On the east bank of the River Don floodplain, Thorpe Marsh Nature Reserve is a mixture of semi-improved and unimproved grassland, small patches of woodland and open water.
It was never intensively farmed due to the surrounding railway lines and Ea Beck, as well as as being purchased by the Central Electricity Generating Board in the 1960s for tipping fly ash. This has meant that a great mix of plant species have flourished. Reedholme and Cockshaw Fields have centuries-old ridge-and-furrow corrugations with plants not now commonly seen in pastures - species such as adder's tongue fern, pepper saxifrage, devil's bit scabious, great burnet and common figwort. Voles, mice and shrews thrive here and so do the owls that feed on them, including long-eared owls in winter.
Top Tip:
Make sure you make a trip during summer to see around 20 species of butterfly and 15 species of damsel and dragonflies.
The disused railway embankments, open in parts and wooded in others, give excellent views over the site and support many plants such as red and white campions, lady's bedstraw and broad-leaved helleborine and many insects and breeding birds. Hedgerows of varying ages provide food, cover and highways for insects, birds, mammals and grass snakes. Small patches of woodland and scrub with oak, ash, hawthorn, blackthorn, willow, birch, and, in the wetter areas, alder, give many feeding and nesting opportunities for great spotted woodpeckers, long-tailed and willow tits, treecreepers and tawny owls, among others.
Thorpe Mere is the largest of the water bodies. Grey heron, geese and ducks are regulars but waders like oystercatcher, green sandpiper and redshank are often seen here. In winter wigeon and goosander are regulars. At the Mere Scrape little grebe, moorhen, coot and mallard usually breed and water rail are shy visitors too. Applehurst Pond is also worth watching with good views of water birds.
Thorpe Marsh Supporter Group Annual Report
The Thorpe Marsh Supporter Group have released their annual report for 2012, and includes all species recorded on the nature reserve. Here are some of the highlights.
Discover Yorkshire’s Wildlife
Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s Discover Yorkshire’s Wildlife book, which has detailed information on all of Yorkshire Wildlife and Sheffield Wildlife Trust’s reserves, is available to buy now from our online shop.
Public Transport
The nearest bus service is the Doncaster to Barnby Dun service alighting adjacent to the to the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation at Madam Lane walking back over the canal lift bridge along Forstead Lane. This is about a mile long walk to Marsh Lane plus the half hour walk mentioned in the article.
Directions
The nature reserve entrance is at the Norwood Gate on Fordstead Lane, near the Norwood pumping station. Visitors may approach via Arksey or Barnby Dun. The public bridleway to the south of the ash-tip leads to the nature reserve and its permissive footpaths.
Want to see more of Thorpe Marsh before your visit? Have a look below.
Thorpe Marsh Nature Reserve photos in our Flickr group