Town Quay
Town Quay flowerbeds have been planted as a mix of wildflowers to provide a crucial bee-line as part of the Get Cumbria Buzzing network of pollinator friendly locations, and herbaceous perennials to complement the nature corridor linking Derwent Howe with Oldside and Brow Top.
The wildflower beds have been planted specifically with kidney vetch and birds-foot trefoil to provide a food plant for Britain’s smallest butterfly, the small blue.
The herbaceous borders contain herbs, lavenders and hebes, as well as coastal plants such as sea campion, sea aster, and sea holly.
2020 has proved a successful year for many pollinators visiting the flowerbeds, which have been humming with bees, hover flies, common blue butterflies and whites. The gravel beds have been chiming with grasshoppers and have been a great location for the thriving ladybird population, which seem very suited to completing their life cycle there.
The red and black cinnabar moths have made use of the self-seeded ragwort, as a food plant for their orange and black caterpillar – a real success story for an urban, visitor accessible location.
The flower beds are tended on a seasonal basis, by Workington Nature Partnership staff and volunteers, to weed, prune and maintain the gravel mulching.
Visiting
Access is free all year round.
Parking is free.