In 2019 The Friends of Drinkfield Marsh were awarded £2000 to help restore an existing stone wall within their local nature reserve.
About Drinkfield Marsh Nature Reserve
Drinkfield Marsh is approximately 8 hectare; it is a beautiful local nature reserve surrounded by housing and industry, located to the north of Darlington. The site is an important, popular and attractive area of wild space.
The reserve has a large shallow pond, wetland area, with lots of tree and shrub areas. The site has 3 access points and offers an impressive 1 kilometre of routes making it very popular with dog walkers and families. There are many sightings of wintering birds, breeding reed warblers and a variety of wildfowl. The important reed beds offer a great habitat for water shrew, great crested newt and water vole. Drinkfield Marsh boasts a large variety of other bird and animal life at all times of the year.
The Friends of Drinkfield Marsh group was set up in 2011 by local residents who visited Drinkfield Marsh and had a common goal, to enjoy and help in the maintenance of the nature reserve. Due to council cut backs, the group was formed to help keep up the maintenance and improve the area for all visitors.
About the wall restoration project
The Friends of Drinkfield Marsh were awarded a £2000 grant to help restore an existing stone wall in the reserve. The stone wall was commissioned by Darlington Borough council about 15 years ago and was constructed by an artist called Keith Barrett. The 30m long wall is a great habitat for creatures and small mammals and is a great feature and key meeting point at the Marsh.
Unfortunately, over the years the timber became rotten and started to fall apart, a few sections had already been removed for safety. With financial support and a lot of hard work, the team have now successfully removed all the old timbers from the top of the wall and replaced all missing stones. It’s now been fully restored to its former glory!
Fantastic work guys!