A Duck’s Day Out — Low Barns Nature Reserve

A day for ducks, as they say, thus what could be more fitting than a leisurely stroll around a wetlands nature reserve.

The Durham Wildlife Trust’s Low Barns reserve is a worthwhile place to visit. Even in the rain. Nestled alongside the River Wear, it boasts woodlands, grasslands, marshes, and ponds. This assortment of habitats renders it a sanctuary for an array of bird species, mammals, insects, and flora.

Once a landscape of farmland and gravel extraction, the reserve has undergone a remarkable transformation. Formerly recognised as ‘The Batts’—a term indigenous to the Northern lexicon, denoting the low, flat grounds adjoining rivers¹Brockett, J.T., “A Glossary of North Country Words in Use; with their Etymology, and Affinity to other Languages; and Occasional Notices of Local Customs and Popular Superstitions”, E. Charnley, 1829, https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=6-cQAAAAYAAJ.—it was reborn as a nature reserve in 1964. Notably, the reserve supplanted an antiquated sewage treatment facility with a reedbed area, particularly conducive to wildlife.

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  Brockett, J.T., “A Glossary of North Country Words in Use; with their Etymology, and Affinity to other Languages; and Occasional Notices of Local Customs and Popular Superstitions”, E. Charnley, 1829, https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=6-cQAAAAYAAJ.