Northwich Woodlands (formerly Northwich Community Woodlands) is an area of 373

hectare 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 ...

s of publicly accessible

countryside In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are descri ...

near Northwich in Cheshire, England. It comprises nine separate woods, country parks, lakes and parks, many of which are connected to each other via footpaths and other rights of way. Much of the land was formerly industrial and used for mining salt and manufacturing chemicals. The extraction of salt caused subsidence leading to the formation of pools known as flashes. The land became derelict during the 20th century as the salt industry contracted. Much of the area has now been reclaimed for the purposes of conservation and recreation and forms part of the

Mersey Forest The Mersey Forest is a network of woodlands and green spaces being created across Merseyside and North Cheshire by a wide-ranging partnership of different organisations including local authorities, community groups and businesses. The Mersey Fore ...

initiative.

Description

Northwich Woodlands is made up of nine different sites: Marbury Country Park; Anderton Nature Park; Dairy House Meadows; Forge Woods; Hopyards Woods; Marshall's Woods; Ashton's Flash; Furey Woods and Carey Park.

Marbury Country Park

In the north of the area beside Budworth Mere is Marbury Country Park. It was formerly a country estate owned by the Smith-Barry family but it became derelict and Marbury Hall was demolished in 1968. The site was reclaimed in 1975 and is now run as a country park by Cheshire West and Chester Council. An arboretum, ice-house and avenues of lime trees remain from former times. An area of

ancient woodland In the United Kingdom, an ancient woodland is a woodland that has existed continuously since 1600 or before in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (or 1750 in Scotland). Planting of woodland was uncommon before those dates, so a wood present in 16 ...

known as Big Wood is important for wildlife with a variety of woodland birds including

lesser spotted woodpecker The lesser spotted woodpecker (''Dryobates minor'') is a member of the woodpecker family Picidae. It was formerly assigned to the genus ''Dendrocopos'' (sometimes incorrectly spelt as ''Dendrocopus''). Some taxonomic authorities continue to list t ...

Anderton Nature Park

Anderton Nature Park stretches along the north side of the

River Weaver The River Weaver is a river, navigable in its lower reaches, running in a curving route anti-clockwise across west Cheshire, northern England. Improvements to the river to make it navigable were authorised in 1720 and the work, which included ...

and Witton Brook from

Anderton Boat Lift The Anderton Boat Lift is a two caisson lift lock near the village of Anderton, Cheshire, in North West England. It provides a vertical link between two navigable waterways: the River Weaver and the Trent and Mersey Canal. The structure is de ...

in the west to Haydn's Pool (formerly Marbury No. 1 Sludge Bed) in the east. A number of paths lead through grassland and recently planted woodland. Wildlife includes uncommon flowers such as pennyroyal. Haydn's Pool is important for waterbirds including regular

green sandpiper The green sandpiper (''Tringa ochropus'') is a small wader (shorebird) of the Old World. The green sandpiper represents an ancient lineage of the genus ''Tringa''; its only close living relative is the solitary sandpiper (''T. solitaria''). They ...

Neumann's and Ashton's Flashes

These flashes lie at the south-east of the site. From the 1940s they were used by ICI to store

lime Lime commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a color between yellow and green Lime may also refer to: Botany ...

waste but by the 1970s they had become disused. Paths and

bird hide A bird hide (blind or bird blind in North America) is a shelter, often camouflaged, that is used to observe wildlife, especially birds, at close quarters. Although hides or hunting blinds were once built chiefly as hunting aids, they are now commo ...

s have now been constructed around them. A number of plants associated with alkaline soils grow on the site including

fragrant orchid ''Gymnadenia conopsea'', commonly known as the fragrant orchid or chalk fragrant orchid, is a herbaceous plant of the family Orchidaceae native to northern Europe. Etymology The name of the genus ''Gymnadenia'' is formed from Greek words (', ...

, marsh helleborine, ploughman's spikenard, and yellow-wort. It is a stronghold for the dingy skipper butterfly. A variety of

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form ...

wader 245px, A flock of Dunlins and Red knots">Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflat ...

s, and other waterbirds occur and numerous rarities have been recorded such as

broad-billed sandpiper The broad-billed sandpiper (''Calidris falcinellus'') is a small wading bird. The scientific name is from Latin. The specific name ''falcinella'' is from ''falx, falcis'', "a sickle. Some research suggests that it should rather go into the ge ...

stilt sandpiper The stilt sandpiper (''Calidris himantopus'') is a small shorebird. The scientific name is from Ancient Greek. The genus name ''kalidris'' or ''skalidris'' is a term used by Aristotle for some grey-coloured waterside birds. The specific ''himanto ...

Caspian tern The Caspian tern (''Hydroprogne caspia'') is a species of tern, with a subcosmopolitan but scattered distribution. Despite its extensive range, it is monotypic of its genus, and has no accepted subspecies. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ' ...

, and whiskered tern.

Witton Lime Beds SSSI

Immediately to the west of Neumann's and Ashton's Flashes, in a loop of Witton Brook, lies Witton Lime Beds, a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Carey Park

Carey Park is the closest park to the town. It was opened in 2003 and named after Councillor Ron Carey who was instrumental in regenerating the site, the park is located on the site of the former Witton landfill. A conversion project took seven years. Carey Park is a Site of Special Scientific Interest with rare grasses and butterflies alongside other wildlife. Northwich

Parkrun Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of events for walkers, runners and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across six continents. Junior Parkrun (stylised as junior parkrun) ...

takes place in the park.

References

Sources

*Cheshire County Council (2005)
Northwich Community Woodlands: Steps through time
'. Accessed 17 April 2008. *Guest, Jonathan & Hutcheson, Malcolm (1997) ''Where to watch birds in Cumbria, Lancashire & Cheshire'', Christopher Helm, London.
Northwich Community Woodlands website
Accessed 17 April 2008.

External links

Northwich Woodlands (Discovercheshire website)
{{portalbar, Cheshire Parks and open spaces in Cheshire Forests and woodlands of Cheshire Northwich