February 2024 News
Out and About with Our Dee Estuary
Our Dee Estuary will have attended, collaborated and delivered 5 events this month showing February to be a strong start to what we hope is an action packed and successful season ahead! Here is a summary of what we’ve been up to…
The Dee Estuary with David Parker at Wirral Wildlife
Wirral Wildlife – a dedicated local group of volunteers that support our host partner Cheshire Wildlife Trust, host monthly talks in Thornton Hough. In January their guest speaker was David Parker, the chair of the Dee Estuary Conservation Group, who are one of the 11 core partners of the Our Dee Estuary project.
David talked about what makes the Dee Estuary so special, including its many conservation designations and the variety of habitats and species it hosts.
If you would like to attend Wirral Wildlife talks you can find more information on their Facebook page or email them at info@wirralwildlife.org.uk and you can also become a member of Wirral Wildlife and join their volunteering sessions, including at New Ferry Butterfly Park and other sites across the Wirral.
The Shaping of the Dee Estuary with Emeritus Professor Jim Marshall
On Thursday the 8th of February Our Dee Estuary hosted Emeritus Professor Jim Marshall at Hoole Community Centre where he delivered a brand new talk he put together just for us, entitled “The Shaping of the Dee Estuary”.
Jim has done events for us in the past at Thurstaston Beach and at Red Rocks Nature Reserve, but this indoor talk gave him a chance to use state of the art diagrams to explain how and why the Dee Estuary formed the way it did and what the estuary might look like into the future.
Jim also helped us develop the sign that now sits proudly next to the glacial erratics outside Wirral Country Park Visitors Centre at Thurstaston.
High Tide Birdwatch at Hoylake with Dee Estuary Voluntary Wardens, RSPB and Wirral Rangers
We joined the Dee Estuary Volunteer Wardens High Tide Bird Watching event at Hoylake promenade alongside the RSPB and Wirral Council Rangers on the 10th of February.
It was a great event with a large number of wading birds present which gained a lot of interest from passers by. The Dee Estuary Voluntary Wardens (DEVW) were incredibly knowledgeable, shared their scopes and binoculars and made it a very enjoyable morning in the sunshine.
We estimated there to be roughly 10,000 waders, of which most were knot with some dunlin, sanderling, redshank, bar-tailed godwit and grey plover scattered amongst them. Four Brent geese wandered across the saltmarsh and a peregrine made a brief fly through.
The DEVW are still recruiting for volunteers. If this is something you think you can spare a few hours of your time once a month for and want some more information, contact Matt Thomas, Coastal Ranger, at WCP@wirral.gov.uk
Shoresearch at Talacre
This month we held two Shoresearch events. The first was on the Welsh side of the Dee at Talacre on the 12th. The second, on the English side of the Dee at Thurstaston on Thursday the 22nd.
At Talacre we were greeted by a surprisingly high, high tide that confined us to the sand dunes for the first 30 minutes. In the dunes we found sea holly and sea spurge along with the famous sand dune resident, marram grass. Once on the beach the tide had provided us with large amounts of shark and ray egg cases as well as whelk eggs and many shells. We had great fun chatting with everyone that attended and helping the younger members of the group ID what they had found.
In total at Talacre 31 people came out and spent a few hours engaging with others at the coast, had some fun and learnt something new. Thank you to everyone who came to Talacre and to Kim, Matt and the team there for their support and use of facilities.
We hope to inspire as many people as possible to get out on their local coastline more often. The Wildlife Trusts have some great Spotters Guides that can help you on your way to being a shoreline expert!
We will be organising more Shoresearch events in the future, around late spring/early summer when the weather starts to pick up. Keep your eyes peeled for more information closer to the time.
History and Natural Heritage of the Dee Estuary
Emily, our Communications and Campaigns Officer, is getting more and more interesting information coming in from her History and Natural Heritage volunteers.
Check out some of the highlights below. We will also be sharing content on social media so follow us for more history and heritage!
Milwr Tunnel
Milwr Tunnel, which runs for about 10 miles from Cadole (sometimes called Cathole) near Mold to Bagillt empties about 23 million of gallons of water into the Dee Estuary every day and even more than that after heavy rain.
There are actually about 60 miles of tunnels in the whole complex whose origins lie in the attempts to reduce the floodwaters that hampered lead extraction on Halkyn Mountain.
Construction was begun in 1897 and had a checked and controversial history to say the least as at one point it caused the water supply to the industries of the Greenfield Valley to run dry but more importantly to some, it had the same effect on the Holy Waters of St Winefride’s Well.
Lead mining ceased in the 1970s and the Tunnel is no longer maintained although water continues to run through is despite several rockfalls which have restricted the access of cavers and potholers.
For more detail follow these links:
Milwr Tunnel – Subterranea Britannica
Liverpool Echo article – Hidden underground tunnel network that stretches for 60 miles
Ewloe Castle
There are three unanswered questions about Ewloe Castle that stands, what’s left of it, within Wepre Park near Connah’s Quay close to the Dee Estuary.
The first is “When was it built?”, the second is “Who built it?” and lastly and perhaps most baffling is “Why build it there?”
There is very little documented evidence about the castle but the consensus is that it dates from the middle 1200s. This is based on some of the architectural features and some references in historical differences.
Some believe that it was built by Llywelyn ap Gruffydd but there are others that suggest that it is the work of earlier Gwynedd princes.
But the biggest question of all concerns the location. The area at the time would have been heavily wooded which makes it an unusual place to build a castle which are more commonly found on higher ground and not in a hollow surrounded by woods.
However it came to be built, the ruins are a fascinating destination for walkers enjoying the tranquil surroundings provided by Wepre Park and well worth a visit.
For more information follow these links:
Photo Credits: Our Dee Estuary, Ellen P Designs, Ron Thomas, Emily Lake, Paul Steele – Bald Hiker, Robin Rowe.
