Rainton Meadows N R - Low Moorsley - Rainton Meadows N R

M Parkin

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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

11/7/2019 - Kathleen and Alan Robinson

Waypoint 10: Due to recent open-cast mining, on the right, there is a new large spoil heap. A new wire fence has been erected to the left of the hedge. After leaving the old rail line track, you have to walk between the hedge and the fence. In winter it can get muddy with shallow pools of water in some places.