New wildlife haven for Cheshire

Tarmac have begun to hand over part of their Crown Farm Quarry site in Delamere to Cheshire Wildlife Trust, marked by the presenting of keys to a vehicle funded by Tarmac.

The site will be transformed by the Trust into a new 17-hectare wildlife haven, Crown Farm Nature Reserve, providing homes for beautiful wildflowers, solitary bees, grassland butterflies and birds, as well as a venue to inspire the next generation about the value of nature.

Tarmac began quarrying the 65-hectare Crown Farm Quarry in 1989. The site, which was mainly agricultural farmland beforehand, has been quarried over the last three decades for sand to use in the manufacturing of concrete, mortar and asphalt used to maintain and develop our built environment. As part of Tarmac’s planning permission to extract the sand, they were required to have a plan for how the site was to be restored and to include a variety of wildlife habitats once extraction finished. To deliver the restoration plan, Cheshire Wildlife Trust and Tarmac have already been working together for a number of years to prepare areas of Crown Farm Quarry for the handover.

“With quarrying now finished on part of the site, Cheshire Wildlife Trust will manage the restored area as Crown Farm Nature Reserve,” said Kevin Feeney, Living Landscapes Officer for the Trust and the nature reserve manager.”

“We’ve already seen birds like sand martins (top) and butterflies like small heath butterfly, the common blue (left) and small coppers start to move back into this area, which is incredibly exciting. For me, it clearly shows the resilience of our wildlife – if we provide bigger, better and more joined up areas for nature, species are able to move back in.”

Crown Farm Quarry is located within an area of gently rolling woodland, farmland and heathland. It’s a wonderful place that tells the area’s history – the pockets of sand were formed during the last ice age and was once was part of the ancient forest of Mara and Mondrem.

Steve Williams, Crown Farm Quarry Manager said “We’re proud of our partnership with Cheshire Wildlife Trust and look forward to working with them in the future to develop the nature reserve.  We are committed to enhancing the biodiversity of our sites and hope that by working with the Trust we will be able to create something special for Delamere.”

Due to the quarry still being operational, unfortunately the reserve will not be open to the public. However we will be holding special events for supporters and delivering education sessions for schools within the new site’s Discovery Centre, funded by Tarmac.

Take a look at Cheshire Wildlife Trust to see all our wildlife havens. You can find your nearest reserve, see what’s there and read any additional information you need to know before you go.