A shout out for Brockholes Nature Reserve near Preston

If you are ever on the M6 near junction 31 do make a detour down to Brockholes Nature Reserve. It is owned by the Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside and opened in 2011 after the wildlife trust raised £50,000 in 2006 in order to purchase the land in 2007. You can read about the background here. It was my brother Ian who was appointed project manager, so I have been lucky to see and hear about how the whole project developed.
From the purchase of the site which looked like this

to the initial drawings of what it would look like


to the beginnings of the building





to where it is now



A floating viking inspired complex



It is a wonderful place to wander round spotting all kinds of wildlife although bird spotting is very much the favourite. They have just erected a nest on top of a tall pole sited in the middle of the lake in order to attract ospreys. That will be really exciting if they choose to nest there or even just use it as a landing place.
As you might imagine the visitor's center has lots of information on the wildlife on the site and there is a regular update on birds sighted. There is conference room and classroom, even 2 forest school outdoor classrooms for local schools to enjoy. Lots of exciting activities take place throughout the year for all ages. The restaurant's large glass windows give you a fantastic view of the water and means that you can bird spot in the warmth as David was doing when we were there on Sunday. There is a big log burning stove in the middle of the eating area with comfy leather sofas, just right for sitting with a hot chocolate and cake!

Ian is still very much involved with what is happening there, as is his wife who is the Chief Executive of the Trust. On the 21st June last year they along with volunteers build a circle of stones using levers and ropes. We braved the weather to walk up to look at their hard work

There are some very exciting plans for the future but I am not able to say what at this point but if the grants arrive David and I will be definitely going over to help.
I'll leave you with a plan of the site, not that easy to see but it gives you an idea of how it is.