The Art of the Mosses Continues in Wem and Oswestry

October 15, 2021

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The Marches Mosses continue to star in art exhibitions in North Shropshire. After being displayed at the Mosses’ Mammoth Tower, the “peat-surface-sky” exhibition opened at Wem Town Hall on 15 September and continues through 1 November. There will be an open event the evening of 19 October (5:30 – 7:00pm) to meet the artists and team. Part of an overall project called “Mosses and Marshes”, the exhibit features artwork by members of the Wem Youth Group and local artists Sue Challis, Kate Johnston and Andrew Howe.

The exhibition is based around three giant banners – each seven metres long – designed by the youth group members. This project came out of a collaboration between the Wem Youth Group, Shropshire Wildlife Trust and Natural England. Lead artist Andrew Howe devised the Marshes and Marshes project and was successful in obtaining an Arts Council grant. He commissioned local artists Kate Johnston and Sue Challis to work with the Wem Youth Group to create artwork inspired by the Moss.

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Anna Martin, Marches Mosses Events Officer, Shropshire Wildlife Trust, collaborated with the artist team and supported the youth group members to learn more about the Mosses during the project. She is very proud of the work the group achieved: “What was wonderful about this project was that it gave local young people a chance to really get to know this important place on their doorstep. It gave them space to go deeper and explore the Mosses in lots of different ways – they worked with ecologists, used their senses to investigate, heard stories of the past, foraged for natural materials, explored other artists’ work about the site and drew on all this to create amazing artwork.

“The local exhibition of their work will help bring the Mosses to life for others in their family and the wider community. The project has had real depth, and I believe will have created lasting memories and a sense of connection to the Mosses for the young people involved.”

Another part of the arts project is already open at the Qube in Oswestry. The “Mosses and Marshes” exhibition is the culmination of three years’ work by Shrewsbury-based artist Andrew Howe and Australian artist Kim. V Goldsmith and is based around the incredible landscapes of the Marches Mosses in North Shropshire and northeast Wales and the marshes of northwest New South Wales, Australia.

The works in the exhibition reflect the beauty and mystery of these precious and fragile landscapes. The work featured includes long and short videos, soundscapes, prints and paintings with natural materials.

Andrew Howe reflects on the work he and Kim Goldsmith have done: “In our respective studios, we’ve created works that not only celebrate the obvious beauty of the wetlands and recognise the place they’ve held within their respective communities over the centuries, but also provoke conversations around what shape their future might take. There are hidden narratives we’ve wanted to bring into the conversation, including stories revealed to us by the wetlands during the time we have been visiting.”

Starting on Tuesday 19 October with a preview from 5:30 – 7:00pm and continuing until 30 October, “peat-surface-sky” will be open at Wem Town Hall Monday through Saturday from 9:00am to 3:00 pm, with an early opening at 8:00am on Thursdays. The town hall is located on the Wem High Street, SY4 5DG. You can find more information at https://www.wemtownhall.co.uk.

“Marshes and Mosses” is open Monday through Saturday at the Qube, Oswald Road, Oswestry, SY11 1RB through 30 October. Opening hours are 9am – 5pm Monday through Friday and 9:30 – 12:30 on Saturdays. The Qube’s website is https://qube-oca.org.uk.

Admission is free at both locations.

You can visit the Marches Mosses to see the source of these artworks for yourself, or just for a tranquil walk under the wide open skies of this amazing landscape. The Mosses are open daily from dawn till dusk, and admission is always free of charge.

The Marches Mosses Community Helps to Celebrate Peatlands 30th Birthday

September 30, 2021

The Marches Mosses celebrated its 30th anniversary as a National Nature Reserve (NNR) on 10-11 September and over 150 people came out to help with the party. The Wem Youth Club created three banners celebrating the landscape of the Mosses and flew them from the Mammoth Viewing Tower during the two-day party.

Thirty years might be a long time for an NNR, but for this precious peatland? That’s less than 1% of the 10,000 years that the Mosses have been around!

On Friday 10 September, some 30 delegates from the BogLIFE Project partners, Natural England, Natural Resources Wales, and Shropshire Wildlife Trust, plus guests attended a conference and a tour of the Marches Mosses. Delegates heard from Natural England Chair Tony Juniper, Natural Resources Wales Chair Sir David Henshaw and CEO of Shropshire Wildlife Trust Richard Grindle as they explained the importance of the Mosses in fighting nature and climate emergencies.

During the conference, the Fenn’s and Whixall Mosses NNR was officially extended to include an additional 237 acres of land around the edges of the Mosses. The edge habitat, or ‘lagg’ is an important part of the peatland as it helps to keep the peat wet and protected.

The real fun started on Saturday 11 September when 120 local visitors were having muddy fun! Led by two volunteers, visitors explored the wildlife that depend on the wet, acidic nature of the the peat to survive.

Natural England volunteer warden Stephen Barlow led a walk exploring what lives on the precious peat of the bog, including raft spiders and bog plants. He also explained how peat captures and stores vast quantities of carbon – vital in the fight against climate change. In fact, the Mosses store three million tonnes of carbon – equal to the annual carbon footprint of about a quarter of a million people.

Ecologist Phil Playford took families on a bug safari on the Mosses, where they spotted varieties of beetles, spiders, frogs, toads, and lots of lizards. These creatures are thriving in the restored, wet peatland and include the nationally rare raft spider that seems to walk on the water’s surface as it looks for its dinner.

You can explore the Mosses, too, on the marked trails or along the length of a railway line that once crossed the this precious national treasure. This time of year, the ground is often muddy so be sure to wear boots or wellies – and the usual British necessity of a waterproof jacket and hat. You’ll experience the wide, open skies and tranquillity of the Mosses – good for our health and our souls – even under cloudy skies.

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The Youth Group’s banners are on display at Wem Town Hall as part of the “peat-surface-sky” exhibition, now through 1 November 2021. The three banners, each seven metres long, were created by members of the Wem Youth Group based on their visits to the Mosses. The group worked with local artists to visualise the layers of the Mosses landscape: the open skies above the Mosses; the wildlife the lives on the peat and its ponds; and the peat itself, 10,000 years old and still as much as five metres deep. Wem Town Hall is short journey from the Mosses, making it easy to combine a visit to the exhibition with your walk on Mosses.

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The Marches Mosses celebrates 30 years as a National Nature Reserve – and grows!

September 13, 2021

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The Marches Mosses, an internationally-important lowland raised peat bog between England and Wales – is celebrating its 30th birthday as a National Nature Reserve (NNR). Not only that, the NNR has grown by nearly 20% with the official addition of 237 acres into the Mosses area covered by the NNR – the equivalent of some 130 football pitches.

The process of restoring this precious peatland was started In 1990; the site was purchased a nature reserve in 1991.  The Mosses sit within a Special Site of Scientific Interest (SSSI), a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance, emphasising the importance of this precious peatland.

The anniversary and official extension of the Mosses NNR was marked by an event on Friday 10 September 2021 attended by officials from the teams involved in the restoration project. 

Tony Juniper, chair of Natural England, said:   “Here 30 years of action to revive one our largest peat bogs is paying dividends in helping to tackle the climate crisis and, at the same time, has boosted the survival of its rare ecology. 

“Places like the Marches Mosses are an example of what can be done to tackle the greatest environmental threat we face by simply allowing nature to recover and aiding that recovery with modern restoration techniques and protection through our designations as a National Nature Reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest.” 

 Sir David Henshaw, chair of National Resources Wales, added:  “Restoring and protecting peatlands is the only way we can safeguard their rich biodiversity and ensure they continue to deliver the full range of ecosystem services associated with these habitats, such as carbon storage, natural flood management and a range of other services. 

 “This collaborative cross-border project, as well as other projects in Wales and beyond, will contribute in a very significant way to addressing both the nature and climate emergencies.” 

 Richard Grindle, chair of Shropshire Wildlife Trust, commented: “Shropshire has its part to play in reducing CO2 emissions and efforts to restore and expand sites like the Marches Mosses will be a key factor in combating the climate crisis. But the Mosses are also home for rare insects and birds, which depend on the acidic nature of the peatland. Declining wildlife species have made a return to the area as the restoration progresses. 

 “It is very encouraging to see what three decades of partnership work has created – imagine what can be achieved in another 30 years’ time!”

The restoration work on the site is being carried out by Natural England on behalf of National Resources Wales and Shropshire Wildlife Trust. It helps in the fight against climate change as it ensures that the three million tons of carbon stored in the peat don’t escape into our air – one of the environmental goals that will be addressed in the upcoming COP26 meeting in Glasgow at the end of October.

The Mosses are home to an amazing variety of wildlife, some of which can only survive in the harsh, acidic nature of the place. And they provide a haven for all of us – for walks, for contemplation of the magic and mystery of nature and an escape from the stresses of modern living.

 You can follow any of the marked trails on the Mosses to watch for the Mosses’ wildlife, climb the Mammoth Tower for a bird’s-eye view, or just to enjoy the big, open skies above this wonderful habitat.

A video featuring some of the key involved in restoring the Marches Mosses can be viewed below.

Notes:

 Despite having five names for different parts of the site (Fenn’s, Whixall and Bettisfield Mosses NNR, Wem Moss NNR and Cadney Moss) the Marches Mosses are one large raised bog – an acidic, wet habitat perfect for the key plant in peat creation,  Sphagnum moss. Sphagnum, along with other bog plants, slowly decays and stores carbon as peat. It is only when this peat is cut, dug up and dried out – now mostly for horticulture use – that the carbon is released. That is why gardeners are encouraged to do their part in the fight against climate change by using peat-free compost. 

National Nature Reserves (NNRs) were established to protect some of Britain’s important habitats, species and geology, and to provide ‘outdoor laboratories’ for research. They offer great opportunities to the public, schools and specialist interest groups to experience wildlife first hand and to learn more about nature conservation. 

 Natural England is the government’s independent adviser on the natural environment. Their work is focused on enhancing England’s wildlife and landscapes and maximising the benefits they bring to the public. 

 Natural Resources Wales champions the environment and landscapes of Wales and its coastal waters as sources of natural and cultural riches, as a foundation for economic and social activity, and as a place for leisure and learning opportunities. It aims to make the environment a valued part of everyone’s life in Wales. Marches Mosses has been supported by the National Peatland Action Programme, led by Natural Resources Wales and funded by the Welsh Government. For more see www.naturalresourceswales.gov.uk. 

 Shropshire Wildlife Trust is a conservation charity established in 1962 to conserve and protect Shropshire’s wildlife. This is achieved by directly conserving wildlife and habitat, undertaking research and reconnecting people with wildlife.   

 The Marches Mosses BogLIFE project is an ambitious five-year, multi-million pound package of improvements and being delivered in a partnership led by Natural England, Natural Resources Wales and Shropshire Wildlife Trust. The funding has paid for the acquisition of a further 63 ha of peatland, and enabled water levels to be raised across 1890 acres to improve the raised bog habitat.

New restoration techniques such as cell and contour bunding are being utilised to help the Mosses retain more water and prevent the peat decaying further, helping to counteract the effects of climate change. The project also aims to restore swamp, fen, willow and alder carr wet woodland, habitats missing from the edge of the bog and is a trial site for the conversion of pasture and forestry land on peat back to bog. Pollution at a former scrapyard on the peat bog is being cleared up and new visitor facilities created. This work is being generously funded by the European Union’s LIFE Programme and, thanks to National Lottery players, the National Lottery Heritage Fund. 

Join us on 11 September for Events to Celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Mosses NNR

September 6, 2021

Photo is a bird’s-eye view of the Marches Mosses

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In 1991 – 30 years ago this month – Fenn’s, Whixall and Bettisfield Mosses (collectively “The Marches Mosses”) were designated as a National Nature Reserve. Prior to that, the peatlands, located south west of Whitchurch, were partially drained, reduced in size, and damaged by commercial peat cutting.

Tthat meant that the Mosses (which also include Cadney Moss and the Shropshire Wildife Trust owned Wem Moss) were a dramatically disappearing habitat. By the end of the 1980s, it was clear that their protection was of national importance. For thirty years, the NNR has been cared for by a team from Natural England (previously English Nature), who, under the guidance of Reserve Manager Dr Joan Daniels, have worked to restore the peatland to its former condition.

To celebrate 30 years of National Nature Reserve designation, Natural England and other partners of the BogLIFE project are welcoming Natural England Chair Tony Juniper and Natural Resources Wales Chair Sir David Henshaw to the reserve on 10th September to see first-hand the work that has been carried out to restore the Mosses and raise awareness of their importance.

On 11th September, a number of public events will also be held between 10am and 4pm. We’d love you to join us to celebrate and learn more about this internationally-important site.

Use the links next to each event or more information and to book for the events of your choice. (The links take you to the Shropshire Wildlife Trust website booking page.)

· Peat-surface-sky: Banners celebrating the Mosses created by Wem Youth group book here

· A Late Summer Walk with Stephen Barlow book here

A Bug Safari on the Mosses with Shropshire Wildlife Trust book here

· Art Trail of sounds and sculpture- a guided tour with lead artist Andrew Howe book here

All events start from the Old Scrapyard car park at Morris’s Bridge, Whixall, Whitchurch SY13 2RT. See you there!

Gardening over Bank Holiday? Choose peat-free and help to fight climate change!

August 25, 2021

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You – yes, you, right at home in your garden – can help fight climate change! How? It’s simple, really – just choose peat-free gardening products – compost and hanging basket liners among other garden necessities.

How does that help? It means that peat is left in the ground where it stores carbon rather than releasing that carbon into the air where it becomes CO2. Peat is formed from vegetation that decays very slowly in the acidic water of peatlands and so it stores that as carbon. It takes thousands of years for peat to grow – like it did here in our own Fenn’s, Whixall and Bettisfield Mosses. But it takes just a short time for that carbon to disperse into the atmosphere if peat is dug up or allowed to dry out. Scientists calculate that damaged, unhealthy peatlands make up 6% of all human-caused CO2 released into the atmosphere every year.

With such a wide variety of peat-free compost and other alternatives such as coir and wool compost available, it’s easy to help the Earth while taking good care of your garden. Your plants will love it and your planet will thank you!

You can find out more about peat-free gardening at www.rhs.co.uk.

Rescuing Our Peatland: Everything you need to know about peat restoration.

August 20, 2021

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Special thanks to Ellie Williams, Marches Mosses BogLIFE Assistant Project Officer, for this article.

The Marches Mosses is a special landscape that we are working to restore and protect for future generations. Peatlands such as Fenn’s, Whixall and Bettisfield Mosses play an important role in the fight against climate change due to their amazing carbon storage abilities.

This article has everything you need to on why the restoration and ‘re-wetting’ of the peat is so important, along with how we do this and what we hope to achieve.

What is peat?

Peat is a type of soil that has a high percentage of partially decomposed vegetation matter, created in the wet conditions found in bogs. It is very dark brown in colour and has a ‘squelchy’ texture. Peat is also very good at holding onto water, much like a sponge; this is why it is squelchy.

Vegetation, as with all living things, is full of carbon. In other habitats this carbon decomposes which releases that carbon back into the atmosphere. However, decomposition is very slow on a bog so this carbon isn’t released into the atmosphere. Instead it is stored underground for potentially thousands of years.

Why is peat important?

The high carbon content of peat is what makes peatlands so important in the fight against climate change. Fenn’s and Whixall Mosses have been accumulating peat since the end of the last Ice Age over 10,000 years ago, sequestering around 3 million tonnes of carbon!

The concerning part of this amazing ability is that peatlands will only store carbon if they are healthy and full of water. When a peatland is drained and the water table drops, the peat that was saturated dries out. Once the air has access to the peat it will cause the peat to decompose. This releases the carbon it has been storing away for thousands of years back into the atmosphere.

This is a major problem, so much so that damaged, unhealthy peatlands make up 6% of all human-caused CO2 released into the atmosphere every year.

This is why restoration is so important: it will limit the carbon being released and allow the bog to store the carbon instead. Fenn’s Whixall and Bettisfield Mosses is the third-largest raised peat bog in the UK so its restoration is of national and international importance.

Fenn’s and Whixall Moss – A damaged landscape

As is the case with the majority of bogs in the UK, Fenn’s and Whixall Moss was historically cut for peat both on a localised and commercial scale. This, along with other past uses, has created a very damaged peatland. Peat has a wide range of uses for combustion, horticulture and was even used as a building material. To extract the peat, a vast network of ditches were cut across the Moss to allow peat cutting to take place.

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Peat cutting stopped in 1990 when, due to a local outcry, the site became the National Nature Reserve (NNR) it is today. However, the ditches that were created in the industrial part of its life still remain. Over the past 30 years the NNR staff have dammed up countless ditches at regular intervals  to reduce the flow of water off the site, but the bog is still far drier than it should be.

On a pristine, uncut bog the water table shouldn’t drop more than 10cm below the surface. At Fenn’s and Whixall the water table can drop far lower to over 50cm, which is only made more extreme in dry summers. What this means is the top surface of the peat is drying out, allowing it to decompose and release carbon back into the atmosphere.

How do we restore the peat?

There are three main techniques used on bogs to help retain water:

Since 2017, the team at Fenn’s & Whixall have been planning and facilitating the bunding works carried out by skilled contractors around the perimeter of the Moss. This will hold more water on the bog and slow outflow from the centre of the Moss as it has to travel through the bunded system before going downstream. Bunding the perimeter while damming the ditches in the centre will improve large areas of the bog due to the expected increased water table on the bog and slowing the flow leaving the site.

We are not the first to use bunding; this technique has also been used to help other reserves such as Humberhead NNR, Bolton Fell Moss (Cumbria), and Cors Caron NNR (Ceredigion).

How are bunds made? Below is a diagram of before and after bund construction.

How do we limit negative impacts?

A variety of bird species choose to nest on the reserve, from your bird feeder regulars such as the great tit to the nationally in decline curlew. To limit disturbance to any nesting birds, the bunding works are done over the winter, starting in August when nesting has finished and working until the end of February. On occasion the works will extend later into spring but only in areas where the land has a low nesting potential and nesting bird surveys have come back clear of prospecting and nesting birds.

We are lucky at Fenn’s and Whixall to have a population of adders. This native snake is in sharp decline nationally. Adders look for hibernation sites in dry high lumps of peat with sheltered hiding spots and a good view of the sun so they can warm up in the spring. In addition, the bunds themselves are used by wildlife, with adders seen to be using them to navigate around the site. When planning the routes for the bunding works, appropriate hibernation locations are avoided as much as possible and any known hibernation lumps are given a wide berth. 

An unexpected friend

Throughout the planning and progression of the bunding works, we try to ensure that the diggers avoid wildlife as much as possible. So we did not expect the wildlife to come to them!

Last winter a local buzzard took a liking to the excavators and was an almost daily visitor, staying very close throughout the day. We saw it hopping over the newly-made bunds and even perching on the diggers themselves.       

This isn’t their first feathered friend either – a resident kestrel also followed the bunding works closely in previous winters.

Although we cannot know for certain why, we think they take advantage of the insects, grubs and worms unearthed when the underground peat is exposed for bunding, much like the way robins will eagerly watch a gardener but on a larger scale.

Photo credits: C. Holgate

A brighter (and wetter) future

From a climate change perspective, bunding will allow the bog to have a higher average water table because the water can’t drain away as it used to due to all of the drainage ditches. This will instead saturate the peat and halt decomposition, allowing the peat to be a carbon store instead of releasing CO2 into the atmosphere as dried peat does.

Climate change is also altering our weather; the current projections from the Met Office show that the UK is likely to experience warmer, wetter winters with hotter, drier summers along with an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather. The bunds will help the bog to store more rainwater in storm events, as well as hold that water for far longer to help the bog in future drought conditions.

This is because the more rainwater that we can keep on the Moss, the less will be flowing off the reserve and downstream. This creates a win-win situation as the reserve gets to keep the rainwater it desperately needs and the downstream waterways have a lower volume of water to cope with, making them less likely to overflow. Any runoff from the reserve should also be delayed, allowing more time for the initial surge of water from surrounding farmland to subside.

Although we’re sure the buzzard will miss the diggers, in the long term the bunds will increase the water table and help promote our bog specialist plants. This helps them to compete against more aggressive species such as purple moor grass and birch which prefer the lower, fluctuating water table. These bog specialists include species of Sphagnum, cotton grasses and sundew, for example. This in turn helps other bog rarities such as the large heath butterfly that rely on these bog plants for their life cycle. Furthermore, with more pools that remain wet throughout the year, our dragonflies will also benefit, along with wading birds and hobbies which feed on the dragonflies.

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Peat Restoration in a Nutshell

To summarise, peatlands are globally important in the fight against climate change due to their ability, when in good condition, to take carbon from the atmosphere and hold that carbon in the peat for potentially thousands of years. However, peatlands are drained that carbon is instead released into the atmosphere.

Fenn’s, Whixall and Bettisfield Mosses is the third-largest lowland bog in the UK and is a degraded peatland. The BogLIFE project is funding a five-year restoration programme which aims to re-wet the peat and in turn make the Mosses a carbon store, and no longer a source.

The main technique being used to do this is called bunding. This process uses specialist diggers to dig down to the good, water impermeable peat underneath which is then used to make small embankments in a series of cells in a honeycomb style to hold the rainwater on site.

The result is that any rainwater falling on these areas should stay in the bunded cells instead of flowing into the ditch system. With more water held on site the damaged peat should re-wet. This will prevent more peat from decomposing and releasing carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere; allowing the site to store more carbon.

Additional benefits to re-wetting the peat is that it will improve conditions for the rare, bog specialist species such as the sundew and large heath butterfly that rely on the Mosses, many of which are struggling nationally. More pools on the Moss are great for our dragonflies and wading birds. Then finally, as the Mosses can then hold more water on the site it will further reduce any contributions to downstream flooding, as there will be a reduced and slower flow off the Mosses into the downstream ditches.

This means peat restoration works benefit national carbon emissions, wildlife and the local drainage network now and into the future.

Useful Links

National Trust Article on Peatlands: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/features/whats-so-special-about-peat

Met Office Climate Change Summary: https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/binaries/content/assets/metofficegovuk/pdf/research/ukcp/ukcp-headline-findings-v2.pdf

Peatland description and habitat types: https://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/geography/research/projects/tropical-peatland/what-are-peatlands

Raised Bog Description: https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/habitats/wetlands/raised-bog

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REMINDER: Book Now for the Butterfly and Dragonfly Walk on the Mosses on 14 August

August 4, 2021

Last few places remain so book now!

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Ferocious Tiger Beetle Stalks the Mosses

July 21, 2021

Often called “The Tiger of the Mosses”, the green tiger beetle (Cicindela campetris), is one of the fastest insects on the planet. ​Tiger beetles live on heathlands and sand dunes, but in Shropshire, you can see them on the Marches Mosses from April to September – in those moments when they’re not chasing their prey on foot. Completely carnivorous, these beetles make their dinner of spiders, ants and caterpillars that they actively stalk, pursue and capture. Like other beetles, they need clean, healthy places to live and they are a good indicator of good quality habitat.

At only 1.5-2.5cm in length, they’re small but easily recognisable by their dazzling emerald green body with large creamy spots on their wing cases, bright red legs and large eyes. You might find them on bare ground in bright, sunny conditions. They like the warmth on their legs because it helps them to run faster!

Green tiger beetles have ferociously strong jaws, each with several sharp teeth. They will fly a short distance if disturbed, but will then turn around a face their attacker, ready to fight.

These spectacular creatures have a two-year life cycle with a complete metamorphosis. The female lays eggs in June or early July, singly on the ground. Each larva constructs its own underground burrow where they stay for up to a year.

The larvae are odd looking creatures with a large head, impressive jaws and strange hook-like structures on their back that help to anchor the larva in its burrow. When the larval tiger beetle spots prey, it springs from its burrow like a jack-in-the-box, impales the prey and drags it back into the burrow to feast on. After a year, the larva enters its pupal stage, emerging a month later as the brilliant green adult tiger beetle we can see on the Mosses.

So when you’re out for a walk on the Mosses, keep your eyes open for these very interesting creatures – but try to keep your fingers and toes from resembling their dinner. ​But don’t worry, you are much more likely to be bitten by a mosquito when you’re walking on the Mosses – there have been no reports of tiger attacks in the area in recorded history!

Invitation to Tender: All ability footpath and weed suppressant for Bird Hide at Morris Bridge Fields, Whixall.

July 21, 2021

Closing date for quotations: Wednesday 4 August 2021

Location: Charles Sinker’s Fields, Morris’s Bridge, Whixall, Shropshire, SY13 2RT

Quotes should be returned by email to [email protected]

An area of land has been purchased which originally formed the edge of Whixall Moss (lagg habitat). This has become naturally wet over recent years and has become one of the best areas for wildfowl and wetland birds in North Shropshire. This tender is for access works and weed suppressant prior to the construction of a new bird hide.

Specification

This contract is part of a wider scheme to develop a wetland reserve, for which the engineering works contract and bird hide contract have been let. This contract will need to follow on closely after the hide installation. See Appendix 1 for the masterplan of the scheme and Appendix 2 for detail drawings of the footpath and hide.

The contract has two elements:

1. Weed suppressant. To provide and install a suitable geotextile weed suppressant fabric on the slopes around the hide as shown in Appendix 2, pegged down and then covered in 20mm single size shingle.

2. Footpath. Install the footpath from car park to the hide – see Appendix 2, 3 and 4. Path to have timber edgings on each side with suitable drainage gaps. The path will be 150mm thick crushed stone to type 1 standard with a topping of 50mm thick 6mm to dust crushed stone suitably compacted to enable access for all – eg wheelchairs, pushchairs, walking frames. The stone needs to be granite.

We seek tenders that are in keeping with our Environmental Policy. For further information please see our Environmental Policy and our Environmental Sustainability Policy (Appendix 5 and 6).

Please supply a response including:

• A covering letter explaining your past experience and suitability for the contract along with examples of previous work and references.

• An overview of your methodology and approach.

• Detail of the materials you will use, how you will meet the brief, what practises will support SWT’s environmental considerations.

• What your availability is for completing the work.

• Project schedule with milestones.

• Total cost (inc. VAT if relevant) with itemised quotation.

• On all documents please quote: Marches Mosses BogLIFE Project (LIFE15 NAT/UK/000786).

A site meeting is available, please contact Helen Trotman on 01743 284297 or [email protected].

Full details are outlined in the downloadable PDF document here.

Moth Identification Event at the Mosses

July 7, 2021

It’s time for the first event of 2021 at the Mosses, now that virus restrictions will soon be eased. We’re starting with a two day moth identification event:

Marches Mosses BogLIFE Moth Identification

This is a two-part event on 24 & 25 July 2021:

Saturday 24 July, 7.30pm – 10pm

Sunday 25 July, 9am – 11am

Location: Manor House NNR Base, Moss Lane, Whixall, Whitchurch, Shropshire, SY13 2PD.

NOTE: Booking is essential as numbers are limited to provide the best experience for guests.

You can book by email: [email protected] or phone: 01948-880362. Once you’ve booked, you’ll receive Joining Instructions with a map and everything you need to know before you leave home for the event.

The sessions will be lead by Barry Probin, moth expert and Natural England volunteer.

On Saturday evening, you’ll learn the principles of harm-free moth trapping, including the types of traps to use and why we trap moths. You’ll see how and where the moth traps are set to be most effective.

On Sunday morning, you’ll see what moths were caught overnight and learn why moths are an indicator of the health of this amazing habitat. You’ll be able to discuss photographing moths with our expert photographer Stephen Barlow, another of our wonderful NE volunteers.

Please do remember that booking is essential!