Waxcaps on Whitaside, September 2025
Take part in Waxcap Watch 2025
Plantlife has launched its annual Autumn Waxcap Watch and would like your help to find and log Britain’s most important fungi. Waxcaps are an indicator of rare, species-rich grassland—a habitat that is fast declining. Knowing where waxcaps and other grassland fungi are thriving helps organisations to pinpoint where fragments of ancient meadows survive, so they can protect them for the future. You don’t need any fungi ID skills—all you need is a smart phone or access to a computer! Find out more at plantlife.org.uk/waxcapwatch.
Ingleborough National Nature Reserve expands by 179ha
Ingleborough National Nature Reserve (NNR) will almost double in size to 1,186 hectares (2,930 acres), becoming the 12th area to be added to the King’s Series of National Nature Reserves. The site supports nationally important wildlife species including curlew as well as the black grouse and ring ouzel—both on the red list of threatened birds. It is also just one of four places in the UK where visitors can see Teesdale violets, one of two places in Yorkshire where purple saxifrage grows, and the only place that Yorkshire sandwort can still be found. Ingleborough is also known for having some of the best-preserved examples of limestone pavement, which have been protected since the 1990s. Natural England’s Tony Juniper said: “[The extension] brings more of this wonderful place into active nature recovery, in the process helping to safeguard species found nowhere else in the UK.” Read more on the BBC News website.
Cleaning up Barney Beck begins
In 2023, Parliament adopted a legally-binding target to halve the length of rivers polluted by harmful metals released from abandoned metal mines by 2038. In Swaledale, there are 150 km of rivers that are polluted by metals (including lead, cadmium and zinc). Of these, Barney Beck in Upper Swaledale is one of the most heavily polluted. Old mining activities in the area left behind loose, metal-rich soil which washes into the beck when it rains, impacting water quality and ecology. Pollution is also caused by contaminated groundwater (mine water) which flows out of the drainage tunnels built by the miners. Using innovative methods, the Tees-Swale funded project aims to reduce heavy metals entering the river by encouraging vegetation to grow, while also limiting erosion of the wastes by surface waters.
The project area is concentrated around the watercourse which runs north of Old Gang Smelt Mill for around 1.5 miles. A public bridleway follows the course of the beck, and will be open throughout the works.
Phase 1 | August-October 2025 | Introducing the vegetation (biocrust)
A small water spray tank (hydroseeder) will be used to spray the area with natural materials that start the vegetation process.
Phase 2 | October 2025 to May 2026 | Protecting the banks
Revetment work (weather dependent) will be carried out to protect the banks of the beck in specific areas to stop mine waste from eroding into Barney Beck. Read more on the YDNPA website.
How to buy a long lasting white t-shirt?
An academic study by the University of Leeds Institute of Textiles and Colour (LITAC) with global environmental action NGO WRAP, published July 2025, has concluded that a higher price doesn’t guarantee that a t-shirt will be more durable. The LITAC team tested the durability of 47 t-shirts (24 male, 23 female designs) from UK clothing brands, washed using a standard mixed 30°C wash cycle, followed by a tumble dry 50 times.
Price was not found to be the most important factor: Of the top ten best performing t-shirts, six cost less than £15 (the winner cost £28), outperforming many more expensive (including the most expensive costing £395 which was 28th out of 47). In contrast a £4 t-shirt was 15th…
The research also found that heavier-weight cotton t-shirts tend to perform better than lightweight ones; and t-shirts with a blend of cotton and synthetic fibres (polyester, polyamide and elastane) perform better than 100% cotton. Read the full report here.
River pollution twice as bad inside National Parks as outside them
A report by the Campaign for National Parks (CNP) and the Rivers Trust has found that sewage is pouring into the rivers inside national parks at twice the rate that is occurring outside the protected areas. There are 464 water company overflow sites inside national parks and the average duration of sewage spills for each site in 2024 was 549 hours–the equivalent of eight hours a day for two months. The report also found that more than half of the rivers in national parks failed to meet the good ecological status required by law.
The campaigners are urging the government to bring forward stricter regulations, which were promised in January, and to ensure all sewage treatment works in national parks are upgraded to the same standard required in more populated areas. Read more on The Guardian website.
Darlo Fixit Cafe gives items a second lease of life
Run by volunteers on a ‘pay what you feel’ basis, Darlo Fiixit cafe operates the last Saturday of the month from 13.30-15.00 at The Hub, Darlington Friends Meeting House in Skinnergate.
From clothing to small appliances, it aims to give broken items a second lease of life, saving money and helping the planet. Find out more on its Facebook page.
Upland wood pasture: A forgotten habitat
What did the Yorkshire Dales look like hundreds of years ago? How could restoring upland wood pasture transform this landscape? In this interesting video, conservationist Bill Sutherland explores the past, present, and future of the Yorkshire Dales with archaeologist and farmer Tom Lord (who kindly donated the brush cut wildflower seed for Sustainable Swaledale’s One Acre Meadow project).
Burning banned on more of England’s deep peat from 30th September
DEFRA has extended its burning ban on deep peat to cover an area of 676,628 hectares (up from the current 222,000 hectares). This is to improve air quality for local communities, reduce flood risk and protect wildlife, and comes into force on 30th September. You can see which local areas of deep peat are affected using the England Peat Map, and read DEFRA’s full announcement here.
Councillors back River Swale safe bathing designation at Richmond Falls
Local councillors have backed the campaign to get a popular stretch of the River Swale designated as safe for bathing. The Save Our Swale group wants 50m of the river upstream from Richmond Falls to be granted the status by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs. If successful, the designation would mean that the Environment Agency has to regularly test the river water quality for bacteria between May 15 and September 30; the first step to ensuring a cleaner river. Read more on Richmondshire Today.
Lecture by the Yorkshire Naturalists Union
Andy Millard spoke at our September meeting about the Yorkshire Naturalists Union (YNU) which is one of Britain’s oldest natural history societies with some of the earliest members having met Charles Darwin! Much of the work is now focused around recording species with its main report being the State of Yorkshire Nature Report (the 2024 edition can be found at Yorkshire State Of Nature 2024).
Smaller reports also exist on specific species e.g. birds, moths and butterflies, all of which are freely available to download from the Yorkshire Naturalists Union website. Its monthly journal, the Naturalist can also be viewed on the website, and older copies of this and the newsletter (which date back to the 1880s) are available from the The naturalist – Biodiversity Heritage Library.
The YNU works closely with various organisations such as the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority and the North and East Yorkshire Ecological Data Centre (which receives our WingIt data).
Tree Seedling Potting @ Apple Day, Saturday 25th October
Come and join Sustainable Swaledale’s tree seed potting day at the Reeth Community Orchard Apple Day event. This is a drop in event between 10am to 3pm, and will be a chance to put into seed trays berries, nuts and seeds collected locally (tools and gloves provided); as well as get some apple juice and apple-based goodies. Bring cash and bottles for the juice, and wear something you don’t mind getting muddy!
Meadow flower plug planting @ Isles Bridge, 8th November
Join us from 10am-2:30pm on 8th November for a day planting wild flower plug plants to enhance an existing meadow near Isles Bridge. Tools will be provided. Please email info@sustainableswaledale.org for more info and to book a place.
Hedge laying, tree guard removal and tree planting, October 2025-March 2026
We are finalising our volunteer program for autumn and winter and have a number of different activities planned, including further hedge laying along the Swale Trail to revitalise overgrown hedges and improve biodiversity; finishing clearing redundant tree guards from a 9ac site in Arkengarthdale; and starting our tree and hedge planting projects across 10 sites in Swaledale and Arkengarthdale (including a mixture of hedges and groves using locally raised saplings). If you’d like to get involved, we’d love to have your help! Please email info@sustainableswaledale.org for more info, or check out our Facebook group.
Sustainable Swaledale named as beneficiary for the Harvest Service Collection
The Rev Caroline Hewlett has let us know that the Church of England churches in Swaledale and Arkengarthdale are planning to give their Harvest Service collections to Sustainable Swaledale this year; “to encourage you in the work that you are doing and to mark our appreciation of our partnership working together on churchyard projects.” We are very grateful for this generous support.
Group Meeting
The Rev Canon Caroline Hewlett is kindly hosting the next meeting at 7pm on 2nd October at the Vicarage in Reeth. For those who haven’t been there before, the vicarage is at the end of Langhorne Drive just before you turn right to Reeth Medical Centre. The door to the vicarage is signed from the garden.