Our Reserves

Wyver Lane

(Grid reference SK345493)

Location: North of Belper

Nearest Town:  Belper

Grid reference:  SK 345493  (OS Landranger 119 Buxton & Matlock)

How to get there: From the A6 turn onto the A517 Ashbourne road. Turn right onto Belper Lane and then right again onto Wyver Lane.

Access: There is no access onto the reserve but you can watch the wildlife from the lane or from the Trust's hide. A permit is required for the hide. This is free to Trust members who should telephone the Trust to be issued with a code; non-members can purchase a permit for access to all permit-only sites at a cost of £12.

Lying next to the River Derwent, Wyver Lane is one of the Trust's most important wetland reserves. It is within the Derwent Valley World Heritage Site and is a lovely place to visit, with the surrounding hills making a great setting for a walk.

The reserve has many resident bird species, including Canada geese, tufted duck and little grebe. Throughout the year, many more species visit, from waders such as curlew and common sandpiper passing through in spring, to birds which breed here such as lapwing.

Large numbers of gulls visit the reserve during winter - they are mainly black headed gulls, but you may also see common, herring, lesser and greater black backed gulls. They are joined by wildfowl escaping the icy north. In really cold conditions, numbers of duck species such as wigeon can reach more than 100.

The reserve is one of the few remaining areas of wet grassland in the mid-Derwent Valley and is the only site with large enough areas of undisturbed grassland for wigeon to overwinter. To ensure that the many bird species continue to thrive here there is no access onto the reserve.