The Lindow Moss Landscape Partnership

The Lindow Moss Landscape Partnership

The Lindow Moss Landscape Partnership

The Lindow Moss Landscape Partnership was established in 2023 and exists to conserve, restore, and interpret the wider Lindow Moss landscape for the benefit of nature, climate, and people. It has a ten-year vision to provide a “Landscape in Recovery” by 2034.

The Lindow Moss Landscape Character Area (LCA) is an extensive peri-urban area of 470 hectares to the west of Wilmslow, and forms one of the largest former wetland landscapes in Cheshire. It supports a mosaic of valuable habitats including Lindow Common Local Nature Reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Newgate Nature Reserve and several designated Local Wildlife Sites. At the heart of the area is a former peat extraction site, or ‘cutover’ peat bog (Saltersley Moss),
which has been heavily worked but is now in the early stages of restoration.

Nature-for-health

Lindow Man
The torso and head of Lindow Man was found in 1984, during peat-cutting on Lindow Moss. A separate leg found nearby may be part of the same body, severed by peat-cutting machinery. A human skull and parts of a headless body were also found on separate occasions. Lindow Man was  deposited in what then would have been a very different wetland landscape around 2000 years ago.

Lindow Man was in his twenties when he was killed, possibly as part of a ritual sacrifice, before being deposited into the bog, where the same conditions that allowed peat to form preserved his body. Lindow Man brought national and international attention to the site and his discovery has been largely responsible for Lindow Moss being one of the most well researched lowland peat sites in the UK; with academics and students studying the peat with a focus on topography, soils, pollen and trees from the first formation of the bog to the modern day.

Lindow Man

Landscape and location
The Lindow Moss project is looking at peatland restoration on a landscape scale. The Lindow Moss Character Area (LCA; see Map 1) is defined in part by the historic extent of ‘Lindow Common’ (sic.) and the associated peat soils. Wetland habitats still characterise the LCA, from open water to mire and heathland to wet woodland. Despite pressures from fragmentation of habitats and a lack of connectivity, urban expansion and agriculture, Lindow Moss LCA represents a huge opportunity to improve the land for people, nature and climate.

The project area hosts an important collection of habitats, but also functions as a connecting site between the peatlands of the Greater Manchester Wetlands to the North, and the Cheshire Meres and Mosses to the South. The site also sits across three river catchments (Bollin, Mobberley Brook and Sugar Brook) and is part of the broader riparian corridor surrounding the river Bollin. At the centre of the LCA is Saltersley Moss, a now degraded peatland that has been an extraction site for centuries; for much of the twentieth century on an industrial scale. This is the biggest remanent of the historic Lindow Common (Map 2) and elements of the underlying peats remain, although historic and ongoing anthropogenic pressures means that the soils and hydrology are heavily degraded.

Locally, the project redline boundary encompasses the parishes of Wilmslow, Mobberley, Chorley, and Great Warford and sits to the south of Greater Manchester, with Wilmslow to the East and Manchester airport to the North and West (Map 3).

Peat

Peat is the key to the Lindow Landscape and although the historic extent of the peat is much reduced due to extraction and land management, early results from peat surveys show deep peat in remarkable condition is still present in many areas. This presents a huge opportunity for restoration, to a state where not only can it be part of valuable habitats and homes for nature and wildlife, but also where it can act as a carbon sink. When peat is wet it is stable and the process of anaerobic decay that is crucial to the formation of new layers of peat can take place. In this condition peat has the capacity to store more carbon per hectare than woodlands and can do so for much longer.

However, when peat is drained or disturbed it stops being a store of carbon and starts to emit it instead. Reversing this process can be a key part of the fight against climate change, as well as helping to restore unique eco systems that are rare and precious both locally and in the UK.

Nature-for-health

The Project
The project originated with the local community and retains a ‘bottom up’ approach. The project board is made up of a selection of professional and volunteer members, representing community and volunteer groups such as Transition Wilmslow, Friends of Lindow Moss, Wilmslow Town Council and local Parish Councils.

Local residents and organisations have been campaigning for the restoration of Saltersley Moss for many years and in 2019, partly because of pressure from campaigners, the future of Saltersley Moss was secured and work began to restore the site to functioning bog. The first interventions began the same year, with water control measures installed to benefit the resident water vole population.

To secure the future of the site and with the ambition to ‘conserve, restore and interpret’ the
Lindow Moss Landscape for People, Nature and Climate, the Lindow Moss Landscape Partnership
was formed in 2023. The partnership is made up of the following organisations:
– Transition Wilmslow
– Cheshire East Council (CE)
– Mersey Rivers Trust (MRT)
– Wilmslow Town Council
– Cheshire Wildlife Trust (CWT)
– Natural England (NE)
– Groundwork CLM (GCLM)
– Friends of Lindow Moss

The partnership acts as the project board for the Groundwork Cheshire, Lancashire, and Merseyside hosted Lindow Moss Project. Groundwork became involved with the partnership as an organisation capable of writing and receiving funding and employing staff to further the aims of the partnership.

The aims in Map 5 come from the prospectus produced by the LMLP, setting out 6 key targets that the partnership will work towards. During the initial phase of the project much of the work has been around building and developing knowledge of the current state of the LCA, surveying soils, watercourses, drainage and Local Wildlife Sites in partnership with MRT and CWT.

Through the links formed in the partnership, Groundwork has been able to call on expertise from partners and to use the knowledge and specialist skills embedded in the partnership to help further the aims of the project. This work is being funded for the first two years via grants from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, The Environment Agency’s Lowland Agricultural Peat Water Directive Pilot, and the Cheshire East-administered Shared Prosperity Fund.

What have we done?

  • Employed two members of staff to manage the project.
  • Helped community groups to launch two walking routes around the LCA focusing on the history and heritage of the area.
  • Collaborated with our partners Transition Wilmslow on the ‘Lindow Season’ of events to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the discovery of Lindow Man. This has included indoor and outdoor art exhibitions, talks and lectures, citizen science events, guided walks, and work with local schools.
  • Worked with partners Mersey Rivers Trust to establish a group of volunteers to monitor water quality and to map ditches and watercourses throughout the area
  • Worked with partners CWT to survey and map Local Wildlife Sites within the LCA, recording species present, engaging with landowners and making suggestions for future management.
  • Mapped land ownership for the area and begun the work of engaging with these landowners.
  • Commissioned contractors to carry out surveys of the peat soils across the LCA and map opportunities for future re-wetting of peat soils
  • Worked with local youth groups and schools to educate them about the importance of peatlands and the range of specialist species present there
  • Communicated and connected with a range of academics with interests in the bog, the wider landscape, and the history of the site
  • Carried out research into the historic landscape, focusing on the ‘Moss rooms,’ which are amongst the best examples of this medieval and early modern field pattern in Cheshire.

Through work carried out in partnership and by utilising the immense knowledge, passion and experience present within the partnership, the Lindow Moss project has begun the process of creating a community of landowners and stakeholders who are a passionate as we are about restoring the Lindow Moss area for people, nature and climate.

If you would like to find out more about the Lindow Moss Landscape Partnership or the Lindow Moss project, you can contact Groundwork at Lindow@groundwork.org.uk

www.discoverlindow.org

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Nature for Health and Wellbeing Across Cheshire

Nature for Health and Wellbeing Across Cheshire

Nature for Health and Wellbeing Across Cheshire

Most of the population, 77% but rapidly increasing, now live in urban areas. They don’t rely on the immediate ecosystem around them but on complex and industrialised processes to provide for their daily needs. People spend 90% of their time indoors in artificial, temperature-controlled environments. Their lives are devoid of natural cycles, birdsong, bubbling streams and the freshest air. Even people living in rural areas are not immune to the disconnecting effects of increasingly technology-mediated, busy modern life.

There is a wealth of research that illustrates how disconnection from nature is linked to mental and physical illness, from anxiety, depression and poor body image to heart disease, fatigue and lowered life expectancy. Nature-deficit disorder is a recognised condition in children, which has been identified as a contributor to obesity, depression, ADHD, behavioural problems and lowered cognitive ability.

Communities that are disconnected from nature show higher levels of conflict, violence, crime and racial tension. On a societal level, a culture of disconnection feeds an alienated consumer culture and the continued over-exploitation of nature required to fuel it.

People who are less connected to nature are less likely to take positive action, whether they are an average citizen making lifestyle choices or a top politician making policies.

Cheshire’s Natural Health Service (co-ordinated by Mersey Forest) is an initiative that utilizes the green and natural spaces in the west of Cheshire to address local health inequalities. It builds upon the growing evidence that activities in natural environments can significantly impact both physical and mental well-being.

The program offers health-promoting group activities within beautiful green areas. These sessions are designed to be welcoming to beginners and are targeted at both adults and children. Some of the activities include:

  • HEALTH WALKS
  • HORTICULTURAL THERAPY
  • MINDFUL CONTACT WITH NATURE
  • FOREST SCHOOLS
  • HEALTHY CONSERVATION

Not only do these activities help people with their physical and mental health, but to connect with others in their community and learn new skills. Forest Schools is particularly effective as a catalyst to improve attention, academic attainment and confidence, building a valuable relationship between individuals and nature at an early age, that they can benefit from for the rest of their lives, whether or not similar encouragement or opportunities are provided outside of the school environment.

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Nature-for-health
Nature-for-health

Cheshire West and Chester Council co-ordinate a network of over 30 Ramblers ‘Wellbeing Walks’, run with the help of many partners and volunteer walk leaders, serving over 300 people every week. They also support schools, helping them see the benefits of integrating Forest School and outdoor learning, providing healthy conservation sessions to support communities to develop their own hedgerow laying skills, create and manage community orchards, plant new woodlands, restore ponds and other habitats.

Everybody, Cheshire East’s Leisure Services run a variety of activities to help people connect with nature through their friendly, welcoming groups to build your confidence, help people meet others locally, discover different interests, practice mindfulness, learn new skills and give back to their local community and nature!

Green Spaces for Wellbeing • Everybody Health and Leisure include activities such as mindful art, mindfulness, buggy walks, Ramblers ‘Wellbeing Walks’, habitat management, creative connections and wellbeing garden and grow.

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Cheshire Wildlife Trust – Wilder champions

Cheshire Wildlife Trust – Wilder champions

Cheshire Wildlife Trust – Wilder champions

As we move towards creating a wilder Cheshire, the aim is to build a network of people all working towards nature’s recovery. To achieve a change in the behaviour of the masses, science says we need 1 in 4 people taking action for wildlife, which is 600,000 people across Cheshire.

wildlife champion image

We know we can’t do this alone, so we’re working with an ever-growing number of Wilder Champions. People who are stepping forward to lead and support others to act for nature in their local communities, schools or places of work, often in urban locations.

In turn we support the Champions in a variety of ways. We host training courses, webinars and networking events. We have created a library of digital resources, advice and how to guides on everything from ‘How to transform a wasted space’ to ‘How to create a community group’.

Amazing things are being achieved in all corners of Cheshire, truly inspiring success stories that are not only helping to bring wildlife back but also uniting communities and creating lasting friendships.

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Signposts:

and further information:

Wilder Champions (Cheshire Wildlife Trust Champion webpage with blogs)

Networks for Nature

Networks for Nature

Networks for Nature

The vision for Networks for Nature (NFN) is to expand a thriving, more connected, wildlife-rich landscape across Northwest Cheshire, maintained through collective community efforts and partnership.

two woodpeckers

The vision for Networks for Nature (NFN) is to expand a thriving, more connected, wildlife-rich landscape across Northwest Cheshire, maintained through collective community efforts and partnership.

Chester Zoo, Cheshire West and Cheshire Council and Cheshire Wildlife Trust are amongst a partnership of organisations who have committed to improving their own land in the area for wildlife. Working with stakeholders including landowners, environmental organisations, schools, community groups, and community leaders, the partnership will drive the recovery of nature in the region and tackle our increasing levels of disconnection from nature. The project will result in a joined-up network of improved and spaces for wildlife and people across an area of c.60 square miles from the River Dee to the Mersey, including Chester and Ellesmere Port (see map).

Networks for Nature project area map

Map: Networks for Nature project area encompassing Chester and Ellesmere port, from the River Mersey to the River Dee in Cheshire

Objectives:

  1. Drive nature recovery in a mixed-use landscape, creating and connecting diverse habitats for species to thrive now and for years to come.
  2. Make nature more accessible to and inclusive for everyone to enable connection and improve wellbeing.
  3. Empower more people to have an active role in conservation to create and grow biodiverse habitats.
  4. Optimise collaborative working to establish strong partnerships to support NFN’s legacy into the future.

Impact:

Networks for Nature will deliver:

  • Direct conservation action including habitat creation and improvement for the benefit of wildlife across partner land, community land, and privately owned land.
  • Support and guidance for schools and community groups across the project area to improve their outdoor spaces and engage local communities with long term support.
  • Wildlife Champion training for at least 250 community leaders, with access to a Wildlife Champions Network, facilitating peer to peer learning and knowledge sharing.
  • A wellbeing and accessibility programme including training for GPs to promote green social prescribing, and accessibility improvements across green spaces in the area.
  • A youth engagement programme, including trainee opportunities, intergenerational volunteering, and youth involvement in green space improvements.
  • Volunteering opportunities and public engagement to learn new skills and improve connection to nature.
Red kite image
Birds on Estuary Image

“We’re in midst of a global biodiversity crisis. The UN estimates that one million species are at risk of extinction, with one in six species at risk in the UK alone. There has never been a more urgent time to take action for the natural world. One way of doing this to repair our own relationship with nature.

Networks for Nature aims to make a difference to local wildlife by connecting people with nature and improving the state of nature for all.”

Simon Dowell

Director of Science & Conservation, Chester Zoo

CLICK HERE TO GET INVOLVED

Signposts:

and further information:

Networks for Nature – What you can do (chesterzoo.org)

Nature Recovery Corridor – What you can do (chesterzoo.org)

Get Involved: Click Here