A NEW larger car park and visitor entrance has been unveiled at the Smardale Nature Reserve at Kirkby Stephen.

Cumbria Wildlife Trust has also created an accessible walkway linking the new car park to the original entrance to Smardale Gill 300 metres away.

The new car park is part of a project to link two - Smardale Gill and Waitby Greenriggs - of CWT's nature reserves together and they are now known collectively as Smardale Nature Reserve. The linking land was bought thanks to a generous donation from Michael and Elizabeth Lamb of Orton.

The new car park was made possible thanks to grants from LEADER, the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority sustainability fund and the Eden Community Fund.

The new car park will also feature railway-style cabins where visitors can find information explaining the beautiful wildlife that can be seen at Smardale Nature Reserve, such as the Scotch argus butterfly, orchids and red squirrels. A red squirrel feeding station and rope bridge will be built behind the visitor cabins which will act as a hide.

David Harpley, conservation manager at Cumbria Wildlife Trust said: “Smardale Nature Reserve is an important wildlife habitat. It is one of the only two sites in England home to the Scotch argus butterfly, red squirrels forage for hazelnuts here and there are 200 plant species including rare and beautiful orchids.

"The new car park and visitor information will make it much easier and more enjoyable for people to access the nature reserve.”