Last year Bolton NEWT began work on restoring a lost path that had not been in use since the 1940's. By using old maps we discovered a trail, on this trail under further inspection we discovered stunted trees and rubble only two inches below the surface of the soil, the gradient of the path indicated it had in the past been levelled for public use. So in 2020 we began the work on crown lifting the trees, removing saplings and improving the surrounding habitats for bluebells and wild garlic.
By the end of December we had not only completely opened up the path but thinned the trees to allow slightly more light in for the bluebells, we then had created a small bridge at the Garstang Hub that we installed on site over a small drainage channel from the hillside, making the path accessible for all ages.
As of March to May in 2021 we set about controlling the water flow with scrapes, silt traps and drainage channels. We redirected the water into a series of scrapes before it entered underneath the main path through a flytipped pipe we salvaged. In the silty bog we removed enough silt to enhance the scrapes and added some locally sourced water mint from a nearby pond. We have had fantastic volunteer involvement and the new path and pond restoration has had massive public support and use.
All that remains is the continued monitoring of the pond, division of the bluebells from the wild garlic and yearly silt trap removal tasks. This new area Bolton NEWT recovered with the fantastic help of our volunteers has become one of our new favourite areas.
