Rainton Meadows N R - Low Moorsley - Rainton Meadows N R
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Rainton Meadows Nature Reserve -Rainton Bridge - Low Moorsley - West Rainton - Rainton Meadows Nature Reserve
The starting point to the walk is Rainton Meadows Nature Reserve and visitors' centre, with its numbers of ponds and lakes supporting a wealth of wildlife. The reserve stands on what until 1960 was Nicholson's Pit, after which the area became derelict, leaving old pit heaps and rubbish and forming a pretty bleak landscape. Then it was the turn of open-cast mining to extract what was left behind by the earlier mining activities, before not just restoring but greatly improving the site, to provide a future gateway to The Great North Forest and an important wildlife haven. As you continue the walk on old railway lines (themselves a legacy of coalmining) and then across field paths, it is hard to believe that this now pleasant and rich landscape is reborn of such a heavily-mined and scarred area.
England - North England - Tyne and Wear - Countryside
Features
Birds, Flowers, Gift Shop, Lake/Loch, Nature Trail, Pub, Tea Shop, Toilets, Wildlife
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