Sun Lane & Beyond #1: What a Tip!
Note: the cache was previously called simply 'What a Tip!' but has now been incorporated into the Sun Lane and Beyond (SLB) Series.
The cache, a camo-taped preform tube, is the 1st of a 10-cache series circuiting through some fine countryside to the west of Burley-in-Wharfedale. It starts & finishes near the lovely small but species-rich Sun Lane Nature Reserve (SNLR), which as a specially protected area does not have any caches itself. As well as these caches, the trail takes you past a further 3 caches of other owners and 4 caches in the Ilkley East Wander series giving a potential total of 17. Five existing caches (including this one) have been renamed to incorporate them into the series together with the 5 new ones.
The 4.5km circuit can be completed in 2-3 hours allowing for easy pace & periodic stops for caches | admiring the view | birdwatching | photos | refreshments. See an 1851 map of the area below.
It starts down a lane skirting the shady eastern edge of the Reserve before emerging into grassy cow pastures which it crosses to reach the busy A65 Skipton - Otley main road. After a short stretch along the road, the trail heads along a public footpath back into the countryside, passing under the railway before climbing up a grassy trail and across the fields to the retirement complex at the top of Ben Rhydding Drive. From there it skirts the northern edge of the complex before heading down across the fields, along a short stretch of country lane and down more fields to a level crossing and down a lane back to the Reserve.
For a Map with caches and parking locations, see the Gallery.
The cache, a small camo-taped tablet pot, is hidden at the side of the lane which accesses the lovely Sun Lane Nature Reserve. It can be done as a quick park ‘n’ grab or as part of the series, but either way I recommended exploring the reserve if you have a free 40-60 minutes.
To reach the cache location: at N 53 54.887 W 1 45.164 on Main Street, Burley-in-Wharfedale turn west onto Sun Lane and follow this for some 700m to the road-side parking at N 53 54.874 W 1 45.687 which is only ~20m from the cache.
For alternative series access parking spots, see the Waypoints.
Sun Lane Nature Reserve
This popular 12-acre site is predominantly flower-rich grassland with peripheral trees, scrub and a small watercourse. Around 350 plant and 25 butterfly species have been recorded here as well as dragonflies, damselflies, and a range of birds, amphibians and small mammals.
It is on the site of the old Village/Council Tip which was used for much of the 20th Century until its closure in 1975. Mounds of domestic waste had risen to a height of ten feet or more before it was finally grassed over.
With the adjacent lane, it rapidly became a wonderful site for wild flowers and butterflies. Then, in 1993, disaster struck when toxins began to leak into the local stream and from this into the Wharfe. Emergency action was needed by site owners Bradford Council and the £1 million restoration solution was drastic. The site was completely cleared and reshaped by huge earth moving machines, a special membrane was installed to encase the hillside and an anti-pollution system installed incorporating a pumping system which moved the water through a series of purifying reed-beds to a large pond at the foot of the slope.
For a while the site looked a complete mess, but nature is great at regeneration, and soon plants and animals 
re-colonised the site in a remarkable way. In 2003 a group of volunteers took over the maintenance of the area and have since actively managed it in collaboration with Bradford Council.
The Council, in consultation with Natural England, designated the site a Local Nature Reserve (LNR) at the beginning of 2011. It opened in June 2011 and is now run by the Burley Village Wildlife Group under management agreement with the Council and supported by a variety of local organisations.
It is intended to ensure that the Reserve continues to develop its diversity of flora and fauna. The flowers in particular are notable. The rounded heads of purple Self Heal float in sheets of brilliant yellow Bird’s-foot Trefoil, a plant encouraged at Sun Lane to attract Common Blue butterflies. Brown butterflies – Ringlets and Gatekeepers - are also present in good numbers on warm sunny afternoons.
Other notable flower species occurring in the reserve include:
near the top gate: Sea Holly (normally a plant of sea-side shingle with contrasting tones of light and dark turquoise), Viper’s Bugloss (intense blue spikes)
in the pebble-filled gully which crosses the reserve: Red Campion, Purple Loosestrife, pink and white Musk Mallow, yellow Evening Primrose, V
iper’s Bugloss
along the field edges: Rosebay Willowherb
throughout the reserve: Meadow Crane’s-bill, Herb Robert, Shining Crane’s-bill, Cut-leaved geranium and several different garden escapees.
As reported in a local paper 2013, over 70 local people had dedicated around 5,000 hours of their time to maintaining and improving the nature reserve under the leadership of Peter Riley, President of Wharfedale Naturalists’ Society, and the watchful eye of Freda Draper, a local naturalist who has known the site for many years.
Work has included keeping the streams clear and flowing, controlling encroaching scrub, improving paths and maintaining habitats to maximise the biodiversity of the site. Lists have been drawn up of flowers, butterflies, moths, birds and other animals on the reserve so visitors can see what an important resource the village has.
Bird tables at the reserve are kept well-stocked for wild songbirds to supplement their natural diet and enable visitors to see them, and notice board is updated with details of plants and creatures to be seen on the reserve.