AN IDEA by manager of Watchtree Nature Reserve will see a tasty new chapter be unveiled at the charity.

Ryan Dobson had been hoping to have an outside burger shack at the reserve, near Wiggonby, for years, but said Covid has forced their hand.

Last year they couldn't open the cafe, so Hallsford Farm produce ran a burger shack out of one of their buildings, but they need to keep that building for educational purposes, so now they have hired a shack off Jo Beaumont.

Jo has worked with the nature reserve for several years for rehabilitation, after having a bad climbing accident, including using their specially adapted bikes.

If 'The Shed' works well they will consider buying one permanently. Ryan said they are keeping food miles low, with Mullholland butchers from Low Orton supplying the meat. The Shed will predominantly sell bacon and sausage sandwiches, but there will also be specials and a quality vegetarian option too.

They want the shack to be quirky. Ryan said: "Part of the challenge has been finding a suitable staff member, creating a new job out of this is another bonus in the current climate. It's important that The Shed is going to be quirky and different - it needs to be someone who can take ownership of it for the season."

He is hoping to hear of possible funding for the project from Cumbria Community Foundation.

The Shed will be open from early May. Visitors or people interested in applying for the position can find the details on the Watchtree Nature Reserve website.

Visitors to the reserve can use the car park, walk around the reserve, use the bikes and use the cafe's takeaway service. They are confident that trade will return this year.

Ryan said: "The first three months of this year were really hard, we were open but not trading and survived on donations, but we are an outside business and post-Covid times we are best placed for moving everything outdoors. Although it's been tough over the last 12 months I am really confident in the ability to bounce back."

He added that one of their Covid control's is to actively manage their car park and will only allow 70 cars in at once, visitors coming on a sunny day may find a queue as they will then operate a one-in one-out policy.