habitat for both migrant and breeding birds. The Sill tracks north from here to provide the vantage point for Dunstanburgh Castle a mile up the coast. The economic importance of the Whin Sill is apparent from the large quarry housing the car park behind the reserve as well as the smaller quarry within the site itself.
Tony's Patch
The reserve is downstream of an old lead mine. It supports a good variety of woodland species and a number of uncommon invertebrates. Also of importance are the extensive deadwood habitats. The south end of the reserve has an open area of rough grassland. The canopy is dominated by oak together with hazel and bird cherry. There is a fairly rich ground flora including wood cranesbill, opposite-leaved golden saxifrage, wild garlic, bluebell, dog's mercury, wild arum, early purple orchid, wood sanicle and sweet woodruff. Of particular note are toothwort and herb paris.
Cresswell Pond
It is particularly good during the spring and autumn passage when rarities often occur. Avocets nested here in 2011, the most northerly site in the UK. Large numbers of waterfowl often roost here, with small numbers of greylag and pinkfooted geese. The majority of the site is the lagoon but there are areas of reed bed, two smaller ponds, a path and boardwalk leading down towards a bird hide. Due to the brackish nature of the pond, it is a rare habitat type within Northumberland.
Holystone North Wood
Holystone North Wood is an upland sessile oakwood and is recorded as an ancient semi-natural woodland site. There is evidence of some coppicing and parts of the wood were last worked about 60 years ago. This type of woodland, typical of the Lake District and North Wales, is found here under much drier climatic conditions and examples in the eastern part of Northumberland are particularly scarce. Tree cover is made up predominantly of sessile oak, with birch, rowan and holly.
Falstone Moss
The boardwalk heads to a small central pond. Species such as red grouse, adder, roe deer and the hairy caterpillars of northern eggar moth can be seen from the walk. In summer the central pool becomes alive with dragonflies and damselflies such as the common hawker, black darter and large red damselfly. Sphagnum mosses, the main peat-forming plants, are localised alongside the boardwalk. Growing in the moss are bog asphodel, cranberry, and occasionally bog rosemary.
Close House Riverside
Close House Riverside nature reserve contains calaminarian grassland which is on the river Tyne floodplain; these types of grassland are rare habitats only found in areas where there are high concentrations of heavy metals. Calaminarian grassland is restricted to the Tyne and Allen river systems, the heavy metals (zinc and lead) are washed from old mine spoil heaps from the North Pennine Ore field into the rivers which then carry them onto riparian habitats. Heavy metal resistant flora present on the grassland are alpine pennycress, and re-introduced spring sandwort.
