Lower Derwent Valley
Restoring, linking and extending habitats
Derbyshire Wildlife Trust
Safeguarding and restoring the iconic landscape setting of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site, the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution.
This scheme will work to restore and maintain the habitat, while engaging the community in its importance and beauty.
Virtual tour by Mike McFarlane
What's happening?
The Lower Derwent Valley Landscape Partnership aims to safeguard and restore the character of this unique landscape by:
- Restoring, linking and extending habitats and geological sites and ensuring that archaeological features are properly recorded and safeguarded;
- Ensuring that the character of the wider landscape is conserved and enhanced, including features such as walls, hedgerows and ancient trees;
- Providing sustainable access to, and interpretation of, heritage sites and features;
- Promoting public engagement and inclusion by ensuring that both rural and urban communities can feel proud of their landscape, understand why it is important and feel equipped to engage with its long-term care.
We will achieve these objectives by working with communities to:
- Engage with owners of priority sites and features, providing advice, training and access to funding, enabling them to deliver physical improvements and increase access;
- Carry out a Heritage at Risk audit of built heritage features to inform their conservation and provide knowledge and skills to volunteers;
- Deliver a programme of participatory arts activities to increase public involvement and understanding of the landscape, ‘twinning’ rural and urban communities;
- Deliver a programme of community engagement activities, and improved access to information and interpretation, taking the opportunity to work with two new visitor centres currently in development;
- Deliver a programme of education activities with schools ‘twinning’ rural and urban areas, and develop a Forest Schools programme;
-
Provide training in heritage skills, from informal activities to accredited courses, centred on the new Eco Centre near Wirksworth
Start date: 2011
Scheme area: 7,000 hectares
Trust reserves within the scheme
Cromford Canal, Derwentside, Hadfields Quarry, Morley Brickyard, Overdale,
Rowsley Sidings, Wyver Lane
This scheme is helping species including...
Current threats to the landscape
Habitat fragmentation and deterioration
Partners
Natural England, Environment Agency, Forestry Commission, English Heritage, National Stone Centre, Fleet Arts, The Arkwright Society, Derwent Valley Mills, World Heritage Site Partnership
To find out more
Email: enquiries@derbyshirewt.co.uk | Tel: 01773 881188 | Derwent Valley
.jpg)
 Adam Cormack.JPG)