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In Strid Woodland, an SSSI of importance

Not surprisingly, in 1985 the wood was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) under the terms of a management agreement with the Nature Conservancy Council, for it contains the largest area of acidic oak woodland and the best remnant of oak wood pasture in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Being an upland site favours the native sessile oak, which can be identified by the lack of a stalk supporting the acorns. Unlike the English, or pedunculate oak, the sessile oak can thrive on the wetter, less fertile acidic soils of the north.

Strid Wood Conservation Area is renowned for its wealth of plants and animals. Most of the trees are broadleaved, either sycamore or beech, the largest of which are between 250 and 300 years old. In addition, there is about 10 per cent ash, 6 per cent birch and a small number of oak. The ornithologist will discover as many as 62 species of nesting bird, while naturalists interested in lichen will find Strid Wood to be unrivalled in Yorkshire, with over 80 species, twice as many as elsewhere. Other surveys list 5 bat species, 97 species of fungi, 40 of Mollusca, 41 of liverworts and 98 mosses, many rare or very local in distribution. Altogether a remarkable place.