Sandscale Haws, National nature reserve in Barrow-in-Furness, United Kingdom
Sandscale Haws is a 282-hectare reserve along the Duddon Estuary featuring expansive sand dunes and grassland habitats. The landscape supports birds, amphibians, and rare plant species that depend on these coastal and wetland conditions.
The site was once an industrial landscape with brick works and mining operations during the 1800s. It was later designated as protected land and is now managed by the National Trust to allow natural recovery.
The reserve functions as a refuge for species found nowhere else in the region, and walking through it shows how nature can thrive when protected from development. Visitors often notice the sense of stillness and the feeling that they are in a place set apart for wildlife rather than human use.
Access is via Hawthwaite Lane where parking is available and boardwalks connect to the beach and viewing areas. The terrain is relatively flat and easy to walk, though paths can become muddy after rain or slippery near tidal zones.
The reserve holds roughly one-fifth of the United Kingdom's Natterjack toad population, a small and stout amphibian found mainly in sandy areas. It also harbors 15 rare fungi species that appear on conservation lists.
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