By BBC Wildlife Magazine

Published: Thursday, 15 December 2022 at 12:00 am


To celebrate BBC Wildlife magazine’s 60th birthday, we asked 60 people from our wonderful network of writers, presenters, photographers and conservationists to share their favourite places in the UK for wildlife, including Yorkshire and Humberside.

Beautiful Yorkshire and neighbouring Humberside are famous for the untamed beauty of its moors, hills and dales, all teaming with wildlife.

Vote for the one you love the most from the list below.

(Voting at closes midnight 10 March 2023)

Our favourite wildlife destinations in Yorkshire and Humberside

Rodley Nature Reserve, Leeds

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Sunset at Rodley Nature Reserve. © Getty Images
Nestled between Horsforth and the River Aire, Rodley is a dragonfly and damselfly hotspot on the edge of the city. At least 18 species have been recorded here, with jewels such as banded demoiselle, emperor and four-spotted chaser
Pam Taylor, trustee of British Dragonfly Society

Bempton Cliffs, Yorkshire

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© Getty Images
I love a seabird – and you can’t beat a gathering of ocean wanderers at breeding time. My favourite spot for this spring spectacle is RSPB Bempton Cliffs, where clifftop paths get you up-close to gannets, and viewing platforms provide a glimpse of thousands of nesting guillemots and razorbills on the cliff-face. It’s a full-on assault of the senses!
Sheena Harvey, editor of BBC Wildlife, 2015-2019

Hackfall, Yorkshire Dales

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© David Rodway
I’ll never forget my first visit to Hackfall – a wooded gorge full of crumbling ruins – in 1989. I took in the views of the North York Moors, I wandered amid the ferns of Grewelthorpe Beck and I walked the River Ure, the haunt of kingfishers and dippers. I’ve explored it all now, but it’s a place I could never tire of.
Mark Feather, UK estate manager at the Woodland Trust

Goredale Scar, Yorkshire Dales National Park

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© Getty Images
There are places you go for grand spectacle, and others where the wonder is in microcosms. The Yorkshire Dales offers superlatives of both. Then there are the scars – enormous, water-worn ravines with a distinctly Middle Earth vibe. Perhaps the most epic of these is Goredale, with two cascading waterfalls, tenacious yews, carpets of luxuriant mosses and one of the most thrilling public footpaths in England. As you explore, listen and look out for curlews, lapwings, golden plovers, peregrines and brown hares.
Amy-Jane Beer, naturalist and author