Mersey Basin Campaign Blog

Ribble Forum delegates visit new Saltmarsh

Delegates at the Ribble Forum were treated to a visit to Hesketh Out Marsh (not yet open to the public) where the Environment Agency and RSPB are working to return previously reclaimed land into salt-marsh.    

The visit proved to be very interesting and gave an insight into the scale of this vast project which covers and area equivalent to 168 football pitches.  The lines of the original creeks have been restored and lagoons dug.  All won material (250,000 cubic metres) is being used to strengthen the sea defences and create new ones to protect the surrounding area.  Clever calculations mean that no material has had to be brought onto the site or taken off it.

Next year the outer sea defence will be breeched in four places to allow the tides to wash in and out.  This will help to alleviate flood risks in the area and no doubt many species of birds will soon reap the benefits of the new environments that will be created.

 

Children Unveil Wildlife Bridge

School children from a wide community celebrated the official opening of a new bridge that they all had a hand in designing.

The metal bridge over Eaves Brook in Grange Valley depicts animals created by children from Grange, Greenlands and Moor Nook Primary Schools in animation workshops at Grange Visitor Centre.

Led by artist Chris Davis, the children produced a short film about animals living in the valley that would befriend the dragonflies attracted by improvements to the brook.  Chris then transferred the animals into shapes that could form part of the overall bridge design, which was manufactured by Howick Forge in Penwortham.

The finished article is now a unique reminder of the children’s work.  It forms part of the much-used footpath through the valley linking communities on both sides and is a wonderful replacement for the ramshackle wooden bridge that previously spanned the brook.

Funded by the Environment Agency the bridge is just one of the many improvements taking place along Eaves Brook in the wider initiative to improve Eaves Brook Linear Park.

Councillor Kate Calder attending the opening said, “This has been a great project with so many local children involved producing a fantastic piece of art for their local green space and providing a safe crossing point for the whole community.”

Eaves Brook Linear Park is being created by a partnership consisting of Lancashire County Council, Preston City Council, Environment Agency, Lancashire Wildlife Trust, Action Ribble Estuary and One Voice.

Estuary Under The Microscope

Friend of the Mersey Basin Campaign Chantelle Edwards helped to celebrate MWH Mersey Basin Week on the Ribble Estuary.  Supported by a Mersey Basin Week grant she went along to RSPB’s Ribble Discovery Centre on Saturday 6 October.  There she found minute creatures living in the water and in the estuary mud and put them under her microscope.  Their images were then magnified thousands of times larger than life and appeared on a TV screen, enabling the visitors to see every detail of the tiny creatures.

Over 300 visitors were able to get close up and personal with the creatures which are a valuable source of food for the thousands of birds for which the Ribble Estuary is famous.

Thank you Chantelle and thank you RSPB for arranging this event.

Fishwick, Cut it Out!

For the second year running, volunteers at Fishwick Local Nature Reserve (LNR) took part in a conservation project, as part of MWH Mersey Basin Week. The Mersey Basin Campaign, which supports projects in the Mersey and Ribble Basins, has awarded a £100 grant which has been spent on buying hand-tools for cutting to help with grassland management and weed control in the LNR 

Volunteers from the Deepdale Centre, a Lancashire County Council day service centre, regularly work at the Fishwick LNR used the new tools for grass cutting and helping to control Himalayan Balsam. Other volunteers, supervised by the Lancashire Wildlife Trust, also helped to cut some of the areas of grassland and meadows around the Fishwick LNR.

The Fishwick site was designated an LNR in 2006 and has since benefited from extensive work to improve and create wildlife habitats and now has a network of paths to allow public access. Much of the habitat management is carried out by volunteers and the tools, purchased with the MBC grant, will be used many times on the seven grasslands found within the reserve.

Well done Fishwick volunteers and Preston CC Ranger Terry Blackburn for showing us that a Mersey Basin Week grant can be for life and not just for MWH Mersey Basin Week!

Gaggles of Geese

WWT Martin Mere currently has 18,000 Pink-footed Geese on the Mere, almost 10 times as many as this time last year.  (This time last year there were only 1,900 of the Pink-foots on the site).

Maybe they have decided to fly in earlier this year to celebrate Mersey Basin Week!

However, it’s more likely that cold weather coming down from the Arctic Circle may be driving the birds south early. They are remaining on site most of the day creating a birdwatching spectacle at dawn and dusk (after 7pm) when the geese fly over the mere and create a mesmerising sound.

Pink-footed Geese migrate from Iceland to winter in the UK and they should soon be travelling further south; so the next couple of weeks may be the only time to see such a huge flock of geese at Martin Mere this winter.

Children's Bridge for Eaves Brook

When Preston school children walk back to school this week some will cross over a bridge that they helped to design.  The recent spell of good weather has enabled the contractors to install the new bridge over Eaves Brook in Grange Valley.  The metal bridge took just two days to install and is a splendid addition to this wildlife area. 

For further details please click here.

Cool Seas Roadshow

The Cool Seas Roadshow gives you the chance to get up-close and personal with life-size and life-like models of whales, dolphins, sharks, giant turtles, seals and porpoises - all animals resident in the seas around us.

It is a spectacular new initiative to raise public awareness of the wonderful marine wildlife in our cool UK seas.  Tropical waters and coral reefs get all the publicity, but our cold ('temperate') seas are filled with an equally exciting range of animal and plant life.

Hosted by The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside, the roadshow will tour our coastline for five days in August to celebrate Marine Week.  Booking is not required, except for the Special Events on Friday 17^th August.

You can also make friends with smaller marine creatures in Shorelife Touch Tanks and enjoy marine family fun day activities.  In addition and you will be able to sign a ‘Petition Fish’ scale and pledge your support for a Marine Bill to protect our seas.

So come along and learn about life under the sea and lots more.

Each day the events will run from 11am to 4pm.

The Cool Seas Roadshow will be found at the following locations: -

Monday 13^th August

Jubilee Park, Cleveleys

Contact: Charlie Pass, Wyre Coast & Countryside Services, tel: 01253 863100

Tuesday 14^th August

Ainsdale Discovery Centre, Southport

Contact: Sefton Coast & Countryside Service, tel: 0151 934 2967

Wednesday 15^th August

RSPB Ribble Discovery Centre, Fairhaven Lake, Lytham

Contact: Julie Vale, RSPB  tel: 01253 796 292

Thursday 16^th August

Marine Hall, Fleetwood,

Also featuring ‘Catriona Stamp: ‘Art of Litter’ display

Children's marine craft activity 12 noon – 1 p.m.

Coastguard Service 2 p.m. –3 p.m.

Strandline Safari 3 p.m. – 4 p.m.

Contact: Charlie Pass, Wyre Coast & Countryside Services, tel: 01253 863100

Friday 17^th August

Venue: Solaris Centre, Blackpool,

Host: Blackpool Borough Council.

Contact: David McGrath, Solaris Centre, tel; 01253-478 020

The Roadshow’s Grand Finale at Blackpool features these additional Special Events (Booking is advised):

10.00 a.m. - 11.00 a.m. Explore the Rock Pools of Blackpool's South Beach - meet at the Solaris Centre. Bring a net and bucket.  Led by David McGrath of Blackpool Borough Council.

12.30 p.m. - 2.30 p.m.  Porpoise Watch as the tide rises - meet at the Solaris Centre. Bring binoculars if possible. Led by David McGrath of Blackpool Borough Council.

Brockholes Design Competition

Lancashire Wildlife Trust has announced a competition for the design of new visitor facilities at Brockholes Wetlands and Woodland Nature Reserve near Preston.  The competition is open to architects and design teams and is being organised via The Royal Institute of British Architects.

It is hoped that Brockholes will become a nature conservation site of regional, national and international importance and the building will inspire and encourage people to visit the site and engage with the natural world.  

The facilities will include a café, shop, gallery, education and meeting rooms, and should aim to be a carbon neutral construction, drawing on local resources where possible.

For further information on how to enter please contact the RIBA Competitions Office tel 0113 2341335 or visit www.architecture.com/competitions. The submission deadline is Wednesday 19 September 2007.

Beavering away at Martin Mere

Four European beavers have been released in an enclosure at WWT Martin Mere.   
It is believed the Eurasian Beaver became extinct in Britain in the 1500s and by the end of the 1800s only a few hundred beavers remained in Europe. The beaver display at Martin Mere will not only be the only attraction in the North West where visitors can watch beavers in their natural habitat, but the first time they have been resident in Lancashire for 500 years.

More information

74 % of Residents Say NO to Ribble Barrage

July 2, 2007
The results of the recent survey run by Lancashire Evening Post have been published.
74% of those completing the survey voted against building a barrage across the River Ribble.  Click here for the article published in the newspaper on Saturday 30 June 2007.