Thacka Beck Nature Reserve

Originally created to provide flood protection for Penrith, Thacka Beck Nature Reserve is now a thriving haven for wildlife. The reserve includes a diverse range of habitats, including hay meadows, wet grassland, scrubland, hedgerows, ponds, and a meandering beck.

Designed as a flood storage basin, the site helps manage local flooding by raising the water table and creating wet grassland on either side of the re-routed beck. Despite being bordered by an industrial estate on one side and a railway line on the other, the reserve supports an impressive variety of birdlife and other wildlife.

Since 2011, the Cumbria Wildlife Trust has managed the site on behalf of the Environment Agency, working to restore and enhance its habitats. When they took over, the two hay meadows were in poor condition, overgrown with tussocky grasses, nettles, and thistles. Careful annual hay cutting, controlled cattle grazing, weed management, and selective seeding have transformed the fields.

In summer, wildflowers bring bursts of colour, attracting pollinators like bees and butterflies. This, in turn, draws birds such as meadow pipits, siskins, and sedge warblers. By autumn and winter, the ripening seeds provide food for bullfinches and goldfinches.

Along the eastern edge of the flood storage basin, a mature hedgerow has been left to grow naturally, producing an abundance of fruit. In autumn and winter, bramblings, blackbirds, fieldfares, and redwings feast on sloes, haws, crab apples, and rosehips. Come spring, the same hedgerow provides nesting sites for blackcaps, robins, linnets, and chiffchaffs.

The reserve also attracts birds of prey, including sparrowhawks, buzzards, and kestrels, which hunt over the grassland. Occasionally, flocks of rooks and jackdaws can be seen mobbing them.

The ponds and scrapes scattered throughout the reserve support a variety of resident waterfowl, including mallards, goosanders, moorhens, coots, and greylag geese. In winter, they are joined by pintails and teals, while the wet areas also attract snipes, common redshanks, oystercatchers, and water rails.

During summer, the ponds come alive with swallows, house martins, and swifts, swooping low to catch insects. Keep an eye out for grey herons, patiently waiting by the beck to catch fish, and for reed warblers, dippers, and yellow wagtails along the water’s edge.

A half-mile surfaced path loops around the reserve, making it accessible for pushchairs and wheelchair users. Wheelchair-friendly kissing gates provide entry from Thacka Lane, Cowper Road, and Bowerbank Way.

While there is no designated car park, visitors can find on-street parking nearby. To protect the wildlife and grazing livestock, access to fenced-off areas is restricted.

Please note, dogs are welcome on Thacka Beck reserve but must be kept on a lead and are not allowed in the fenced-off areas.