This summer, Cold Springs Community Nature Reserve in Penrith will start to show colourful signs of life, as wildflowers such as autumn hawkbit, betony and knapweed appear. This is thanks to groups of hard-working volunteers who’ve planted nearly 4,000 wildflower plug plants in recent months.

The 15 hectares of land at Cold Springs, our newest nature reserve, beneath Penrith Beacon, are being improved for wildlife, with a mosaic of grasslands, ponds, scrub (low shrubs) and trees.

These habitats will attract a wide range of wildlife, including pollinating insects, such as bumblebees, hoverflies and butterflies. The site will also be a great asset for the local community living in or close to Penrith. The Cold Springs steering group and volunteers are helping to transform this site from nature-depleted fields into a great space for nature.

People of all ages have taken part in tree-planting days, creating ‘scrubby corridors’ with longer vegetation, planting native species, such as hawthorn, blackthorn, hazel and elder. They’ve planted ferns in the hedgerow corridors, and woodland-edge species of wildflowers such as red campion, wood sage, violets, harebell and tufted vetch will be added to attract pollinating insects. 

The ‘scrubby’ corridors along the old hedge-lines will provide shelter for smaller animals and birds, and the blossom will provide nectar and berries later in the year. Fallen dead wood has been left in these corridors to benefit insects, and bare ground around tree roots and rabbit holes is also good habitat for mining bees.

Several ponds have been created on the site, to attract a wealth of species, including damsel and dragonflies, frogs and newts. The grass has grown much longer and now forms tussocks, good for insects and small mammals to roost, rest and hide in.

There are also plans underway for accessible paths, a community orchard and wildlife garden.

There are over 11,000 more plug plants to be put in at Cold Springs later this year – more volunteers are welcome. If you’d like to take part, keep an eye on our Events page for more planting days this summer.

Cold Springs was given to Cumbria Wildlife Trust by Ann Clark in memory of her husband Brian, to develop it for nature and people. We're working in partnership with Eden Rivers Trust and Penrith Town Council, to link up green spaces through the Access to Eden Project.

Made possible by money raised by National Lottery players, Access to Eden: breaking barriers, building bridges will remove the barriers that prevent people and wildlife from accessing the natural heritage of East Cumbria and ‘build the bridges’ needed so that they enjoy and thrive in, on and beside Eden’s rivers.

Creation of the pollinator habitat at Cold Springs is funded by Network for Nature. This is a £6.18 million programme managed by the Royal Society for Wildlife Trusts and funded through National Highways’ Environment and Wellbeing Designated Funds programme.