Langdon Beck road verges are a mixture of species-rich grassland, featuring knapweed, quaking grass and raspberry, and wet grassland with willow scrub, supporting devil’s-bit scabious, sneezewort and soft rush. 

Seasonal highlights

This is a brilliant site for bumblebees, with moss carder and bilberry bumblebee queens emerging in spring and broken-belted bumblebees found through the summer. Blotch-winged droneflies visit devil’s-bit scabious during late summer while in autumn pink-barred sallow moths can be found among the willows.

• Car parking: lay-by, near Langdon Beck Hotel, B6277, County Durham, DL12 0XP
• Grid reference: NY 85321 31186
• Survey route length: 2 miles
• Terrain: the route follows a tarmacked road with moderate traffic.