The quiet and historic village of Middleton-St-George features a water park rich with wildlife and ideal for fishing and recreation, the nearby nature reserve The Whinnies, plus a couple of great local pubs, makes the area a perfect afternoon stop off.
Set between the Darlington to Stockton railway line and the A67, The Whinnies Local Nature Reserve covers five hectares and is home to rich grasslands, ponds and woodland. A former iron works site, today the western side of the reserve is home to red fescue, quaking-grass, yellow-wort, fairy flax, common bird’s-foot-trefoil, fragrant orchid, cowslip and agrimony.
The wildflowers attract a number of butterfly species including dingy skipper, common blue, small and large skipper and small copper. To the eastern side, a wetter grassland is home to ragged robin, devils bit scabious, great burnet, yellow flag, and sedge and rush species. Birds commonly spotted here include reed bunting, lapwing, curlew, skylark, tree sparrow, linnet, bullfinch, yellow hammer and kestrel. During the summer months the ponds are a great place to watch dragonflies and damselflies.
Middleton-St-George, DL2 1UL