With the large built-up areas of Birkenhead and Liverpool only a few miles away the National Trust is endeavouring to acquire land on the Dee estuary side of The Wirral in order to preserve open countryside for the animal and plant wildlife along this impressive and beautiful part of the coast.
After a long negotiation period the National Trust acquired a nine acre site close to the village of Lower Heswall, at the beginning of 2003.
For the previous few years this field had been used as a horse paddock, with not a great deal of care being taken of the land or boundary fencing.
It is planned to return this field to a traditional hay meadow to encourage natural fauna and flora to flourish in this area, and to cut the hay once a year, which can be sold to local farmers.
In the winter the field will be used for grazing a flock of sheep from a local National Trust farm.
On the Wirral there has been a tendency over the past few years for villages to "spread" and for houses to be built along the edge of the Dee estuary. The National Trust is endeavouring to acquire a substantial area of this land in order to preserve the traditional animal and plant life of the area by providing well managed and maintained natural habitats.
