News Story
Bradford Pennine Gateway is one of the King’s Series of new National Nature Reserves (NNR). The NNR covers eight sites across Bradford, one of which is Penistone Hill County Park, located on the moors just above the Museum. Others included are: Ilkley Moor, Baildon Moor, Shipley Glen, Trench Meadows, St Ives Estate, Harden Moor and Bingley Bog North.
National Nature Reserve status is given to the very best nature conservation sites in England and is recognition that the land is nationally important and will be managed for its wildlife and geology.
The declaration of the Bradford Pennine Gateway National Nature Reserve is a huge step for Nature recovery, not just in Yorkshire but the country as a whole. This breathtaking landscape of heaths, hills meadows and peat is of great national importance and sustains a huge variety of wildlife.
Bradford Pennine Gateway is one of the new King’s Series of National Nature Reserves and is the first in West Yorkshire.
- Size and scope: The reserve encompasses 1,274 hectares, with 738 hectares (58%) designated as Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)
- Habitat Protection: Approximately 90% of the area comprises UK priority habitats, including peat bogs, heathlands, and wetlands
- Biodiversity: Over 70 Biodiversity Action Plan species have been recorded, including curlew, golden plover, short eared owls, and adders, underscoring the reserve’s ecological significance
- New Protected Areas: 42% of the reserve will be newly protected, contributing to national conservation efforts.
Penistone Hill Country Park will also host ‘Wild Uplands’, a major new open-air art installation as part of Bradford's UK City of Culture 2025 celebrations, with the Brontë Parsonage Museum and Natural England as partners. The installation, running from May 24 to October 12 2025, features new artworks by four artists: Monira Al Qadiri, Meherunnisa Asad with Studio Lél, Vanessa da Silva, and Steve Messam. The artworks are inspired by the natural landscape, industrial heritage, and the potential future of the area in light of the climate crisis.
