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| One of the larger sandhills at the site off Roman Road in Meols |
Roman Road Sandhills is 7 acre site in Meols which is managed by the Friends of Roman Road Sandhills. On Midsummer morning, Saturday 21st June, 32 people enjoyed our guided walk around the area. They saw the work done this year to remove invasive, non-native shrubs and restore the dune grasslands for pollinators.
The Roman Road Sandhills is fortunate to be one of the 15 sites across Wirral to receive funding for grassland restoration, as part of Wirral Council’s Pollinator Strategy. Earlier this year, four areas of invasive shrub were scraped and reseeded with a coastal wildflower mix. Volunteers also planted 1,300 dune wildflower plugs in a depleted grassland area.
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| An area where invasive scrub had been removed and the soil scraped away to reveal the underlying sand, before seeding with a wild flower mix |
A large number of
butterflies and other invertebrates have been recorded at the Sandhills and
many depend on the dune grassland flora.
Highlights seen during the walk included mating Small White butterflies, Small Skipper and Large Skipper butterflies and the first sighting on this site of a Ringlet butterfly, bringing the total butterfly species seen on site to 20.
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| Ringlet butterfly sighted at Roman Road Sandhills for the first time |
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| The hole of a Sandpit Mining Bee (zoom in and you might just be able to see the bee's behind!) |
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| Lady's Bedstraw |
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| Fumitory |
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| Sea Rocket |
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| Mallow |
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| Evening Primrose |
Some plants, like the tree lupin, were covered in aphids - but that was a feast for the ladybirds.
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| One of the many ladybirds attracted to the aphid buffet on this tree lupin |
Thank you to the committee members of Friends of Roman Road Sandhills who showed us around the site!
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| Poplar |
If you would like to visit and explore Roman Road Sandhills yourself, start at the lectern alongside Roman Road, Meols (halfway down Roman Road, CH47 6AG)
What3Words: ///result.cheeks.donor
For more information see the Friends of Roman Road Facebook page
Or email romanroadsandhills@btinternet.com
(Photos by David and Laura Higginbottom)
