About the project
Investigating biodiversity
Since 2011 a small planning group has had the aim of developing the Stretton wetlands as part of the Town Plan. The group has worked with the various landowners of a little used marshy area on the edge of Church Stretton (SO451933). A detailed Phase 1 report was carried out in 2012 which made several recommendations including the building of scrapes and improvements to the footpath which crosses through the wetlands.
The 1841 tithe map shows that several fields were called Eel Pool. The Environment Agency dredges the Quinny Brook regularly to maintain the flow and new storm drains were built in 2015 when a new sewerage system was installed. However bore hole surveys in 1961 indicated a layer of peat between 6 to 12 feet thick under a thin level of topsoil (1 foot) in some parts, indicating that much of the area has been natural wetland for many centuries. Walking in certain areas, and in the brook, can prove somewhat hazardous!
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News & Activities
2018 Bioblitz
In June a very successful Bioblitz Day was held. The landowners were all consulted and gave permission for their land to be surveyed. Two moth traps were set up the previous evening and a bat detector used with interesting results. The Stretton’s flora group came and...
Boardwalk
In 2017 SACWG had a major publicity and fundraising campaign to raise funds to provide a boardwalk along the footpath. Volunteers ran a wildlife quiz, a plant stall, a three-course candlelit meal and a music evening. Grant funding was sought and public donations...
Wetlands sub-group established
Under the oversight of SACWG, a small group of expert ecologists and volunteers, coordinated by Isabel Carter, carried out a number of biodiversity surveys during 2016. These included amphibians (Phase II), reptiles, flora (Phase II), birds, mammals, dragonflies,...