A GOOD example of the potential offered by industrial areas is The Whinnies, right, now a Darlington Borough Council nature reserve.

Sections of The Whinnies, a long, thin stretch of land between the A67 and the railway line at Middleton St George, near Durham Tees Valley Airport, were part of an ironworks site in the late 19th and early 20th Century.

At its height, the Middleton works, which operated for less than 70 years, employed 300 people, had six blast furnaces and produced vast quantities of slag, on which part of the reserve stands. The site has since been allowed to grass over and has become home to many species of wildflowers.

The reserve supports three types of orchid, Northern marsh, spotted and fragrant, and yellow-wort, and butterflies that include the dingy skipper and clouded yellow.

Water vole have been seen along the beck that runs through the site and the ponds are home to dragonflies and amphibians.

Margaret Naismith, who lives near the reserve and has an interest in botany, said such areas were ideal habitats, if left undisturbed.

She said: "The mixture of rough ground and grassland supports a variety of wildflowers and wildlife. There are some species of plant that do not grow in areas of managed grassland."

Published: 21/06/2005