page_title: Hay-a-Park Gravel Pit
section_title: Maintenance
hierarchical_section_title: Hay-a-Park Gravel Pit / Maintenance
caption_attribution_description: Hay-a-Park nature reserve, adjacent to the east side of Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, England. This area has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI. The site has no main entrance, no visitor facilities and no car park. It has a large lake with a few smaller lakes at the south end of the site, some woodland, and some fields maintained by grazing. Showing the area around the large lake. This image features some items floating on the lake, and some of the branches reflected in it.
context_page_description: Hay-a-Park Gravel Pit is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, or SSSI, adjacent to the east side of the town of Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, England. Having been a disused and flooded quarry since the 1970s, it now consists of the large Hay-a-Park Lake and three smaller ponds, besides associated reedbeds, scrub, woodland and grassland. It was designated as a SSSI in 1995 because it supports a number of wintering birds, including a large flock of goosander. This site is "one of the most northerly inland breeding populations of reed warbler in Britain." Hay-a-Park was once part of a royal park, an early landowner being Edward II.
context_section_description: Although the former quarry pit Hay-a-Park Lake may be deep, Natural England recommends that the presence of any shallow water areas be maintained. This is for the benefit of wintering waders and feeding ducks and geese. Shallow waters allow aquatic plants to receive light, thereby allowing breeding conditions for dragonflies and damselflies. "Protection of appropriate water quality" is required, as is regulation of potential incoming water and sediment. "Bottom feeding coarse fish" must be removed, because they may "uproot plants and disturb sediments." "Appropriate nesting and feeding conditions are maintained" with regard to open land, scrub and reeded areas. "Recreational activities should be managed sympathetically to avoid conflict with the management of the waterbody for nature conservation," and "recreational use of woodland should be discouraged" should the site contain a heronry.
caption: Shallow water area at lake margin
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