Brockholes: A Wetland Wonderland!

To celebrate the Wildlife Trust saving Brockholes Wetland from development - which they only managed to achieve with YOUR help - they held a special celebration by inviting just a small number of the huge numbers of people who helped to Save Brockholes.



Even that relatively small proportion of the total numbers saw several dozen people enjoying guided tours of the new Wetland - not to mention a delicious lunch and a nice cup of tea!



Our guides explained to us what their plans are to improve the site, some of which is still a raw patch of recently-quarried land - but this is a bonus as the Wildlife Trust can ensure that their habitat restoration is exactly what is needed!



Whilst some of the lakes and their bankside habitats have already seen a significant amount of habitat restoration, the Wildlife Trust will have to revisit many of these areas to make more sympathetic alterations. This will include reducing the heights of many of the islands in the lakes as they are not the natural island habitats many species prefer, and removing a large proportion of the Willow which is in danger of taking over.

Brockholes Wetland is on the banks of the Ribble, East of Preston, and has, in just a few years, become one of the most important sites for a number of bird and insect species - the second most important for Whimbrel in Britain! And with the Wildlife Trust's work on the site only just beginning, this will ensure that the Whimbrel and the huge number of other bird, insect, and mammal species, will thrive here in perpetuity.



The various interlinked habitats at Brockholes offer such a wealth of biodiversity, it is a truly amazing place already - and it will be 3 years or so before it's at its best!

There are the lakes themselves of course...



...with Bullrushes and other marsh and wetland areas...



...bankside habitats and woodlands...



...wildflowers...


...and species-rich grasslands...



...and the largest remaining section of ancient woodland in Lancashire...



...including Boilton Wood, Brockholes Wood, Red Scar Wood, and leading on to Tun Brook Wood, and much of this stretch of ancient woodland runs unbroken for several miles, and has been here for thousands of years. To walk in these wild woods is truly amazing, full of bird song and incredible biodiversity...



Tun Brook ancient woodland follows the Tun Brook as it flows through to the Ribble where it becomes Red Scar Woods...





...Swifts screaming over Boilton Wood...



...and Sand Martin colonies below Red Scar Woods along the River banks...



Brockholes Wetland is a fantastic site already, and will be one of the best Nature Reserves in the whole of the UK within just a few short years!

And most importantly of all, of course, the River Ribble curves on its way through the whole area, linking riverbanks with woodland, marsh with meadows, and curves right around three-quarters of the Brockholes Wetland site...



You can join us for our own Celebration of Brockholes Wetland on Saturday 4th August when the Save The Ribble "Ribble Way Walk to Brockholes" takes place as part of the Ribble Coast & Wetlands Walking Festival!

Further details are here on our Ribble Events list, so come along for a fantastic day out along the Ribble - and a Celebration of Brockholes Wetland!!

For more information about the huge range of bird and other species which are already thriving here at Brockholes Wetland here, and see the Wildlife Trust here, and here.

Contact us at savetheribble@tiscali.co.uk