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THE flatlands between York and Selby are steeped in historical importance. Ever since the Iron Age, the Humberhead Levels have seen a succession of settlements and a series of economic activities, all of which have left mankind's mark on the essential beauty of the natural landscape.

By The Newsroom

Published 14th May 2010, 21:44 BST

Updated 14th May 2010, 21:44 BST

In more recent times, the area has been host to RAF Riccall, which played a key role in bombing missions during the Second World War, while the village of Riccall itself was part of the enormous Selby coalfield, one of the largest deep coal-mining projects ever undertaken.

Now, however, a section of this area is at last being restored to the condition in which Iron Age man would once have recognised it. Skipwith Common is helping the area to make history once again, as the site of the first new National Nature Reserve in the Yorkshire and Humber region for 11 years.

These days, nature may need the help of Natural England to restore the

area to its state of lowland and wetland heath, but Skipwith Common's

huge variety of wildlife, and the visitors who will come to enjoy it, should be all the more thankful for that.