A selection of places where Wildlife Trusts have transformed post-industrial sites - munitions factories, quarries, mines - into wildlife havens.
The Avenue Washlands (Derbyshire Wildlife Trusts)
Previously known as ‘The Avenue Coking Works’, The Avenue Washlands (near Chesterfield) is now a Derbyshire Wildlife Trust nature reserve but used to be a factory which carbonised 2,175 tons of coal a day. Constructed in 1956, the Coking Works employed up to 800 people, generating a massive 1,4000 tons of smokeless fuel, 65 tons of sulphuric acid, 35 tons of ammonium sulphate and 250 tons of tar per day. With such a large amount of production came a large amount of waste, and all left over chemicals and materials were dumped on the on-site tip. Consequently the site became known as one of the most contaminated in Western Europe.
The factory was demolished in 1992 and, after a huge clean-up operation in 1999, the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust created and opened a new wetland nature reserve on the site. After years of conservation work, the area (about the size of 200 football pitches) is now covered in plants and flowers and is teeming with birds and insects. Heavily polluted industrial land has been turned into a place that can be used and enjoyed by both people and wildlife.
Grass snakes and great crested newts can be seen swimming in the slower sections of the River Rother that runs through the reserve, while dragonflies and kingfisher skim the surface of the water. A number of ditches and the rivers banks provide a great home for the nationally declining water vole, and reedbeds provide shelter for wetland birds such as the lapwing, tufted duck and little grebe. Rare wildflowers attract a variety of pollinating insects such as butterflies and bees, and these, in-turn, attract farmland birds such as the yellowhammer and skylark which are now well established at the site.
Visitors can now take a pleasant walk around the old Avenue Works site or cycle along the reserves many paths and nature trails. A learning centre has also been built onsite, detailing its history, and here local families and school children can learn about the variety of protected wildlife that now resides there.
Centenary Riverside (Sheffield Wildlife Trust)
Once a former steel works known as the 'Seven Sisters' due to its seven tall chimneys, the Cenetary Riverside reserve is in the heart of Rotherham and has now been transformed into a 10 acre urban wetland.
In 2009 the Wildlife Trust for Sheffield and Rotherham began a restoration project at the site. This involved a programme of planting and construction works, and has subsequently led to the area being transformed; it now stands as a haven for local wildlife.
Work has been done to connect this site with other green spaces around the Sheffield area, and this will allow animals to move freely about whilst remaining protected. Trees, grasslands and wildflowers have been planted to create cover and food for small mammals such as bank voles, wood mice and the common shrew and eventually, it is hoped that many native species, including otters, will be re-established here. Concrete foundations have been adapted to create new habitats, and these are great if you enjoy wildlife watching.
As well being a great space for plants and animals, the site also offers a good day out for local people. Footpaths take visitors around the site and seating areas with beautiful views have been installed to allow for rest. Parts of the site are made from interesting recycled industrial materials- the walkway across the manmade pond is made from recycled plastic boards and deckchair sculptures are made from reclaimed railway sleepers that used to run through the site. To serve as education, signage is dotted along the pathways and sculptures give a nod to the reserves industrial past. Steel Henge (on the flood defence bank) is a huge relic of the site which has now been transformed into an interpretive feature.
As well as looking to the past, Centenary Riverside will contribute to the area’s economic future as the wetland itself has become an important part of Rotherham’s flood defences, allowing adjacent land to be developed.
Meeth Quarry (Devon Wildlife Trust)
This former clay works is at the end of the Tarka Trail in north Devon, and adjoins the Devon Wildlife Trust's existing nature reserve at Ash Moor. The 150ha site - the Trust's newest nature reserve - will eventually become Devon's largest nature reserve and in the future it’s hoped that it will be haven for wildlife, an outdoor classroom for local school children and a base for a range of local community activity.
Meeth Quarry is made up of six threatened wildlife habitats - giving it potential to support a range of different ecosystems and the chance to attract a variety of different species. 18 species of national importance will be conserved on the site.
The site is a spectacular, recovering landscape.
Matt Boydell, the Trust’s land manager, spoke about the possibilities that the quarry offers for birdlife: “The site is a spectacular, recovering landscape, with vast areas of open water, wet grassland, stone quarry face and woodland. It will provide a haven for a huge range of bird life, making it an excellent winter wildlife-watching destination for local communities.”
Industrial buildings still remain on the quarry, but the Trust has already transformed the disused pit into a nature conservation area and the reserve was officially opened in May. Devon Wildlife Trust's Chief Executive, Harry Barton, says "There is still a lot to be done, but we will continue to work hard to secure the funding and resources needed to realize the full potential of this fantastic asset in terms of benefits to both wildlife and the wider community."
Gwaith Powdwr (North Wales Wildlife Trust)
From 1865- 1995 Gwaith Powdwr was an explosive works, producing both gun cotten and TNT. In 1998 it was donated to the North Wales Wildlife Trust by the ICI, and is now managed as a nature reserve. Buildings were decontaminated by fire, to blow up any residual nitro-glycerine that had been used whilst the site was still manufacturing explosives and the site has changed dramatically since then.
The reserve is a 28 hectare site, made up of a range of habitats, including woodland, scrub, heathland, bare rock and open water. Such diversity in the environment supports a wide range of wildlife.
Since acquiring the site, the Trust has been working to restore heathland of the Klondyke Valley (one of three that divides the site), and manage the developing scrub. Here, birds such as the linnet and stonechat can be seen throughout the middle of the year and the heath around this area provides the main nesting site for nightjar. This bird breeds in early summer and can be heard churring from one side of the estuary to the other. Higher up this valley is the former Settling Pool where newts, water beetles, dragonflies and damselflies reside.
In Cooke’s Valley, where cartridges were once filled with explosives, open grassy areas are now home to plants such as wild strawberry, common rockrose and bird’s foot trefoil (the larval food plant of common blue butterflies). The valley also contains scrub and mature oak, and open grassland surrounded by woodland is used by green woodpecker. Wet birch and willow woodland borders a stream flowing through the valley, and the humid atmosphere that surrounds this allows growth of ferns, mosses and lichens.
The central Miners Safety Valley is where detonators were once made and tested, but now this open areas is sheltered glade, maintained by volunteers and favoured by flying insects which provide food for woodcock, nightjar and bats. Seven species of bat can be found throughout the reserve and hang in the tunnels of the old railway that runs through it, and the emergency shelters where workers would take refuge in the event of an alarm.They make use of some of the remaining buildings along with additional bat boxes which have been provided by the Trust.
Guided talk offer visitors education and entertainment and with informative interpretation boards dotted around the many footpaths of the site, it really becomes a brilliant place to explore.
College Lake Nature Reserve (Berks, Bucks and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust)
Once a working chalk quarry, College Lake is now one of the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust's (BBOWT) flagship nature reserves. The transformation is a fantastic example of what people passionate about wildlife can bring about through a shared vision and sheer determination. Thanks to the hard work of BBOWT staff and volunteers, this thriving nature reserve now supports more than 1,000 different species.
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The former quarry is widely regarded as one of the best places in Buckinghamshire for water birds, and with many hides overlooking the lake, this is a great destination for bird watchers or for families, whatever the weather or time of year. Much-loved lapwing can be seen all year round and in winter, large flocks fly acrobatically in the sky above the water. Marshland areas are home to breeding waders such as redshank and in winter wildfowl, such as wigeon and teal, use the wetlands for feeding and roosting.
Elsewhere on the reserve, the chalk grassland is alive with colour during the spring and summer as a wide variety of flowers come into bloom. These support a range of insects, including a number of rarer butterfly species such as the small blue. Rough grassland provides a home for breeding skylarks, as well as shelter for small mammals, which in turn feed birds of prey such as kestrels and barn owls. Woodland, scrub and hedgerows are also widespread across the reserve, and support a wide variety of wildlife, including finches and tits and in winter.
An unusual feature of College Lake is the Cornfield Flowers project that started in the 1980s. College Lake was one of the first places in the country to actively conserve these rare and beautiful flowers, and the reserve now produces a glorious show of colour every year during June and July.
In 2010, an eco visitor centre with stunning views of the lakes opened to the public and guided walks and family fun days are held at the site.
Bishop Middleham Quarry (Durham Wildlife Trust)
The Durham Wildlife Trust’s Bishop Middleham Quarry Reserve is two miles north of the village of Bishop Middleham. Quarrying ceased in the 1930’s and since that time has become recolonised by a variety of limestone flora.
These flowers are all representative of magnesian limestone grassland, an internationally rare habitat which lends itself to the growth of orchid species, and the area has been listed as a SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) since 1968.
.jpg "Bishop Middleham Quarry")
The abundance of orchids that now grow at the quarry include the pyramidal, common spotted, fragrant, bee and dark red helleborine. These colourful flowers present a colourful display and this draws in pollinating insects such as butterflies and bumblebees (which particularly like the rare bee-orchid).
Large areas of the quarry are covered in common-rock rose flower which supports one of the country’s largest colonies of northern brown argus butterfly (seen on the wing in June and July) and other butterflies can be found fluttering amongst the flowers too, such as the dingy skipper, common blue, small heath, ringlet and small and large skippers.
The scrub and woodland habitats present on the site attract birds from the surrounding farmland, and in 2002 the reserve became only the second recorded breeding site for bee-eater birds in the UK (left). A pair nested in one of the quarry faces and fledged three young.
Among the plants that flourish on the thin limestone soils are blue moor grass, moonwort, autumn gentian and fairy flax. In order to maintain these and other important plant communities it is necessary to halt the process of natural succession from herb rich grassland to scrub and then to woodland. Working in partnership with Natural England the Durham Wildlife Trust regularly carries out land management activities such as clearance of gorse and thorn scrub to prevent them shading out the herb rich flora. This also creates areas of bare ground, which provide germination sites.
Wood Lane Reserve (Shropshire Wildlife Trust)
Wood Lane, near Collemere in Shropshire is considered one of the best bird-watching sites in the country, and is a 81 ha nature reserve managed by Shropshire Wildlife Trust. This nature reserve has been developed over recent years on a disused industrial site which opened in the 1930s. Airfields, factories, houses, schools and hospitals were all constructed using the plentiful sands and gravels taken from the site.
Work began to restore it over 10 years ago and since then the Trust has installed sluices to create wetland habitat for birds. Little ringed plover have settled down to breed and reeds have been planted by local volunteers, providing places for nesting and sheltering. The secretive water rail has been spotted skulking amongst these.
Other birds that can be found at the site water birds, such as the greenshank, redshank, whimbrel, dunlin, green sandpiper and little stint. Several large lagoons with islands and surrounding rough grassland make up the reserve, which is surrounded by a working landscape with mountainous heaps of sand providing a backdrop - these also provide the perfect nesting opportunity for hundreds of pairs of sand martins (see photo). Tree sparrow, another bird teetering on the edge of local extinction in places in the UK, can also be found here and many of them have taken advantage of the nest boxes found around the reserve.
School groups regularly visit, thanks to an arrangement with the Tudor Griffiths Group and the reserve has become the Trust's main educational site with around 1000 children visiting annually. Over a dozen local people regularly help out with management tasks and Wildlife Trust volunteers have woven the osprey nests on the reserve (which still await occupants!). But so many people have been active in restoring the Wood Lane nature reserve to what it is today.
The Greater Manchester Wetlands (Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside Wildlife Trust)
Wigan town centre sits only one kilometre north of the Greater Manchester Wetlands, which stretches down to Warrington in the south. The area comprises several Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI's) and the Greater Manchester Mosslands Special Area of Conservation.
Dark satanic mills, coal mines, huge peat-digging machines and the biggest iron and steel works in Europe used to sit on the site, but the area has now been transformed by the Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside and its partners.
The slag heaps are now landscaped and green, while the flashes (areas of open water formed through the extraction of coal, which led to subsidence and extensive flooding) provide homes for thousands of wild birds. Extraction sites which removed up to three metres of peat and the old iron and steel works are now being restored into wonderful nature reserves for local people, and running along the canal are amazing rock outcrops formed from the waste iron slag.
The Wildlife Trust’s Wigan Project Manager Mark Champion said: “This is a hugely important area for wildlife and very accesssible for people - with six million people within half an hours travel of the site.”
Within the wetlands, reedbed management has been a key area of conservation and these now attract reed warblers, reed bunting and a variety of wading birds, including bittern. Grassland areas have also been managed for conservation, and are now carpeted with wildflowers and many orchids during spring and summer. Here, a wide range of butterflies, dragonflies and bees create a buzz where thousands of mine workers once plied their trade.
The southern part of the wetlands is mainly lowland raised bog which has been damaged through peat removal and intensive agriculture. Areas such as Little Woolden Moss and Cadishead Moss have been bought by the Trust and restored after peat extractors removed more than 90 % of all the peat over the past 100 years. Astley Moss (see above) has been a SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) since 1989, and is also now covered in vegetation and mammals now found here include hare, stoat and deer.
The Greater Manchester Wetlands, like many areas with an industrial heritage, is surrounded by disadvantaged communities.
The Trust has helped to engage these communities on the site by providing community events, training and volunteer provision and the establishment of community groups. Mark Champion continues: "The involvement of the community has been fundamental to the success of Wigan Flashes, from both practical and financial perspectives."
Parc Slip Nature Reserve (The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales)
Parc Slip Nature Reserve at Aberkenfig near Bridgend is 300 acre site managed by the South and West Wales Wildlife Trust. The area is home to some of Wales’ rarest and most precious wildlife and has radically changed since it functioned as an opencast coal mine that was closed in the late 80’s.
While the colliery was still open, in August 26, 1892, a tragic disaster occurred. An explosion cost the lives of 112 men and boys after a rescue attempt that lasted for several days (see drawing, left). These miners are remembered today with a memorial fountain in the Southern end of the reserve but it’s generally considered that the entire area stands as a growing, living, organic monument to those that lost their lives.
Ducks, cycle paths, picnic tables and other peaceful and beautiful things belie what happened on the site back then, and in 1994 (100 years later), a visitor centre was built on the mine by the Coal Board for educational purposes. This is used by the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales, who have restored the surrounding area into a beautiful nature reserve consisting of wildflower meadows, grassland, woodland and wetlands.
During the summer, the fields near to the visitor centre are ablaze with colour as oxeye daisy, ragged robin, orchids, fleabane, red bartsia and numerous other beautiful wildflowers that come into bloom. Harvest mice have been spotted here and the charismatic lapwing breed in grassland areas.
The endangered great crested newt breeds in the open water ponds. The wader scrape and wetlands also provide habitat for many species of water bird, including teal and water rail. There are a number of open access hides and viewing areas throughout the reserve for visitors to use.
Deciduous and coniferous woodland provide home to green woodpecker and jay, tawny owls, foxes and wood mice. Conservation work also takes place onsite for the scarce blue-tailed damselfly (one of the smallest in the UK). The species is usually found in shallow wetland sites with open vegetation, so shallow pools are maintained throughout the reserve.
The nature reserve and visitor centre both provide a safe area for families to discover and enjoy nature. Activities such as pond dipping, bug hunting and making bird boxes are run regularly from the centre through Wildlife Watch.