Wildlife Champion – Chris

A bit about you…

I’m Chris and having been brought up in rural  Beeston, Cheshire, near the castle in the 1950’s, surrounded by myriads of wildflowers, trees, birds , butterflies, wild mushrooms, chestnuts, hazelnuts, my whole consciousness has been steeped in nature from childhood.

As an adult, always living in cities, at holiday time I travelled all over Eastern and Western Europe with my husband,  using public transport(apart from the flights!),staying mainly in villages, often walking from village to village, and always with an eye to wildlife, particularly wildflowers, many of which are sadly in decline here.

How are you involved in supporting wildlife in your community     

For 40 years I’ve grown wildflowers in my tiny front garden in Hoole; for their beauty, for the bees, and as a sort of ‘bringing the country into the town’ philosophy. I found that so many people were interested, asking how I went about it, taking photos of the garden and pushing thank-you letters through my front door. Without realising it, I was spreading the word, and this feedback was an impetus for me to get more widely involved with nature.

In my retirement I joined the ‘Friends of the Millennium Greenway’ helping with clearing, chopping, painting bridges and sowing wildflower seeds. A comrade and I investigated, photographed and wrote blurbs for the ‘Friends of’ website about each plant we found on our stretch of the Greenway.

Do you do anything else for wildlife in Cheshire?

I also ‘discovered’, with a friend, the bank at Northgate Ponds, a lovely wildflower meadow which nobody seemed to be aware of or care for. I liaised with 3 consecutive CWAC rangers, initially with the purpose of ensuring a more environmentally-friendly mowing schedule, i.e.one annual cut instead of every few weeks.

I ended up planting dog violets, snowdrops and cowslips there, and sowed lady’s bedstraw, devil’s bit scabious and yellow rattle seeds (this latter sourced from the beautiful machairs on the Isle of Eriskay in the Outer Hebrides). Botanising buddy Ian and I have continued to monitor and nurture the bank, adding mixed wildflower seeds. Also foxglove and harebell plug plants started off at home. Ian has taken over the record-keeping from me, passing the information to RECORD and iNaturalist. With Clare we rake off the bank mowings after the Autumn cut.

After the Greenway Friends group folded I joined Hoole Narrows Community Park group which is my main commitment currently. Maintaining and adding to our main Meadow One is an ongoing pleasurable task; also slowly developing Meadows Two, Three and Four; planting celandines, wild garlic, wood anemones, native bluebells in the wooded area; coppicing; starting off seeds at home; working on a ‘butterfly bank’; building a dead hedge from the coppiced elders; planting birdsfoot trefoil, violets, primroses, cowslips, snowdrops on the hillock; experimenting growing unusual or threatened plants from seed; building on our edibles area; putting up bird and bat boxes; maintaining the ‘garden’ at the turning circle…and so on…

I sometimes volunteer at Hoole Alexandra Park as well, so far planting bulbs and light pruning. I’ve also started helping out on Sustrans days, my first job was joining in the unglamorous but important work of litter-picking.

Tell us about the impact of these improvements? 

The impact we make on biodiversity isn’t necessarily scientifically obvious. But when my buddies and I see bees, hoverflies, caterpillars, the all too occasional butterfly on a flower we’ve planted or grown from seed, it gives us delight and hope that we’ve made a small but meaningful difference.

Like so many other like-minded ‘warriors’ with a passion for nature, I feel I am helping to preserve our precious environment. It’s also rewarding to meet with kindred spirits and enjoy the feeling of solidarity, as well as simply experiencing the joys of nature.

My favourite personal success has been implementing the single Autumn cut on Northgate Ponds bank, thereby allowing the wildflowers there to flourish with fairly minimal help from us.

What have been the challenges

I think the greatest challenge has been, firstly, along with colleagues, addressing the problem of ever-encroaching nettles and docks at the Narrows.  A reasonable number are fine and necessary, but moderation please.

Secondly, again at the Narrows, recruiting more volunteers. Happily our numbers are increasing!

How has being a Wildlife Champion helped?

Being a Wildlife Champion facilitated engagement with other groups and knowledge about their projects. I’ve since been to visit several sites.

The course inspired more interest in nature aspects other than wildflowers and butterflies, for example hoverflies, winter tree twigs and buds, building bug hotels and more about hedgehogs.

What would you say to others who are thinking of taking action for wildlife?

 I’d encourage anyone to join a wildlife group. It’s good for mind, body, companionship, knowing you’re giving nature a helping hand. What’s not to like?