Brayton Barff Through the Seasons.
Set in the Vale of York, South West of the market town of Selby and between the villages of Thorpe Willoughby and Brayton, lies Brayton Barff, a sandstone Hill approximately one hundred and fifty feet in height which was formed by glacial movement during the last Ice Age. It is a significant landmark in an otherwise flat landscape.
Today the site is primarily owned by Yorkshire Water with Selby District Council owning a small patch of the land adjacent to the A63 Selby bypass. A large underground reservoir occupies the centre of the site which delivers water to around 4.7 million customers throughout Yorkshire.
Within the Barff woodland over 40% of the trees are Sessile Oak which are generally found in semi natural woodlands in the north of the country. These trees are so called because its acorns are not held on stalks, like those of the English Oak (Pedunculate), but attached directly to the outer twigs. There are also several English Oak trees as well as some cross-hybrid oaks. These trees are known to support many species of flora and fauna, invertebrates, mosses, lichen and fungi.
During the Victorian times it is thought that the shipbuilders on the east coast would come over to the Barff for selected cuts of timber to build their sea going vessels.
The Barff also has a variety of other trees including Silver Birch, Beech, Sycamore, Holly, Rowan, Scots Pine, Alder, Hawthorne and European Larch. There are also several Yew, Willow, Hazel, Horse Chestnut and Wych Elm. As with similar woodlands there are a variety of bushes, including Honeysuckle, Elderberry, Gorse, Broom and Buddleia.
The history of Brayton Barff is quite vague, apparently during 1803 a beacon was lit on the Barff when the country was threatened with an invasion by Napoleon. In May 1935, to celebrate King George V's Silver Jubilee, a Bonfire was lit on the Barff as part of the celebrations.
Early issues of Ordnance Survey Maps dated 1903 clearly show a rifle range on the Barff, extending out to Mill Lane. During the 
Second World War 1939-1945 a Prisoner of War Camp was built on the site. Today, nothing is left of these buildings less some areas to the South and West of the Barff where some of the brick foundations may be seen.
Between 2001 – 2004 the A63 Selby bypass, 10km twin lane single carriageway was constructed which severed the South West corner of the Barff, adjacent to Selby Golf Course and resulted in a slight redesign of several holes on the golf course. Wooden fencing was erected as a result of this new road running alongside of the Barff and a footbridge constructed over the ‘new road’ following the line of the Bridal way which extends from Mill Lane. Around 2005/2006 a definite 2metre wide limestone aggregate footpath was laid forming a circular path around the outer edges of the woodland. This footpath is approximately 1.2 miles in length and takes about 30 minutes to circumnavigate at a leisurely pace.
In 2012 the Barff was declared an Ancient Oak Woodland and as such throughout 2012 and 2013 significant work had been carried out by the relevant agencies to cut and remove large swathes of non-native trees, creating at that time huge scars on the landscape. Some three years later the planting of the native trees have become well established and are flourishing. Ongoing maintenance work on the footpath around the bottom of the Barff was completed during the Summer of 2016.
A second phase of woodland maintenance commenced during the Autumn of 2019 with the removal of many old and diseased trees and the cutting back of the Gorse and Broom bushes, especially adjacent to the ‘bypass trail’, this work continued through till March 2020 with re planting continuing into April 2020.
Brayton Barff is a popular site for walkers and bird watchers alike and a path circling the outer perimeter of the Barff makes a pleasant thirty minute walk, giving views looking over towards Selby and the village of Brayton as well as the power stations of Drax and Eggborough..jpg)
For the early risers it is a great place to see some stunning sunrises over the villages of Brayton looking towards Drax Power Station, the same with the Sunsets looking over towards Eggborough and Monk Fryston.
The Barff changes with the Seasons and every visit can reveal something new, the woodland is a haven for wildlife. Records show that since 1982 one hundred and twelve species of bird have been seen in the woodland and at least 40 of those have bred here, including Tawny Owl, Buzzard, Green Woodpecker, Spotted Flycatcher, Goldcrest and Nuthatch to name just a few. On average over 70 species of bird are recorded each year. Further details of the bird life on the Barff can be found on the Brayton Barff Group Facebook page, especially the posts from Derek Cooper. Today ‘The Friends of Brayton Barff group’ led by Derek and a small team of volunteers help keep and maintain the cleanliness of the site as well as recording the wildlife and bird sightings.
The Barff is also home to fifteen different species of mammals, including Muntjac Deer, Pipistrelle Bat, Fox, and Field Vole.
Over eighty species of plant and wildflowers have been recorded, included Bee Orchid, Northern Marsh Orchid, Wood Anemone, Marsh Ragwort, Bluebell, White Bluebell, Bittersweet and Purple and White Foxgloves. Over twenty species of Butterfly have been recorded, including Marbled White, Brown Angus, Speckled Wood, Comma and Brimstone.
During the Autumnal months fungi thrives in this woodland environment, species including Fly Agaric, Beefsteak Tree Fungi, Chicken of the Wood, Sulphur Tufts, Stinkhorn, Ink cap, Puffballs and Hoof Bracket are just some of the many varieties that can be found here.
Click on the galleries shown below to expand the albums.
Tuesday 31st March 2026
It was a dull, cloudy and overcast start to meteorological spring, with not as much rain as the previous month, and the Barff is starting to dry out a little.
I quite enjoy March as it brings with it the welcoming signs of Spring, I seem to have been constantly living in my waterproof winter clothing of late. Winter can seem endless at times with the shorter days and longer nights, I can understand how some people find it to be quite depressing, at least there is light at the end of the tunnel with lighter, and longer days and hopefully some more sunshine.
It is nice to see the Lesser Celandine starting to flower especially along the perimeter footpath, its bright yellow florets bringing some colour to the shadier parts of the woodland. It was good to hear and see the Chiffchaff return to the Barff on Tuesday 3rd, a true sign that Spring is finally here, hopefully more of our Spring visitors will start to arrive in the next day or so. The Greater Spotted Woodpeckers are becoming more vocal; I have heard them drumming away most mornings on the Oak and Silver Birch trees, especially around the car park area of the Barff. Birdsong is certainly becoming more vibrant of late. The early morning temperatures are getting slightly warmer at around 5c rising to around 10c by lunchtime. I don’t know if it is just me but I am noticing that many of the Barff’s Wood Pigeons are looking quite large and portly at the moment as they sit on the fence or lower branches of the trees cooing away, they certainly look quite comparable to the Tesco chicken that we have for our Sunday dinner! Some of our woodland ‘miner bees’ have started to emerge after their winter hibernation, I first heard them buzzing around amongst the undergrowth on Saturday 7th, they do not usually start to make an appearance till mid-April depending on the temperature and the availability of flowering plants, so it’s a little early, I’ll be keeping an eye on them as it won’t be uncommon for some harsher cooler winter weather to make a return as the month continues.
The second week of March was much drier, and the woodland was continuing to dry out nicely, Thursday 12th was an exceptionally windy day, with westerly winds reaching 28mph on the Barff, other than a lot kindling been blown down in the woodland, the vast majority of the trees escaped remarkably well. I saw and heard my first male bullfinch this morning, their "pew pew" call is what alerted me to them, that along with the Chiffchaff is a true sign that Spring is finally here. The Buzzard is becoming more active around the woodland, and I continue to hear and see it most days. Grey Squirrels are certainly becoming more active and can be seen most days running amongst the leaf litter and heard amongst the trees chattering away to their mates. Our wildflowers are growing nicely, especially Nettle, Wild Garlic, Hogweed, Foxglove, Cow Parsley, Garlic Mustard and two or three small patches of Wood Anemone. Lesser Celandine continues to flower nicely in the sunshine its tiny yellow floret’s not opening till it feels the warmth of the morning sun. Bluebells are just beginning to open along the eastern aspects of the Barff which catches the early morning sunlight.
The third week of the month saw the start of astronomical Spring, the Vernal Equinox, which marks the point when day and night are approximately equal in length, indicating the return of longer days and warmer weather! It was good to hear the Blackcap return to the woodland this week. The Blackthorn bushes along the bypass trail are a picture at the moment, towards the beginning of the week there were just a handful in flower, standing like beacons lighting the way on a dark night, but as the week came to an end the ‘beacons extend for several hundreds of yards, it looks as though it will be a good year for Sloe berries.
As the month draws to a close, we have seen a slight drop in the morning temperature with several overnight frosts and several foggy and misty mornings. The Bluebells continue to flower, though it will probably be towards the end of Easter week before they are anywhere nearest their best, depending on the weather of course. We have also seen a couple of days of strong winds, when the wind speed reached 25mph in the late afternoon, which brought several small trees down and lots of kindling which littered the woodland floor.
Bird song continues to be vibrant, and I am often hearing over twenty different species on my daily visits. The Nuthatch, Greater Spotted Woodpeckers and Song Thrush have been particularly vocal, other birds include Chaffinch, Robin, Mistle Thrush, Wren, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Song Thrush, and Dunnock to name just a few.
Giant Hogweed is getting taller along the perimeter footpath along with Cow Parsley, Garlic Mustard, Nettle, Creeping Buttercup, Bramble and Wood Anemone, although the Wood Anemone looks to have been eaten by either the Roe Deer which frequent the Barff or our very own Bank Voles or Mice. The Lesser Celandine has been flowering now for several weeks and is looking particularly colourful in the afternoon sunshine. Plenty of Spear Thistles are beginning to fatten out and grow upwards along with an abundance of Dock leaves. Dandelions are fattening out, and some have already flowered, It is good to see the Foxgloves are now beginning to shoot up.
I always like the sight of a freshly ploughed field, something which I probably inherited from several of my ancestors, (who were farmers) and the recent spell of drier weather has meant the farmers have been able to get on to the land, especially the fields surrounding the Barff and get them ploughed over and sown. The field with Oil Seed rape in is coming into flower.
Several members of the ‘Friends of Brayton Barff’ team along with the Yorkshire water rangers, and volunteers from the ‘Yorkshire Wildlife trust’ have just finished two days on the Barff, with displays, quizzes for children and adults alike, raising the visitors awareness of the Bluebells and the Barff in particular, reading some of the feedback from the weekend it seems to have been very beneficial and informative. I think following on from the success of this awareness weekend several more may be planned throughout the year, especially as visitor numbers to the Barff continues to increase with the rise in house building in surrounding villages of Brayton and Thorpe Willoughby.
I hope you have a Happy Easter weekend.
|
