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What a difference a day makes.
Our Walk and Ride Festival saw both cycling and walking events taking place on Wednesday 9 October.
Sandstone Ridge volunteer Nick Holmes, not content with leading the Bickerton Hill event last weekend, took up the challenge of leading a 30 mile circular cycling event through some of the spectacular landscapes of The Ridge with the additional bonus that everyone got to enjoy an impromptu look inside Stretton Water Mill.
Bathed in autumnal sunshine, the group could not have wished for more perfect weather on The Ridge (see image).
Elsewhere on The Ridge, Peter Winn, one of our Trustees, led both morning and afternoon sessions which included a 'Station to Station' experience at the Eastern Gateway to the Ridge (Cuddington to Delamere) and thereafter a steep climb up to the Eddisbury Hillfort (click on images to enlarge).
Opened in 2014, walkers strolled along 'Oakmere Way', viewed the Forest England Nurseries and saw some of the valuable work undertaken by Cheshire Wildlife Trust volunteers at the site of the 'Tarmac Crown Farm Sand and Gravel Quarry' site.
Entire areas of re-wilding and the planting of wildflower meadows were viewed, together with tree planting and an innovative outdoor classroom space, the intention of which is to connect youngsters with nature.
Great crested newt mitigation and additional habitat enhancements have taken place in this area CLICK HERE. Common amphibians, reptiles, bats, badgers, invertebrates and numerous bird species have also been recorded, making extensive use of the quarry and the newly created habitats.
Restored areas of the quarry have already been handed over to Cheshire Wildlife Trust to manage further conservation.