Habitats
The mid Cheshire Sandstone Ridge area contains a variety of habitats reflecting the geological evolution and human habitation over the last 7000 years.
The combination of Triassic Keuper sandstones, waterstones and marls and Bunter sandstones covered by a complex series of glacial deposits of boulder clay, sands and gravels at lower altitudes and on the gentler slopes produces a complex pattern of soils and vegetation. The wooded sandstone hills, meres and mosses, heaths, areas of extractive industry and recreation, set within a matrix of intensively productive farmland, support a fragile and vulnerable wealth of different types of wildlife habitats, some of which are of national and international importance.
The key characteristics of the specific ridge landscape tract are:
- The sandstone ridge itself with outcrops and upstanding bluffs of over 100m, forming a distinctive landmark and providing spectacular long distance views across Cheshire and beyond towards Wales, the Peak District and Shropshire
- High density woodland compared with the rest of Cheshire comprising ancient woodland and post medieval conifer plantations
- The largest areas of surviving lowland heath in Cheshire
- Low density dispersed farms
- Sandstone buildings, boundary walls and sunken lanes
Woodland Heritage
The Sandstone Ridge is one of the most wooded parts of Cheshire with approximately 2530ha of woodland, 11.5% of the land area. This compares to 5-6% for the county as a whole. The woodlands in the area include concentrations of ancient semi-natural woodland, secondary semi-natural woodland and recent plantations.
Woodland conservation - Rhododendron control on Woodhouse Hill,
Helsby Hill, Birch Hill and Helsby Quarry
Semi-natural woodland restoration - A programme of small scale
native broadleaf planting to link existing woodland
blocks. This will assist in reversing the fragmentation of existing
woodlands.
Restoring meres and mosses heritage
The meres and mosses of Cheshire form an internationally important series of open water and peatland sites. Most are of glacial origin having developed in natural depressions in the glacial drift left by receding ice sheets. The vegetation of the meres includes beds of floating pondweeds and water lilies, bands of marginal reeds and wet woodland carr.
The main concentration of remnant peatlands and small meres lies to the east side of the Ridge around Delamere, mostly in Forestry Commission management, with a smaller number of predominately modified meres and mosses to the south-east of Beeston. Ecological surveys of two of the meres and mosses during the Development Phase identified water management, planting of non-native species and scrub development as management issues.
Management work has been identified at Bowyers Waste and Peckforton Mere.
Restoring heathland and acid grassland heritage
The vast majority of the grassland found along the Ridge is now species poor "improved" grassland which has been modified by extensive fertiliser use and reseeding. “Unimproved” (species-rich) grasslands, unaffected by agricultural improvement, are rare and threatened both nationally and locally.
Remnant acid grassland is extremely scattered and usually only survives as small patches (<0.5ha in size) as part of mosaics of other habitats. The limited extent and fragmentation of remaining resource, together with a lack of sufficient management poses a threat to the long term survival of this natural heritage.
Management work has been identified at The Yeld, Delamere, The Waste, Delamere and Boothsdale (Little Switzerland).
There is one significant area of lowland heath remaining in the area at Bickerton Hill. The site is designated as a SSSI with lowland heath vegetation covering approximately 20ha. Recent management at Bickerton Hill by the National Trust, through the Countryside Stewardship Scheme, has increased areas of open heathland on the top of the hill and some areas of the scarp slope. Vegetation of ling, wavy-hair grass and gorse are maintained through grazing.
The long term aim is to expand the heathland area by returning a 10acre field from a clover dominated improved grassland to acid grassland/lowland heathland, contiguous with the surrounding Bickerton Hill SSSI.
Field boundaries
Traditional field boundaries, in the form of sandstone walls and hedgerows, have been identified in the Landscape Strategy as an important landscape feature in the LPS area forming field boundaries to both agricultural land and woodland. Both features have suffered from gradual loss and a lack of management.
- Sandstone walls - Sections of sandstone walls (dry and mortared) will be repaired on woodland boundaries and access routes to Eddisbury hillfort.
- Hedgerow restoration - Sections of hedgerow (both ancient/species rich and more modern enclosure) will be restored on woodland boundaries and access routes to Eddisbury hillfort.