A DONATION from an Orton couple has allowed two picturesque nature reserves within the Yorkshire Dales National Park to be joined up.

Thanks to the generosity of Elizabeth and Michael Lamb, land between the Smardale Gill and Waitby Greeniggs Nature Reserves was purchased by Cumbria Wildlife Trust.

The three areas now collectively form the Smardale Nature Reserve, which extends from Newbiggin-on-Lune almost as far as Kirkby Stephen.

Mrs Lamb, a former actress, said: “It was our diamond wedding anniversary and rather than have a party we wanted to do something that would benefit wildlife and the countryside.

“We love this place and we know there is a fantastically dedicated group of people looking after it.”

As well as providing a link between the two reserves, the land has provided space for information booths, a new boardwalk, and a car park which will help to stop people parking on roadside verges.

These visitor facilities were partly funded by the national park authority’s ‘Sustainable Development Fund’, which each year provides a total of £175,000 to help various projects in the area get off the ground.

Peter Woodhead, chairman of Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s Conservation Committee, said: “It [Smardale] is an unusual linear reserve and along its length there are many different habitats.

“It’s based on an industrial site - the old railway and lime kilns. When the industry moved out, wildlife moved in.

“It’s one of only two sites in England for the Scotch Argus butterfly. There are rare orchids and red squirrels.

“Joining up the two existing reserves will create a wildlife corridor and one of the key things ecologists say is that we must allow wildlife to move from one area to another.”