River Mersey at Paddington Meadows, Warrington

Paddington Meadows is a Local Nature Reserve in

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

. The land was donated to Warrington Borough council in 1995. It was designated in November 2005. The site comprises almost 30

hectares The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ab ...

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or artifi ...

grassland occupying the area to the south of Manchester Road (the A57) and to the north of the Mersey. It is five minutes by car from Warrington town centre. There is ongoing active management of the hedgerows which include thinning and laying of the various edges. Hawthorns also grow in an orchard area rather than the more useful hedge arrangement. There are various paths around the perimeter and crossing the meadows that are open and closed at various times dependent on conservation projects. On occasion the members of the Warrington rowing club can be seen using the Mersey. Rare breed longhorn

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

are grazed on the site during the summer months and they play a vital role in keeping the grass short, which in turn encourages ground nesting birds such as

skylark ''Alauda'' is a genus of larks found across much of Europe, Asia and in the mountains of north Africa, and one of the species (the Raso lark) endemic to the islet of Raso in the Cape Verde Islands. Further, at least two additional species are ...

. A wild flower meadow has been created on one of the fields. The site attracts flocks of

fieldfare The fieldfare (''Turdus pilaris'') is a member of the thrush family Turdidae. It breeds in woodland and scrub in northern Europe and across the Palearctic. It is strongly migratory, with many northern birds moving south during the winter. It ...

s and

redwing The redwing (''Turdus iliacus'') is a bird in the thrush family, Turdidae, native to Europe and the Palearctic, slightly smaller than the related song thrush. Taxonomy and systematics This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his ...

s, which feed on the berries of some of the oldest

hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...

hedges in the

area. A major project was started in 2009 to clean up the Woolston new cut canal that runs along the northern edge of the meadows. Invasive flora is being cut back and long-term projects are attempting to remove pollution and toxicants from the silt in the canal.

References

External links

Warrington Council website
Local Nature Reserves in Cheshire Tourist attractions in Cheshire {{Cheshire-geo-stub