Bridging The Gap

Fiona Magerrell, Living Landscapes Officer North, Cheshire Wildlife Trust and her volunteer team bridged the gap between Heavy Oak Coppice and Lamperloons Coppice in Thornton Wood. The bridge will make it easier to get into the coppice with tools and also will make it easier to extract the coppiced crop of hedge stakes from the coppices.

Last time Lamperloons Coppice was cut, in the autumn of 2018, 464 hedge stakes were harvested. That is nearly 30 times we had to cross the ditch with the hedging stakes and finally with our tools. The bridge, made from reclaimed recycled plastic, will make it much safer and easier to cross. It will also be much easier for visitors when giving a guided tour around the wood. The next guided tour to view the ancient woodland flora is on Saturday 25th April at 2pm. This bridge was funded by money raised by the Wirral Wildlife Group, so please keep on coming to our excellent talks and buying raffle tickets!

Flora Locale Woodland Course

Dr Hilary Ash, Honorary Conservation Officer of Wirral Wildlife, is one of the Facilitators on a course called ‘Managing woodlands for ground flora’ that is being run by Flora Locale.

The course takes place on Wednesday 4th May in Bromborough.

It involves a visit to SSSI ancient woodland in a steep-sided valley, with species-rich ground flora including sheets of bluebells and wood anemones. Contrast this with secondary woodland and modified ancient woodland affected by 19th century cultivation. See the effects of beech and hornbeam on this ground flora, and the benefits of a small coppice area. Discuss the impact and control of Himalayan balsam.

All on made paths, but there are steep slopes, and a "tunnel" under the railway embankment. A torch may be helpful! Stout footwear needed.

Flora locale is committed to promoting and supporting good practice in ecological restoration projects.

For more details and to book a place go to the course information page on the Flora Locale website or send them an email.