Santa’s here soon! The Christmas tree is waiting to shine!  Please come along to join in the festivities and if you can leave the area around the tree car- free it would be greatly appreciated. Parking away from this area will really help as many people as possible get close to the tree and safely enjoy the night.

Fantastical Friday night is getting closer. Can you hear those reindeer bells? Tinkle tinkle……..In addition, the Whaley Bridge Canal Group will be decorating the inside of the Transhipment Warehouse this Friday to celebrate Santa’s arrival at the canal basin, there may even be music. There will be lots of twinkly lights! But the highlight will be some outstanding works of reindeer art and paper origami snowflakes lovingly made by the volunteers to put a smile on your face. Please pop in to have a look before or after greeting Santa.

On Saturday November 14th and Sunday November 15th the Whaley Bridge Canal Group, in conjunction with the Canal and River Trust will embark on the first of a programme of works that will transform and restore Whaley Bridge’s historic Transhipment Warehouse and bring it back into daily use.

Nev Clarke, founder of the group stated, “This is the culmination of a lot of hard work and effort, not just from the dedicated volunteers who have transferred the basin over the last four years but the determination of a number of key officers within the Trust. The aim is to hold regular events inside and around the building over the next twelve months, from craft fairs, to farmers’ markets, beer festivals and performing arts events.”

The works will also see windows on the ground level repaired, woodwork restored and the crane that hoists the guillotine gate that opens the Shed to canal traffic re-certificated.

Gill Renshaw, Engagement Officer with the Canal and River Trust said, “Wouldn’t it be exciting to see Santa arriving into our very own grotto that is the Transhipment Shed”. This year he will be arriving by barge at the basin On November 27th and the interior of the Transhipment will be cleaned and decorated in his honour.

The Transhipment Shed, or Warehouse opened at the foot of the Peak Forest Canal in 1803, was extended in 1833. For reasons that remain unclear the second storey on the building was removed in 1915 when it was in the hands of the Ministry of Defence and storing gun cotton amongst other things. It is a Grade 2* Listed Building on English Heritage’s ‘at risk’ register.

Judy Jones, Heritage Officer for the Trust stated, “I’m so excited to see these works being programmed in. This is a wonderful building and it’s so important that we give it the attention and recognise the place in history that it deserves.” Continue Reading →

Some of the Friends of Whaley Bridge Station giving a warm welcome to our two wheeled friends today.

Special thanks to the Bike Factory of Whaley Bridge for donating the bicycle.

Friends of Whaley Bridge Station were awarded £90 from the town council to improve the land in between the Jodrell and the Buxton bound platform.  They greatly appreciate the funds and support in making the station look bright and welcoming.

First moorland-themed apps launched – and they are free to download

Free Apps

Discovering more about the beautiful moorland landscape, its wildlife and vegetation is now much easier thanks to four new free smartphone apps.

The apps are the first moorland-themed identification guides that have been created to help visitors learn about the uniqueness, beauty and importance of the Peak District National Park and South Pennine moors.

The free apps provide a useful field guide looking at plants, moss, wildlife and some of the landscape features found on moorland.

Available to download on iOS and Android, on smartphones and tablets, or even as a printable pdf, the new apps have been created as part of the Moors for the Future Partnership’s MoorLIFE project.

MoorMOSS, MoorPLANTS, MoorSIGHTS and MoorWILD have been designed with the Peak District and South Pennines in mind, but will be useful on moorlands across the UK.

MoorLIFE Project Manager Laura King said: “We produced the apps so that people can learn more about the wonderful landscapes that we have worked on to restore to their former glory.

“Thanks to the EU funding we’ve completed conservation works to protect 2,500 hectares of moorland, that will increase the numbers of plants, and sphagnum mosses that you’ll be able to spot out on the moors.

“And we hope that you’ll have more chances to see more wildlife as our works improve these vital habitats.”

The Apps have been developed in conjunction with Natural Apptitude.

Director David Kilbey said: “We’re interested in building apps and contributing to projects that both help the environment and enrich people’s experience of it.

“The four apps that we produced with Moors for the Future really met these objectives and provide a fantastic resource for people wanting to learn more about the fascinating and beautiful Peak District National Park.”

These handy new apps, which will work without a phone signal, help you identify and learn about things you come across on the moors.

MoorMOSS – looks at Sphagnum mosses found in the Peak District and South Pennines. It focuses on the various species of moss, lichen and liverwort you are most likely to see.

MoorPLANTS – a guide to ferns, flowering herbs, shrubs, trees and grasses. The app provides text descriptions and photo galleries to help you identify the interesting plants which are found in the area.

MoorSIGHTS – gives you a feel for some of the types of landscape features you are likely to encounter on a walk across the moors. With text that covers key features and a photo gallery for each entry, some of the mysteries and gems of these moors will be explained.

MoorWILD – focuses on the birds, insects, mammals and reptiles found on the moors. With the text and photographs provided you will soon be putting names to the animals that make our moors unique.

Among the species covered are those that are being surveyed as part of the Moors for the Future Partnership’s Heritage Lottery-funded Community Science Project.

The apps also provide information about the work carried out by the Moors for the Future Partnership within the MoorLIFE project and how that is helping to restore and preserve these moorland habitats which are of European importance.

To find out more or for links to download MoorAPPS go to http://www.moorsforthefuture.org.uk/moorapps

MoorLIFE is a €6.7 million project that has protected 2,500 hectares of active blanket bog by carrying out conservation works on bare and eroding peat in the South Pennines Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and Special Protection Area (SPA).  The five-year project is co-funded by the European Union’s LIFE+ Programme and delivered by the Moors for the Future Partnership. Led by the Peak District National Park Authority, MoorLIFE project partners also include the Environment Agency, Natural England, National Trust, United Utilities and Yorkshire Water.

Healthy peat moors:

• provide good quality drinking water – 70% of our drinking water comes from these landscapes. Damaged peat erodes into the reservoirs so that water companies have to spend more money cleaning the water for consumption.
• provide a unique habitat for a wide range of wildlife.
• absorb and store carbon – peat is the single biggest store of carbon in the UK, storing the equivalent of 20 years of all UK CO₂ emissions and keeping it out of the atmosphere.
• potentially help reduce the risk of flooding.

Media contact: Debra Wilson, MoorLIFE communications officer. 01629 816586 debra.wilson@peakdistrict.gov.uk

For more information about our moorland conservation techniques and Moors for the Future Partnership projects please visit our website www.moorsforthefuture.org.uk