Cowbar clifftop is an area of grassland to the north of Staithes village bordered by the Cleveland Way and the North Sea on one edge and a single track lane leading down to Cowbar Nab (and onwards to the Lifeboat Station) on the other. Cowbar lies on the border of North Yorkshire and East Cleveland with a history firmly in the alum and ironstone mining industries.
Its grassland was once agricultural land. Now it is home to a huge treasure of wildlife and plant life, including some rare and endangered species. Until few years ago it was seen as just a convenient place to park and camp and was badly mistreated. This website aims to catalogue, explore and raise awareness of the beauty and importance of the nature in this precious oasis, and to challenge any idea that it is just a bit of wasteland for the convenience of our vehicles.
If you spot any interesting wildlife at Cowbar or have any interesting photos (no people please) that you would like to share then please take a moment to send us a message through the Contact page and let us know about it!
The report below is from a study done by Katherine Knox while she was the Environment Ranger for Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council. She conducted a wildlife study in the summer of 2021 to identify species living on Cowbar. Move the cursor over the bottom of the document to reveal controls which let you move between pages and zoom the document for easier reading.