HARD work put into Paddington Meadows and the Woolston New Cut Canal by volunteers over the last 10 years produced some outstanding results during 2023.
The work by volunteers from the New Cut Ecology and Heritage Group particularly benefited nature.
Recent bird counts have seen record figures with as many as 46 different species on the meadows and surrounding
river and canal environments in one day alone.
The New Cut volunteers have begun a policy of “dead hedging” whereby fallen branches and twigs are piled into a hedge to create a perfect habitat for insects and birds to feed, hide and nest in to further increase populations.
uring the cold winter months, the group had several talks given by a variety of experts.
Alan Brown gave a talk on the history of Daresbury Laboratory and archaeology, Tony Parker a talk on Bumblebees and George Pilkington on the topic of encouraging wildlife in the local area.
During the summer Dave Higginson Tranter, Dave Winnard and Stuart Frazer, all expert naturalists, accompanied group membes on walks along the New Cut Trail and Paddington
Meadows pointing out butterflies, grasses, moss, wild plants, fungi, insects and trees.
The group have joined forces with the Women’s Institute in maintaining and improving a small wildlife garden alongside Woolston Lock. In the latter part of the year, members prepared the ground and WI members planted some spring bulbs. These will look stunning this Spring alongside the lock with the River Mersey in the background.
Nature doesn’t stop as the sun goes down and as darkness encroaches bats take over the night sky searching for insects. Every year in August local bat enthusiasts Harold ‘Batman’
Green with his sidekick Michael lead New Cut volunteers and local residents on bat walks and undertake surveys on the Meadows.
Weekly working parties have continually improved pedestrian access by maintaining bridges, paths and wildflower meadows while a record 26 volunteers turned out for the annual ‘Spring Clean’ litter pick in March. The former towpath on the canal, now fully tarmacked for its entire length, is attracting ever increasing numbers of cyclists, walkers and joggers.
Education and outreach has seen significant development in 2023 with a new set of information boards positioned around the meadows explaining the flora and fauna of the area. Every year, two volunteers visit Woolston CE Primary School to take part in lessons about the history of Woolston. The group are active at local community and open day events, taking their display stands to both inform and answer questions from the public on the wildlife and history of the area.
The group has had wonderful financial support from parish and borough councils, local businesses and funders to help support its work and the one thing that impresses them is
that the team of volunteers delivers great results.
But there is still a lot more that can be done to improve the ecology of this special piece of green space and more volunteers are always welcome.
To contact the group e-mail: [email protected],
email: [email protected] or visit
www.newcuttrail.com
