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Location: Brockadale Nature Reserve, Kirk Smeaton, North YorkshireOS: SE 508 168
Habitat: Limestone grassland, neutral meadow, scrubland, woodland
Thompson Meadow forms part of the 144 acre Brockadale Site of Special Scientific Interest which lies on the narrow, steep-sided valley of the River Went.
Here, the River Went cuts through rock known magnesian limestone as it passes between the villages of Wentbridge and Kirk Smeaton. This limestone, from which the Houses of Parliament were built, is a very rare in Britain. Formed under a warm sea from the precipitates of an already forming limestone during the Permian era, it is younger than most limestones, but older than chalk.
The slopes of the Went valley include occasional outcrops and crags which are, for the most part, wooded but there are also areas of limestone grassland such as that found at Thompson Meadow.
The valley sides are thin-soiled and often steep, so meadows here have remained undisturbed with a rich variety of wild flowers.
The flowering season at Thompson Meadow begins in early spring with Lesser Celandine Ficaria verna and Wood Anemone Anemone nemorosa. These are followed by Cowslip Primula Veris and Early Purple Orchid Orchis Mascula in April and May.
During the summer visitors can enjoy a rich variety of wild flowers including Yellow Rattle Rhinanthus minor, Common Spotted-orchid Dactylorhiza fuchsii, Common Centaury Centaurium erythraea, Restharrow Ononis repens and Clustered Bellflower Campanula glomerata.
There is also plenty to see in the late summer and early autumn including Field Scabious Knautia arvensis, Autumn Gentian Gentianella amarella and Devil’s-bit Scabious Succisa pratensis.
Thompson Meadow lies between the villages of Wentbridge and Kirk Smeaton, south of Pontefract in North Yorkshire. Visitors should head for Little Smeaton which can be approached from the A1 via Kirk Smeaton or from the A19 via Norton. From Little Smeaton, take the road towards Stapleton. A short distance outside Little Smeaton turn left into Leg’s Lane.
Visitors can park in the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust car park which lies on the left hand side of this lane. The car park is approximately 500m north east of the reserve. The Plantlife reserve is accessible via a footpath over a footbridge.
The nearest train station is Pontefract, which is 6 miles from the reserve.
The areas of meadow are cut for hay in July. The whole reserve is then grazed by highland cattle during the autumn and winter months. Encroaching scrub is carefully controlled so that it does not smother the grassland flowers.
The reserve is managed without the use of pesticides and artificial fertilisers. The survival of this meadow is largely due to the care of its previous owners, the Thompson family, after whom the reserve is named.
This meadow is managed for Plantlife by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. The purchase of this nature reserve was made possible by Timotei.
24 Plantlife
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