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Astonfields Balancing Lakes
Astonfields Balancing Lakes is a local nature reserve on the north-eastern edge of Stafford, in Staffordshire, England. The main purpose of the balancing lakes is flood defence; the site has also been developed for wildlife habitats. Its area is about , and it is designated a Grade 1 Site of Biological Importance."Astonfields Balancing Lakes" Stafford Borough Council. Retrieved 25 May 2020. History and description The site of the lakes was once land. The balancing lakes were constructed to help protect Stafford from flooding, the northern lake in the late 1970s, and the southern lake in 1990. At the northern edge of the site is the former line of ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stafford
Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in the 2021 census, It is the main settlement within the larger borough of Stafford which had a population of 136,837 (2021). History Stafford means "ford" by a staithe (landing place). The original settlement was on a dry sand and gravel peninsula that offered a strategic crossing point in the marshy valley of the River Sow, a tributary of the River Trent. There is still a large area of marshland north-west of the town, which is subject to flooding and did so in 1947, 2000, 2007 and 2019. Stafford is thought to have been founded about AD 700 by a Mercian prince called Bertelin, who, legend has it, founded a hermitage on a peninsula named Betheney. Until recently it was thought that the remains of a wooden preaching cross from the time h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Site Of Biological Importance
A Site of Biological Importance (or SBI) is one of the non-statutory designations used locally by the Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Staffordshire County Councils in England to protect locally valued sites of biological diversity which are described generally as Local Wildlife Sites by the UK Government. The term SBI should not be confused with Site of Special Scientific Interest. The guidance from the Her Majesty's Government concerning Local Sites states that: The series of non-statutory Local Sites seek to ensure, in the public interest, the conservation, maintenance and enhancement of species, habitats, geological and geomorphological features of substantive nature conservation value SBIs have no legal protection, but do receive some protection through different policies and they must be taken into consideration by the local authority when planning applications affect the site. Sites are selected using a number of attributes that include; habitat type, diversity and rarity ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Balancing Lake
A balancing lake (also flood basin or Sustainable urban drainage scheme) is a term used in the U.K. describing an element of an urban drainage system used to control flooding by temporarily storing flood waters. The term balancing pond is also used, though typically for smaller storage facilities for streams and brooks. In open countryside, heavy rainfall soaks into the ground and is released relatively slowly into watercourses (ditches, streams, rivers). In an urban area, the extent of hard surfaces (roofs, roads) means that the rainfall is dumped immediately into the drainage system. If left unchecked, this will cause widespread flooding downstream. The function of a balancing lake is to contain this surge and release it slowly. Failure to do this, especially in older settlements without separate storm sewers and foul sewers, can cause serious pollution as well as flooding. Engineering At its simplest, a balancing lake can be constructed by creating a dam across a drain ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wet Meadow
A wet meadow is a type of wetland with soils that are saturated for part or all of the growing season. Debate exists whether a wet meadow is a type of marsh or a completely separate type of wetland. Wet prairies and wet savannas are hydrologically similar. Wet meadows may occur because of restricted drainage or the receipt of large amounts of water from rain or melted snow. They may also occur in riparian zones and around the shores of large lakes. Unlike a marsh or swamp, a wet meadow does not have standing water present except for brief to moderate periods during the growing season. Instead, the ground in a wet meadow fluctuates between brief periods of inundation and longer periods of saturation. Wet meadows often have large numbers of wetland plant species, which frequently survive as buried seeds during dry periods, and then regenerate after flooding. Wet meadows therefore do not usually support aquatic life such as fish. They typically have a high diversity of plant speci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stafford And Uttoxeter Railway
The Stafford and Uttoxeter Railway was authorised by Act of Parliament on 29 July 1862,Donald J Grant, Directory of the Railway Companies of Great Britain, Matador, Kibworth Beauchamp, 2017, ISBN 978 1785893 537, pages 532 and 533 to build a line between the towns of Stafford and Uttoxeter in Staffordshire, England. It opened for traffic in 1867. It opened on 23 December 1867. Construction cost had much exceeded estimates, and income was poor, so that the Company was always in financial difficulty. It was placed in receivership in 1875. The Great Northern Railway (GNR) had running powers to Uttoxeter and was persuaded to acquire the Company, which it did in 1881. The GNR spent a considerable sum on improving the line, but it never made money and it was closed to passengers on 4 December 1939. Goods traffic ceased in 1951, except for a short stub to RAF Stafford; this too closed in 1975. Before the Stafford and Uttoxeter Railway Prior to the establishment of railways, Stafford was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reed Bed
A reedbed or reed bed is a natural habitat found in floodplains, waterlogged depressions and estuaries. Reedbeds are part of a succession from young reeds colonising open water or wet ground through a gradation of increasingly dry ground. As reedbeds age, they build up a considerable litter layer that eventually rises above the water level and that ultimately provides opportunities in the form of new areas for larger terrestrial plants such as shrubs and trees to colonise. Artificial reedbeds are used to remove pollutants from greywater, and are also called constructed wetlands. Types Reedbeds vary in the species that they can support, depending upon water levels within the wetland system, climate, seasonal variations, and the nutrient status and salinity of the water. ''Reed swamps'' have 20 cm or more of surface water during the summer and often have high invertebrate and bird species use. ''Reed fens'' have water levels at or below the surface during the summer and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Inland Salt Marsh
An inland salt marsh is a saltwater marsh located away from the coast. It is formed and maintained in areas when evapotranspiration exceeds precipitation and/or when sodium- and chloride-laden groundwater is released from natural brine aquifers. Its vegetation is dominated by halophytic plant communities. Overview Inland salt marshes (ISMs) are rare, non-tidal wetlands which form either due to the influence of saline groundwater and proximate springs and seeps or from evapotranspiration exceeding precipitation. Primarily located in the Great Lakes region of the US, they are dominantly composed of salt-tolerant, halophytic plant communities including the invasive ''Phragmites australis'' (common reed). Anthropogenic impacts on brine springs have decreased their already low global coverage and have led to their classification as G1 critically imperiled ecosystems. Of note, inland salt marshes are globally occurring, though this article primarily discusses ISMs from the US and Eur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Water Rail
The water rail (''Rallus aquaticus'') is a bird of the rail family which breeds in well-vegetated wetlands across Europe, Asia and North Africa. Northern and eastern populations are migratory, but this species is a permanent resident in the warmer parts of its breeding range. The adult is long, and, like other rails, has a body that is flattened laterally, allowing it easier passage through the reed beds it inhabits. It has mainly brown upperparts and blue-grey underparts, black barring on the flanks, long toes, a short tail and a long reddish bill. Immature birds are generally similar in appearance to the adults, but the blue-grey in the plumage is replaced by buff. The downy chicks are black, as with all rails. The former subspecies ''R. indicus'', has distinctive markings and a call that is very different from the pig-like squeal of the western races, and is now usually split as a separate species, the brown-cheeked rail. The water rail breeds in reed beds and other mar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snipe
A snipe is any of about 26 wading bird species in three genera in the family Scolopacidae. They are characterized by a very long, slender bill, eyes placed high on the head, and cryptic/camouflaging plumage. The ''Gallinago'' snipes have a nearly worldwide distribution, the ''Lymnocryptes'' snipe is restricted to Asia and Europe and the ''Coenocorypha'' snipes are found only in the outlying islands of New Zealand. The four species of painted snipe are not closely related to the typical snipes, and are placed in their own family, the Rostratulidae. Behaviour Snipes search for invertebrates in the mud with a "sewing-machine" action of their long bills. The sensitivity of the bill is caused by filaments belonging to the fifth pair of nerves, which run almost to the tip and open immediately under the soft cuticle in a series of cells; a similar adaptation is found in sandpipers; this adaptation give this portion of the surface of the premaxillaries a honeycomb-like appearance: w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Warbler
Various Passeriformes (perching birds) are commonly referred to as warblers. They are not necessarily closely related to one another, but share some characteristics, such as being fairly small, vocal, and insectivorous. Sylvioid warblers These are somewhat more closely related to each other than to other warblers. They belong to a superfamily also containing Old World babblers, bulbuls, etc. * "Old World warblers", formerly all in family Sylviidae ** Leaf warblers, now in family Phylloscopidae ** Typical bush warblers, now in family Cettiidae ** Grass warblers and megalurid bush-warblers, now in family Locustellidae ** Marsh and tree warblers, now in family Acrocephalidae ** True warblers or sylviid warblers, remaining in family Sylviidae or moved into the Timaliidae ** Cisticolid warblers, family Cisticolidae * Malagasy warblers, the newly assembled family Bernieridae Passeroid warblers The two families of American warblers are part of another superfamily, which unites t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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