South Solway Mosses National Nature Reserve

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Overview

South Solway Mosses NNR covers over 2,400 acres and is made up of three large lowland raised bogs: Bowness Common, Glasson Moss and Wedholme Flow. Local plant life includes a range of sphagnum species, hare’s-tail cotton grass, bog rosemary, cranberry, and cross-leaved heath. All three of the native species of the bright red sundew, which uses its sticky leaf pads to catch and eat insects, are also present. There is also a range of oddly shaped lichens such as the cup lichen and the red-tipped matchstick lichen. In summer you might catch sight of adders basking along the path and enjoy the sight of a sea of white as cotton grass, a specialist bog plant, produces its fluffy cotton wool seeds. Breeding birds found on the reserve include sparrowhawk, curlew, snipe and sedge and grasshopper warblers. Invertebrates and insects include large heath butterfly, bog bush cricket and banded demoiselle dragonfly.

Location

Powhill

About the area

Cumbria's rugged yet beautiful landscape is best known for the Lake District National Park that sits within its boundaries. It’s famous for Lake Windermere, England’s largest lake, and Derwent Water, ‘Queen of the English Lakes', but other lesser-known areas in the south, such as the Lune Valley and the coastal towns, are secret gems of wide cobbled streets and rolling hills.

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South Solway Mosses National Nature Reserve

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0300 060 6000

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South Solway Mosses National Nature Reserve

Recommended by

Overview

South Solway Mosses NNR covers over 2,400 acres and is made up of three large lowland raised bogs: Bowness Common, Glasson Moss and Wedholme Flow. Local plant life includes a range of sphagnum species, hare’s-tail cotton grass, bog rosemary, cranberry, and cross-leaved heath. All three of the native species of the bright red sundew, which uses its sticky leaf pads to catch and eat insects, are also present. There is also a range of oddly shaped lichens such as the cup lichen and the red-tipped matchstick lichen. In summer you might catch sight of adders basking along the path and enjoy the sight of a sea of white as cotton grass, a specialist bog plant, produces its fluffy cotton wool seeds. Breeding birds found on the reserve include sparrowhawk, curlew, snipe and sedge and grasshopper warblers. Invertebrates and insects include large heath butterfly, bog bush cricket and banded demoiselle dragonfly.

Location

Powhill

About the area

Area image

Cumbria's rugged yet beautiful landscape is best known for the Lake District National Park that sits within its boundaries. It’s famous for Lake Windermere, England’s largest lake, and Derwent Water, ‘Queen of the English Lakes', but other lesser-known areas in the south, such as the Lune Valley and the coastal towns, are secret gems of wide cobbled streets and rolling hills.

Explore Cumbria

Nearby places to stay

View all (8)

Powhill Cumbria Things To Do in Cumbria