Burnfoot River Shingle and Wydon Nabb facts for kids

Burnfoot River Shingle and Wydon Nabb is a special natural area in Northumberland, North East England. It's called a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). This means it's a very important place for its unique plants, animals, or geology.

The Burnfoot River Shingle part is a special type of grassland found along the River South Tyne. The plants here are unusual because they can grow in soil with high levels of natural heavy metals. Wydon Nabb is a steep hillside or cliff. It shows a cool rock formation called the Haltwhistle Dyke. This is a hard, dark rock that pushed its way through softer sandstone and shale millions of years ago.

Where is Burnfoot River Shingle and Wydon Nabb?

This special site is in the south-west part of Northumberland. It's about 1.4 kilometers (0.9 miles) south-west of the town of Haltwhistle.

The Burnfoot River Shingle section covers about 1.3 kilometers (0.8 miles) of the River South Tyne's banks. It sits about 120 meters (394 feet) above sea level. This part of the site is quite large, covering 17.9 hectares. Wydon Nabb is a steep slope at the north-east end of the site. It drops from 148 meters (486 feet) down to the river.

What is the Geology of Wydon Nabb?

Wydon Nabb is important for its geology, which is the study of rocks and how the Earth is formed. It's a south-facing cliff above the river. One part of this cliff shows a 6-meter (20-foot) wide intrusion. This is where hot, melted rock, called magma, pushed into existing rocks.

This melted rock then cooled and hardened. It formed a type of igneous rock called dolerite. This dolerite cut through the softer, flat layers of sedimentary rock like sandstone and shale. This rock formation is known as a dyke. It's called the Haltwhistle Dyke, named after the nearby town.

The Haltwhistle Dyke is part of a much bigger rock formation called the Whin Sill. The Whin Sill is also an igneous rock. It formed when magma pushed up through cracks in the Earth's crust. This happened about 295 million years ago. These cracks were caused by the movement of tectonic plates.

What Plants Grow Here?

The Burnfoot River Shingle is important for its unique plants. It has special grasslands on both sides of the River South Tyne. The river flows through an area where there used to be a lot of mining. Because of this, high levels of heavy metals have built up in the river's gravel and soil.

Many plants can't grow in these conditions. But a special group of plants can! These plants are tolerant to metals. You can find plants like alpine penny-cress (Thlaspi alpestre), spring sandwort (Minuartia verna), and mountain pansy (Viola lutea). You might also see common scurvy-grass (Cochlearia officinalis agg.) and thrift (Armeria maritima).

The site has different types of plant homes, called habitats. Some parts of the gravel have less metal. Here, you'll find short grasses like sheep’s fescue (Festuca ovina). Taller grasses, like false oat-grass (Arrhena therum elatius), also grow here. You might also spot common knapweed (Centaurea nigra).

Some plants that usually grow on limestone are also found here. These include kidney vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria), purging flax (Linum cathartica), and small scabious (Scabiosa columbaria).

Trees like downy birch (Betula pubescens), common sallow (Salix caprea), and alder (Alnus glutinosa) grow in some areas. Underneath them, you might find the narrow-lipped helleborine (Epipactis leptochila). This plant is special because it often grows in metal-rich areas in Northumberland. It's not common in other places.

At the edges of the site, there are woodlands. These woods have trees like ash (Fraxinus excelsior), hazel (Corylus avellana), and sessile oak (Quercus petraea).

In pools left by the changing river, you can find water crowfoot (Ranunculus aquatilis) and water plantain (Alisma plantago-aquatica). Nearby wet areas, called fens, have plants like horsetail (Equisetum fluviatile), bottle sedge (Carex rostrata), and meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria).

Site Condition

In 2011, experts looked at the Burnfoot River Shingle. They found its condition was "unfavourable-declining." This means it was not doing as well as it should be. One reason is that invasive species are growing there. These are plants that are not native and can take over. Also, there are lower levels of heavy metals in the river now. This is because most mining in the area has stopped. This change in metal levels affects the special plants that need them. More help is needed to protect this unique habitat.

Wydon Nabb, the rocky cliff part, was in "favourable" condition in the same year. This means it was healthy and well-preserved.