Introducing Art to the Butterfly Park

Cleaver Heath bracken removal

Cleaver Heath before bracken removal

The January task was to clear bracken that was swamping the regenerating heather and from the 'before' and 'after' photographs below (taken by Anne Litherland) you can see what a grand job the volunteers did.

Cleaver Heath after bracken removal

The next workday is Sunday 3rd February. Meet at the reserve on Oldfield Road, Heswall at 10 a.m.

Map of location

Stout footwear and waterproofs recommended, and volunteers should bring a packed lunch if staying for the whole session, which ends between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.

Further details from Mike Maher, email or telephone 0151 342 4249.

Prize Quiz deadline

Don't forget that the deadline for submitting entries to our 50th Anniversary Prize Quiz is January 31st.

Download the quiz questions and instructions

Hoylake Beach

Blog readers may have seen or heard press items about the future of the beach at Hoylake, in particular whether the efforts to remove the grass should continue or not. We have put forward the case that the rising beach levels are a natural process, carrying on the accretion in the Dee estuary that has been continuous since the last Ice Age, and is getting increasingly expensive to fight.

Allowing the development of salt marsh and sand dune, as in our Red Rocks nature reserve, would benefit plants, invertebrates and Natterjack toads. It might remove a part of the feeding area for of the waders, so would not be all gain. Can people who live locally, or know the area well, please take the time to read items put up by Hoylake Village Life on the websites below? The Hoylake Village Life people are trying to stimulate a sensible conversation locally about the issue. Please join in the conversation, either on line or at public meetings organised by Hoylake Village Life.

www.hoylakevision.org.uk

www.hoylakevillage.org.uk

www.hoylakejunction.com

Landscape Warden Event

The next Landscape Wardens event will take place on Saturday 19th January in Ellesmere Port. This will be a practical session when we will undertake some tree and hedgerow planting and other conservation tasks. There will also be session with Jeff Clarke on invasive species, which is an increasingly common problem of landscape management throughout Cheshire.

The event will take place at Rivacre Valley Local Nature Reserve in Ellesmere Port. Rivacre Valley LNR has over 400 acres of mixed deciduous woodland and wildflower meadows and follows the course of Rivacre Brook. There are some issues regarding invasive species at Rivacre too. View a map showing the location of Rivacre.

Meet at the Ranger cabin next to the car park at 10 a.m. The event will be concluded by 4 p.m.

The event is free to attend. Lunch and refreshments will be provided so please let me know if you are coming along for catering purposes. Telephone 01928 518018 or email. Please wear suitable clothing including sturdy footwear.

Best wishes,

Katie Lowe

Chief Executive

Cheshire Landscape Trust

A Green Beach at Hoylake?

Wirral Wildlife has responded to Council proposals to save money by cutting back on beach and park maintenance. Our Conservation Officer Hilary Ash was quoted in the Liverpool Echo on 31st December, explaining that cessation of beach spraying would more likely lead to sand dune creation, rather than silting up as at Parkgate.

Hilary can also be heard on Radio Merseyside on Friday 4th January just after 7 a.m. You can listen to the interview for up to a week from broadcast through the Radio Merseyside website, one hour and 8 minutes into the show.

National Tree Week

Saturday 24th November - Sunday 2nd December

Recent events have confirmed that the view across the countryside and in our towns is set to change faster than anyone could have expected.  In recent years, pests and diseases have started to threaten some of our most loved trees, such as oak and horse chestnut, but the spread of Chalara fraxinea (ash dieback) and the anticipated devastation of the UK population of ash trees has left everyone considering what the next steps should be. 

National Tree Week was launched in 1975 to maintain the tree planting momentum to replace the losses resulting from Dutch elm disease, which had already wiped out more than 20 million of our most significant landscape trees.  The Tree Council has run the festival every year since, encouraging everyone to celebrate the tree planting season in a variety of ways, not least of which is by planting more trees.  This year, once again, the landscape is being altered. We are facing losses that will change the view out of our windows, from town pavements, country footpaths and across fields and woods. Since trees make a difference to so many aspects of life, wildlife and biodiversity – and that includes people – will be affected. We need to act to change our view, both figuratively and literally.

“Anyone with land of their own, whether a garden, woodland or field, can make a difference to their view by adding a tree”, said Pauline Buchanan Black, Director-General of The Tree Council. “This year, though, the campaign carries particular significance as we look for ways to minimise the impact of ash dieback and carefully consider what to plant. Rising concern about tree diseases has also reminded us of the importance of checking not only where the seed of their tree started life, but also where it was germinated and grown. Not since Plant A Tree in ’73 has there been the same urgency to safeguard a view for the future”.

Alasdair Douglas, Chair of The Tree Council, added “It is almost exactly 40 years since Secretary of State for the Environment Peter Walker stood up in the House of Commons and announced that the following year was to be designated National Tree Planting Year. This was the Government initiative to encourage the planting of new trees to replace those millions killed by Dutch Elm Disease. The Tree Council was formed from that initiative and has been running National Tree Week ever since. We couldn’t have foreseen that we’d be faced with the losses from a tree disease of similar epidemic proportions just as we go in to National Tree Week but this seems a timely moment to ask the public to think carefully about what will happen to their view and what they will do to restore it for future generations.”

Visit The Tree Council's website for details of local events and tips on tree planting and aftercare. Event information is also available from the Tree Council infoline, 020 7940 8180 (during office hours).