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15 May 2019
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Vol 26 l Issue 20
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Village pub is new ‘home’ for sanctuary
Vow to tackle ‘dangerous’ parking
CASH BOOST FOR PROJECT TO BREATHE NEW LIFE INTO HISTORIC MARL PIT PONDS Report by Kenny Parker A PIONEERING nature project which aims to restore overgrown marl pit ponds in Halsall to encourage wildlife to return and for the public to enjoy has been given a financial boost with a £10,500 grant. Marl is a clay-like substance that was unearthed and dug out in the 17th and 18th centuries for use as an early soil improver and fertiliser. And although many marl pits still remain in West Lancashire they are mostly overgrown with trees. The work to restore the marl pits in Halsall, something which has never been done before, started two years ago and is being led by University of London PhD student Helen Greaves, from Burscough, in conjunction with natural history group, West Lancashire Wildlife, Edge Hill University, and local farmer Chris Molyneux. The project is due to finish in the autumn and wildlife has already started to return to the site. Funds to monitor the ponds were initially provided by the British Ecological Society, while financial support for the restoraton of the West Lancashire marl pits came from the Lancashire Environment Fund (LEF). Now Helen Greaves says that the LEF has been so pleased with the work to date that they have made a further grant of £10,500. She said: “They were really happy with the work in terms of restoration and monitoring and the wildlife coming back.
“So the next step, and what this grant application was about, is to design and put in a kind of walk around that area for members of the public to use. “There will also be a leaflet highlighting what is going on and we will put up permanent boards with information on. “Some of the money will also pay for seating so that members of the public can sit and enjoy the nature.” The project has been linked to the ‘Great Twin Pond Dig’ run by University College London, which is comparing the Lancashire ponds to similar ponds in Norfolk. The aim is to raise awareness of these historical marl pits and to demonstrate the benefit of pond restoration to wildlife in farmland. Significant Helen says that among the wildlife are water boatmen, damselflies and dragonflies, while frogspawn has also been seen in the ponds and eight different plants have also been growing again at the sites. And she says it is hoped that the restoration will also cause wildlife from the Gorse Hill Nature Reserve to also move to and colonise the ponds. Helen believes the work is significant because it demonstrates how restoration can be achieved without having a negative impact on the farms. “The research that we have done in pond restoration has not been done before,” she said. “We have shown that you can enhance biodiversity in farmland and bring back wildlife without affecting farmers’ crops. Now it’s a case of wanting to reconnect the public with that story.”
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Helen Greaves during the restoration at one of the ponds in Halsall which are the focus of the pioneering project.
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