When it all comes together – the funding, the partners, the volunteers – something rather wonderful can happen and so it has at the new National Trust Sandilands Nature Reserve on the Lincolnshire coast. Formerly a golf course, this is now a 38ha wetland site, creating new habitats for wildlife and a welcoming place for people too.
The National Trust now care for around 900 miles of the English coastline and the work at Sandilands has been done to their usual high standard. Paths are fully accessible, there are EV charging points and a Changing Places toilet. A café is of course vital and this one, called The Flyway has just opened. It sits in the landscape beautifully, designed to be very sustainable, the building generates more energy than it uses. Sit cosily inside and view the whole site through its fully glassed frontage or sit on the chunky oak benches on the terrace outside. The reserve is Two-Pawprint rated so ideal for dog walking.
A network of ponds, open water and wetland habitats have been created together with wildflower-rich meadows. The summer of 2026 hasn’t been ideal for filling those new ponds but no doubt the rain will come. Over 200 hard working volunteers have planted more than 6,500 native plants helping to create those new habitats. Avocet chicks hatched at Sandilands for the first time this year so their arrival is an encouraging sign that they find the place to their liking!
The Sandilands Nature Reserve will be one to watch as it develops and matures over the next few years and is sure to be a real asset for the Lincolnshire coast.
