BREARY MARSH NATURE RESERVE AND THE FISHPOND PLANTATION

Description : A wide variety of wildlife can be seen at Breary Marsh, The Fishponds and through Golden Acre Park, including water voles, mink, waterfowl, migrant warblers, nuthatches, moorhen, coots, great crested grebe, freshwater crayfish (on the Red Data List of endangered species) and the site is listed in the Invertebrate Site Register for West Yorkshire as a site of potential importance of notable species.

Breary Marsh
The marsh is a representative example of a wet valley alder carr and associated flood plain communities and is the most diverse example known in West Yorkshire. These habitats, once frequent along stream and river valleys in the county, are now localised and fragmented.

A fen community has developed on the aluvial flats beside the stream in the northern sector of the site, which is becoming colonised by willow scrub.

The fen grades southwards into an area dominated by alder. This carr contains marshy pools with reeds, grasses, sedges and ferns. Numerous interpretation boards are located throughout the site to provide information about the alder carr and the bird life on the site.

The Fish Pond Plantation
Primarily an oak and birch woodland with minor quantities of sycamore, beech and rowan. This area is currently even-aged and management will aim at creating structural diversity by thinning, felling and promoting coppice growth and natural regeneration.

The woodland to the south of 'Paul's Pond', used heavily as a recreational fishing resource, comprises of sycamore and oak, and shelterbelt plantings of beech and rhododendron surround the pond.

Access and facilities : Extensive parking is available off the A660 Otley Road and off Arthington Lane. The park can be accessed from the Otley Road car park on foot by turning right prior to the underpass off the car park, while taking the path under Otley Road will take you to Golden Acre Park Nature Reserve . Breary Marsh has a high level of recreational use and includes a stretch of the Leeds Country Way, bridleways and a boardwalk, which extend across the fen and through the alder carr.

For further information on Leeds Nature Reserves, please click here.

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