Hardwick Dene

Owned by Stockton Borough Council, this site was declared a Local Nature Reserve in March 2004. Comprised of two steep-sided beck valleys with an area of grassland in between, Hardwick Dene was once a timber plantation surrounded by fields. With the trees long since felled, and most of the fields covered by housing, the Dene has been left to regenerate naturally, with the result that it has become a mosaic of different habitats, and an oasis for wildlife.