A popular daffodil walk in Farndale, North York Moors, has had a bit of a tidy up ahead of the arrival of 50,000 visitors.
People from Farndale teamed up with the North York Moors National Park Authority’s Make a Difference volunteers and staff to carry out habitat management work along the popular Farndale daffodil walk.
A wet grassland site – known locally as the ‘duck pond’ – on the daffodil walk to the north of Low Mill, had become very overgrown with willow and alder trees.
Members of the Farndale community were concerned about the area becoming overgrown and shady, particularly as this is a popular spot for visitors to pause and admire the stunning display of blooms.
Trees were cut back to open up the area and let more light in to make it more pleasing for visitors.
The cut wood was used to make twiggy bundles and stakes which will be installed along a short stretch of riverbank in the same area to help prevent further riverbank erosion.
Natural England consent was required before the work could take place as the area concerned is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest due to the diversity of habitats and plant species in the area including the wild daffodil.
Sally Weightman, Farm Conservation Advisor at the National Park Authority, said: “It was nice to see a variety of age groups represented by those people involved in the work tasks.
“The assistance of both members of the local community and volunteers was greatly appreciated and it is hoped that local community involvement will continue with further work projects in the future.”
Farndale resident, Sally Potter, added: “We wanted to mark the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations in some way and felt this would give year round pleasure to both locals and visitors to the Dale.”
Daffodil walk in Farndale
Over 50,000 people visit Farndale each year during the daffodil season.
To keep congestion on the narrow roads to a minimum, the National Park Authority runs a daffodil shuttle bus from Hutton-le-Hole car park to several stops along the daffodil walk.
This year the bus will operate on Sundays from 25 March through to 15 April plus Good Friday, Easter Saturday and Easter Monday.
Timetables will be available at www.northyorkmoors.org.uk/moorsbus or you can call 01439 770657.