Dibbinsdale Heritage Trail TheThe WildlifeWildlife ofof DibbinsdaleDibbinsdale Looking at the Local and Natural History The wildflowers of Dibbinsdale The Birds of Dibbinsdale Looking at the Local and Natural History Spring in an ancient woodland is a spec- The varied habitats at Dibbinsdale, wood- of tacular time. Before the canopy of leaves land, wetland and grassland, provide casts a shade over the ground, a mosaic of homes for a diverse range of birds includ- Brotherton Park and Dibbinsdale Local Nature Reserve white anemones, bluebells,and yellow ing sparrowhawks, tawny owls, woodpeck- celandines carpet the woodland floor. On ers, nuthatch, treecreepers, heron, Bodens Hey Meadow, conservation work kingfisher, skylark and partridge. has successfuly increased the variety of The woodland birds are best seen in the flowering plants, including orchids. A wild winter months when the leaves have fallen flower trail is available at the Rangers’ from the trees. A programme of bird box Office and guided walks often take place construction and monitoring has contin- in Spring. ued for many years. Bird species lists and guides are available on request from the Rangers’ Office.

Mammal Project Work There is an ongoing programme of work to improve habitat for water voles and other mammals. At the Ladybridge and Babbs Meadow, pools have been excavat- ed and the material used to create banks for water vole burrows. Trapping and monitoring of voles takes place on the meadow and reedbeds. At the Otter Tunnel and elsewhere, surveys of bat activity and roost monitoring takes place. Otter holts have been constructed at sev- Trees of Dibbinsdale eral locations in the hope that one day The ornamental Victorian plantings in otters will return to Dibbinsdale. Brotherton Park include Holm Oaks, Cover picture with kind permission of Steven Round Giant Sequoia, Monkey Puzzle trees and www.stevenround-birdphotography.com Ye w trees. Other trees are now being introduced to extend the ‘arboretum’. In Sponsored by: the valley can be seen many varieties of Community Foundation for native willows and wet woodland trees like alders. Unilever In the ancient woodland oaks and ashes The Green Machine dominate the canopy with an interesting Culture for All mix of mature understorey trees like Dibbinsdale Heritage Trail leaflet has been partly funded by Wirral Council’s Culture for All campaign which is supported by the hornbeam and cherry. An extensive range Liverpool Culture Company as part of the 2008 European Capital of Culture programme of fungi are also present in the reserve and are best seen in autumn and winter. Produced by A tree trail around Woodslee Cottages is The Friends of Dibbinsdale in conjunction with Wirral Ranger Service. available from the Rangers’ Office. Water Vole.

The Royal Forest of Wirral Brotherton Park and Dibbinsdale Local Nature Reserve Mill The Forest of Wirral was a place for Brotherton Park and Dibbinsdale Local Nature Reserve Until the 1930’s an ancient water mill hunting undertaken by kings and nobility. stood close to Spital Road Bridge. Spital Deer and wild pigs were hunted in what Lord Brotherton Dam was part of the control of water used was an extensive woodland. The Forester Lord Edward Allen Brotherton of to power the flour mill. The mill also of Wirral was in charge, maintaining the Wakefield purchased the Beyer Company used a windmill and a steam engine to hunting rights. The first appointed dyestuff factory in Magazine Road, provide power at one time.The windmill forester was Alan Sylvester in 1120 and Bromborough in 1917. He also bought was situated above the dam, it was demol- his title was passed on through inheri- Woodslee Estate two years later with the ished in 1878. From here the Dibbin runs tance. The Wirral Horn was the symbol of plan of setting up a chemical research through a heavily industrialised area (Port office for the title which still exists. The laboratory under the name ‘ and Bromborough Pool) and office involved the administration of strict Rainbow’. However, due to cheap imports enters the Mersey at what was once forest laws that regulated what people in of chemicals from Germany after World Bromborough Dock. Drainage work in the area could and could not do. War 1, he changed his mind and convert- 1979 uncovered one of the old mill’s gear ed the buildings at Woodslee into flats wheels. The mill ceased working in 1940. and cottages for his key employees. The facilities of the estate included cricket and bowling areas with pavilions and two tennis courts. Lord Brotherton donated the land to the council and Brotherton Park was created. During the 2nd World War the house was occupied by the army and Woodslee became a prisoner of war camp. The chief chemist at Brotherton Works was Mr J.H.Wilson who lived for a while in one of the ground floor flats at Woodslee House. His son, Harold, went on to become Prime Minister and when Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) Woodslee retired Lord Rievaulx and Governor of In 1978 the Nature Conservancy Council In 1866 the Mr S.K.Mainwaring sold the Hong Kong . (now Natural ), identified most of Woodslee Estate to a Mr Robert Rankin, a Brotherton Park and Dibbinsdale as a Site of Liverpool Merchant, who then proceeded Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). This was to build a large house on the site as a mainly due to the presence of the largest Brotherton Centre Facilities wedding remnant of semi natural ‘ancient’ woodland The nature centre, courtyard and walled present to his daughter when she married in Merseyside.The Local Nature Reserve was garden are available for public use and a Mr David McIver, a shipping magnate. created by combining Brotherton Park with educational visits. The house, which was completed by land south of the railway donated by the The range of different habitats in the 1870’s, stood near the present car park, Lancelyn Green family. reserve make Dibbinsdale a place of out- cottages and the edge of the valley. The standing natural beauty and a unique yew trees mark the garden behind the Friends of Dibbinsdale place for environmental study. house which faced east towards the mon- The Friends were established to help support Conservation work in the reserve is on- key puzzle tree. The servants quarters, the conservation and management of the going and follows a management plan stables and coach house still stand and reserve. If you would like to join updated in 2008. are now private residences. There is also a the Friends and help look For information about events and activi- lodge house near the entrance on Spital after the reserve, contact the ties undertaken in the reserve, contact the Road. Rangers’ Office. ranger on 0151 334 9851. The rangers’ office, volunteer base, Tel: 0151 334 9851 or visit the council website nature centre and walled garden are www.dibbinsdale.co.uk www.wirral.gov.uk owned and maintained by Wirral Council Built in the 19th 3 1 Woodslee House 2 River and Floodplain Babbs Meadow reedbed century along with Common reed, which can be seen growing Woodslee House (left) here, is a valuable plant for nature conser- which was vation. Reeds filter polluted water and demolished in the help create a cleaner, wildlife friendly river 1940s. The Victorian environment for a variety of rare birds, Estate and walled insects and mammals. The water vole, garden was donated by otter and kingfisher are encouraged to live Lord Brotherton in the here along with Daubenton bats,moorhen 1930’s and is known as and heron. Efforts are made to prevent Brotherton Park. the encroachment of willows that will turn the land into a wet woodland. Measures to Woodland hold back the water, especially in summer, are designed to provide a better habitat Wetland for fish, amphibians and water inverte- Grassland brates like dragonflies. Bridge 12 Spital Station Steps 4 Otters Tunnel and Patrick Wood The coming of the railway ( to To the View point M53 ) in 1840 created this bridge to cross 11 Trail the marshland of the Dibbin Valley. Otters Access were frequently seen here when the railway Vanderbyl was being constructed. Numbers of otters Avenue Car 12 River Dibbin10 Park have declined nationally in the 20th Bromborough Mill Spital Road Babbs A41 Century, but the population is The site of the mill dates back to the Meadow now increasing. The tunnel Doomesday record of 1086. It was originally 9 1 Rangers’ with the river flowing

Dibbins Hey Office a water mill. 2 3 through was boarded up in 11 St Patrick’s Well the 1990 as a bat hibernat- Providing drinking water for the owners of the mill ing roost. Kingfishers are also 4 School in past times, the well is said to have been blessed 5 North returning to the valley. Patrick Close by St Patrick who came from Ireland in 432 Central Wood is owned by Cheshire Wildlife Trust. AD. The small ‘clatter’ bridge crosses a Avenue Within this private wood is a petrifying well and the surface drain leading up to a pipe from remains of a sandstone building. The limestone water comes to the Spital Road. A filter bed, or ‘swaile’, has surface through the sandstone, leaving a limestone ‘residue’, hence been created here to intercept polluted run petrifying. off from the road. Close to the path up to the 8 car park, there is is an old sandstone quarry. 5 Willow Carr. 10 Red Sandstone cliffs From the viewpoint on Spital Field The red sandstone rocks that form the valley 6 can be seen the spread of this wet are from the Triassic Period. It is these rocks, woodland. Crack willows and goat formed in the semi desert environment of 200 Bodens Hey willows are adapted to this marshy million years ago, that saw the Cheirotherium ground. On the river banks nearby dinosaur leaving footprints around a former Brom’ are ash and alder trees. inland sea. The steep cliffs that can be seen Rake Raby Mere Spital Field is the remains of a here have been created by glacial flood waters Footpath 7 landscaped domestic rubbish tip escaping to the Mersey and carving through the sand- that was in use in the 1970’s. stone ridge around 15,000 years ago. The river valley Elm, alder, lime and wild cherry trees through the reserve leading through to Poulton Bridge were planted alongside the railway. was originaly tidal until Spital Dam excluded sea water White poplar with its ‘handkerchief- To Spital in the 19th Century. Crossroads like’ white underside was planted on 9 Wetland conservation the slope. From the viewpoint you Marfords look over to the ash-oak woodland of Wood Bromborough and Marfords Wood in the distance.

6 Bodens Hey meadow The name of ‘Bodens Hey’ comes from the old farm estate map of the Lancelyn- Green family who once owned the land. The grassland habitat plays a valuable part in the biodiversity of the reserve. The grass is cut and baled in summer as Babbs Meadow reedbed is part of a wetland conservation part of a meadow restoration scheme. corridor which stretches through the reserve, containing Without the cutting or grazing of the many pools either side of the river. These act as oases, or land, the meadow would become scrub refuges for wildlife in what is an urban watercourse. with less wildlife value. 8 Bromborough Wood 7 Ladybridge and Marfords Wood At this point there is a little wooden bridge on the footpath to Raby Mere from Bromborough Rake Station. It has always been known as 'The Ladybridge'. It goes back to the early years of Edward I about 1274, when grants of land were being made by the Abbey of St Werburgh. One of these grants was made by the squire of Poulton - Lancelyn. He granted the right to construct a bridge over the Dibbin using wood from Marfords Wood (meaning ‘Ford at the boundary’). With the grant came permission to fodder pigs in the woods over winter. From its connection with the Abbey of Chester (St Werburgh) the name may have been 'The Bridge of Our Lady'. The Lancelyn Green family continue to own Marfords Wood, which is managed by Wirral Council on a ‘peppercorn’ rent of one acorn per year. The woods are an ancient woodland and the remains of the Forest of Wirral. For more detailed information about the wildlife, conservation management and local history of the Celandines,anemonies and bluebells carpet reserve contact the Ranger based in Woodslee Cottages, Spital Road, Bromborough, Wirral CH62 2BJ. the woodland floor in April and May. Tel: 0151 334 9851 (www.dibbinsdale.co.uk)