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Catcliffe Flash LNR
An open stretch of water formed as a result of subsidence and surrounded by a well-developed area of marshland and willow-carr, covering an area of 12ha. Beyond the carr grassland stretches to the river.
The LNR is immediately west of Treeton Lane, Catcliffe. Treeton Lane has a lay-by.
The flash is washland for the River Rother and the water level can rise very quickly with rainfall. The present depth of the flash is thought to be 3 to 4 feet. It provides relatively undisturbed areas for water birds to roost during the day, with many of them leaving to feed elsewhere at night. There was a steady decline in both wintering & breeding wildfowl during the early 1980s, due to the southern marsh drying out.
More recently the changes within the Flash have resulted in changes in the birds frequenting it. There are now more dabbling ducks than formerly but fewer diving ducks.
History of Catcliffe Flash
The 1892 Ordnance Survey Map has the whole area marked as 'liable to flood' and divided by dykes into 7 fields with flood banks along the River Rother and along the mill goit which took water from the Rother. Prior to 1900 the land was pasture but by 1903 the OS map showed a cricket pitch and pavilion to the southwest and a railway branch line on the east.
Mining of the Barnsley seam led to subsidence, which caused a drop of 1.5m across the whole site. By 1922 the cricket pitch had gone but the rail system had expanded. Mining of the Silkstone seam led to more subsidence of 1.1m across the site during the 1920s and 1930s. Mining of the High Hazels seam during the 1930s led to subsidence of 0.9m while mining of Parkgate seam led to a drop of 1m across the site. Flooding was clearly sporadic as the area now covered by Catcliffe Flash was sometimes dry.
Mining of the Furnace seam in the 1950's led to a drop of 0.65m, rather less in the northern part, and by 1957 the OS map shows a large pond covering the north-central part with a fringe of woodland. Mining of the Flockton seam in the 1960s & 1970s led to subsidence of 1m at the southern end.
Part of the site has been used for tipping waste from the steel industry prior to 1976. Mining of the Swallow Wood seam in the late 1970s and early 1980s caused 1m subsidence in centre of the Flash, spreading south and east. In total, 8 coal seams were worked between 1900 and 1980 with total subsidence c7m in the south and centre but only 5m at the north.
The new, raised, alignment of Treeton Lane formed the bank which is now the eastern boundary and the River Rother was straightened along the southwest edge in the early 1950s.
Catcliffe Flash was purchased by South Yorkshire County Council in December 1976 when it became surplus to requirements for tipping, and it was established as a Nature Reserve in 1978. It passed to RMBC as successor authority in 1986. The LNR was designated in 1993.
Catcliffe Flash Management
- Nature conservation is the management priority;
- To sustain the balance of habitat types;
- To maintain the balance between informal access and wildlife interest;
- To involve the local community in its care and management;
- Sustain existing areas of open water;
- Manage fish to provide healthy food chain;
- Sustain open water and marsh at S end with connecting channels and prevent further spread of willows into these areas;
- Manage a variety of emergent vegetation for nesting and roosting birds;
- Remove non-indigenous flora;
- Manage grasslands for botanical, entomological and vertebrate interests;
- Preserve reed bed;
- Sustain willow carr in NW with mixed age structure; discourage fishing, poaching and misuse by introducing bye-laws;
- Liaise with Environment Agency over management of grasslands and fish stocks and monitoring water quality;
- Investigate site access options; develop relevant interpretation;
- Involve local community groups in practical management;
- Establish research and monitoring schemes.
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  Plants at Catcliffe Flash (29k)
Animals at Catcliffe Flash (33k)
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