The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s EMMA LUSBY and PAUL BROOK delight in a quiet Wolds wonder

On a warm summer’s day, it’s easy to overlook the hidden gems of the Yorkshire Wolds in our hurry to get to the coast.

Dominated by hawthorne and ash, on a hot day the still air shimmers in the heat and grasshoppers chirrup. Yellowhammers sing their quick and distinctive line of ‘a little bit of bread and no cheeeeese’ or call out in sharp chips.

But delve a little deeper into these rolling hills and tranquil valleys and you’ll discover a rich historical landscape: the underlying chalk supports a unique array of flowers, grasses, butterflies and birds.

About four miles outside Market Weighton is the former Kiplingcotes chalk quarry, now Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s Kiplingcotes Chalk Pit nature reserve.

Chalk was quarried here for the embankment of the adjacent railway line, which opened in 1865. The rail link between Beverley and Market Weighton was closed by the Beeching Plan 100 years later and is now a peaceful bridleway popular with walkers, and the occasional bike and horse.

A short walk down this path leads you into the long, oval-shaped reserve that then opens out before you; an incredibly peaceful place reclaimed by nature and far removed from what must have been the once noisy and dusty chalk quarry.

It’s a treat for the senses. Stop and take a moment, look down across the valley floor and listen for linnets, yellowhammers, a buzzard overhead and bees getting busy among the knapweed.

The distinctive mounds of tufted grass throughout the reserve harbour wild thyme and basil, which gives a glorious scent in the summer.

These features are made by a very busy network of yellow meadow ants and indicate untouched, long-established grassland, which has lain undisturbed since the quarrying finished. Geen woodpeckers are attracted by the ant mounts, which they visit and probe with their long tongues. You might hear their yaffling call.

 

It’s a treat for the senses. Stop and take a moment, look down across the valley floor and listen for linnets, yellowhammers, a buzzard overhead and bees getting busy among the knapweed.

 

It’s a straightforward stroll through to the end of the reserve but if you’re able to make the short, steep climb to the top of the reserve on the left, you’ll be rewarded with fine views back down the valley towards Market Weighton. This could be one of the few places to catch a breeze on a hot day. There is only one access point up onto the bank, so you can do a loop – once you have carefully picked your way up the steps before heading back into the valley bottom. The route along the bank top is about 400 metres and winds through the flower-rich grassland. Watch your step as it’s quite a steep drop in places.

At the height of summer, the reserve is a riot of colour. It feels like you’re making a pilgrimage to visit this special place and savour species that aren’t found in many other places in Yorkshire. One of those species is a striking black-and-white butterfly – the marbled white. As the name suggests, their wings have an unmistakable marbled, or chequered, black-and-white pattern.

Compared to some of our familiar butterflies, marbled whites are larger than an orange tip, a similar size to a small tortoiseshell, but smaller than large whites and peacocks. They’re mainly a butterfly of southern England and south Wales but are expanding their range north and east.

The grassland of the reserve’s south-facing bank is without a doubt one of the best places in Yorkshire to see these delightful, distinctive, monochrome beauties, frequenters of rich flower meadows.

Now is a great time to see them, along with other butterflies including the tiny dingy skipper, and two orange-and-brown species, the wall and gatekeeper. They are especially attracted by the stunning chalk grassland flowers including pyramidal orchids, harebells, bladder campion and bird’s-foot trefoil, which grow in abundance here.

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust grazes grassland reserves with Hebridean sheep over winter and this conservation grazing helps to keep the plant species thriving, which in turn support the abundance of butterflies and other insects on the reserve.

 

Visiting Kiplingcotes

The reserve is open all year round and is a short walk from the car park off Spring Road, north-east of Market Weighton. It’s mostly flat, easy walking, but can be uneven underfoot, and the steep bank is unsuitable for pushchairs or wheelchairs.

For a longer walk, it’s about a five-mile round trip on foot to Market Weighton along the old railway track of the Hudson Way.