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In warm autumnal sunshine, this Trustee bumped into Alex Pendlebury, Lecturer in Land and Wildlife Management, leading his students from Reaseheath College across Bickerton Hill.
The students, all studying a Level 3 qualification in conservation and environment, were investigating the rare habitat of Bickerton Hill, as well as examining the signage which is a key element of communicating our story to visitors to the Cheshire Sandstone Ridge.
Bickerton Hill lies to the south of the Cheshire Sandstone Ridge at the southern tip of the Peckforton Hills and covers approximately 280 acres.
The area was gifted to the National Trust in the knowledge that the site is a significant example of rare and threatened lowland heath.
During the early 1990s, the National Trust and its partners, embarked on a long-term project to restore the heathland at Bickerton for the benefit of wildlife and for people to enjoy.
The selective removal of trees is now creating a mosaic of heather, bilberry and gorse.
The return and restoration of this rare habitat will benefit some of the UK's most threatened species of reptiles, butterflies, insects and spiders.
There's also a chance that birds that once bred on the hill, such as nightjars and even ring ouzels, may one day return.
For more information contact Alex.Pendlebury@reaseheath.ac.uk
To view our publication on Lowland Heath Habitats CLICK HERE.
To view other students involved in land management on Bickerton Hill CLICK HERE.