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), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...

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 are typically describ ...

near

Northwich Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers Weaver and Dane, east of Chester, south of Warrington and south of Ma ...

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 Subsidence is a general term for downward vertical movement of the Earth's surface, which can be caused by both natural processes and human activities. Subsidence involves little or no horizontal movement, which distinguishes it from slope mov ...

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 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 A country park is a natural area designated for people to visit and enjoy recreation in a countryside environment. United Kingdom History In the United Kingdom, the term ''country park'' has a specific meaning. There are around 250 designated c ...

Cheshire West and Chester Cheshire West and Chester is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Cheshire, England. It was established on 1 April 2009 as part of the 2009 structural changes to l ...

Council. An

arboretum An arboretum (: arboreta) is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees and shrubs of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, many modern arbor ...

, ice-house and avenues of

lime trees ''Tilia'' is a genus of about 30 species of trees or bushes, native throughout most of the temperateness, temperate Northern Hemisphere. The tree is known as linden for the European species, and basswood for North American species. In Great Bri ...

remain from former times. An area of

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

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 ...

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 1721 and the work, which included ...

and Witton Brook from Anderton Boat Lift 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''). The ...

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 most 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: Bo ...

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 comm ...

s have now been constructed around them. A number of plants associated with

alkali In chemistry, an alkali (; from the Arabic word , ) is a basic salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of a soluble base has a pH greater than 7.0. The a ...

ne soils grow on the site including fragrant orchid, marsh helleborine, ploughman's spikenard, and

yellow-wort ''Blackstonia perfoliata'' or more commonly known as the yellow-wort is a species of flowering plant in the family Gentianaceae found around the Mediterranean Basin, but extending into northwestern Europe. Description Yellow-wort grows tall, w ...

. It is a stronghold for the

dingy skipper The dingy skipper (''Erynnis tages'') is a species of butterfly in the family Hesperiidae. Description ''Erynnis tages'' is different from other skippers because of the predominantly monochrome, gray-brown wing coloration and the marbling, which ...

butterfly. A variety of

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

wader 245px, A flock of 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 mudflats in order to foraging, ...

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 wader, wading bird. The scientific name is from Latin. The specific name ''falcinellus'' is from ''falx, falcis'', "a sickle." Some research suggests that it and some related spec ...

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 ''himant ...

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 The whiskered tern (''Chlidonias hybrida'') is a tern in the family Laridae. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''khelidonios'', "swallow-like", from ''khelidon'', "swallow". The specific ''hybridus'' is Latin for ''hybrid''; Peter Simon Pall ...

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 A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

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 landfill is a site for the disposal of waste materials. It is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of waste with daily, intermediate and final covers only began in the 1940s. In the past, waste was ...

. A conversion project took seven years. Carey Park is a

with rare grasses and butterflies alongside other wildlife. Northwich

Parkrun Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of 5K run, events for runners, walkers and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across five continents. Parkrun was founded by Paul Sinto ...

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