The impact of sand extraction at Formby Point ... - Sefton Council

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6 only six post-1987 10km squares (hectads) in the British Isles. Nearby, are two bushes of Salix x friesiana (14 post-1987 hectads), also nationally rare. To the west of the mature woodland, a zone of regenerating scrub, mainly Balm-of- Gilead much affected by fungal die-back, gradually gives way to a gently undulating landscape, the vegetation of which consists of a mosaic of grassy fixed-dune and fixed dune with Creeping Willow with scattered small trees of birch and pine. There is one fine young specimen of Salix x doniana at SD 27646 06693. The western edge of the quarry here is a 3-4m-high fixed dune ridge, beyond which lies the Lifeboat Road carpark on what were probably originally Asparagus fields. To the south, a square pine plantation on top of a 3-4m-high plateau survived sandwinning. On its southern flank, next to Lifeboat Road, is a level area which was probably one of the first to be excavated for sand. This is now heavily Rabbit-grazed fixed-dune dominated by Red Fescue (Festuca rubra) and Common Bent (Agrostis capillaris) with a diversity of herbaceous plants, including Common Stork’s-bill (Erodium cicutarium), the nationally scarce Sticky Stork’s-bill (E. lebelii) and their rare hybrid Erodium x anaristatum, known only from coastal dunes in Wales and South Lancashire. Immediately west of the pine block is a dune hollow, a blow-out in 1978, which was deepened to produce a Natterjack Toad scrape about 20m in diameter in the 1980s (no. 10). This now contains a few slack plants, the only notable species being Small-fruited Yellow-sedge. It has not been used by Natterjacks for some time but, in wet years, has been known to support dragonflies. Moving north of the wooded part of the quarry is a low-lying, almost level area traversed by footpaths. Its vegetation consists of a mosaic of Grey Poplar scrub (some recently cut but re-sprouting), patches of Creeping Willow and acid fixed-dune grassland, dominated by Common Bent and Sand Sedge (Carex arenaria). The latter also supports the notable species Smooth Cat’s-ear (Hypochaeris glabra) (Smith 2007a) and Sticky Stork’s-bill. Where pedestrian trampling has kept the turf short, there is heavy Rabbit grazing. This area slopes upwards to the north by about 1.5m to a near-level plateau of open, partially-
grazed, fixed-dune grassland characterised by Sand Sedge and Common Bent with frequent Dewberry (Rubus caesius), Rosebay Willowherb (Chamerion angustifolium) and Common Ragwort (Senecio jacobaea). Several formal and informal footpaths cross the area. Patches of taller vegetation add to habitat diversity but this is restricted by the lack of a varied topography. 7 Further north, the land rises to fixed-dune ridges and then falls to Wicks Lake where I photographed sand-winning as recently as 1970. The lake was created in 1979 by deepening an existing basin-site formed by earlier sand extraction. For about ten years, it was used as a recreational facility but concerns about water-quality led to the wetland being fenced off and managed as a nature conservation site. The margins were planted with Alder (Alnus glutinosa) and a variety of willows, now up to 7m tall, while various wetland plants were introduced to produce a marginal reed-swamp of Bulrush (Typha latifolia), Common Reed, Grey Club-rush and Lesser Pond-sedge (Carex acutiformis). By the 1990s, the site was particularly noted for its dragonflies (Odonata) and was featured in the field guide by Brooks & Lewington (1997). However, in recent years, an increasing population of ducks fed by visitors has polluted the water and predated aquatic life, leading to the almost complete elimination of Odonata. The western, shallower, arm of the lake has developed interesting slack-like, semi-aquatic vegetation, including many marsh-orchids (Dactylorhiza), Brookweed, Cyperus Sedge (Carex pseudocyperus) and Brown Sedge (C. disticha). A single bush of Salix x friesiana was noted. However, this section is now being colonised by scrub, especially suckering Alder and Grey Willow, while an area of about 25m x 20m supports a dense population of the invasive New Zealand Pigmy-weed. To the west and south-west of Wicks Lake, the final section of the extraction zone consists partly of a large level of fixed-dune dominated by Red Fescue, Common Bent and Sand Sedge. This site, which has patchy Rabbit grazing, was used as a football pitch in the early 1970s. It is delineated to the west by an old field boundary of wind-pruned poplar trees reinforced by pine planting in 1985. Adjoining it to the south are gently undulating fixed-dunes with occasional small blow-outs, one of which has been recently
Page 1 and 2: 1 The impact of sand extraction at
Page 3 and 4: • Rapid, up-to-date assessment of
Page 5: 5 jackii) with a smaller component
Page 9 and 10: 9 The vegetation of the main quarry
Page 11 and 12: 11 on the Sefton Coast occur here b
Page 13 and 14: leaved Wintergreen (Pyrola rotundif
Page 15 and 16: 15 Slack 2 was progressively invade
Page 17 and 18: are often accompanied by nationally
Page 19 and 20: 19 by blown sand is mentioned; thes
Page 21 and 22: Creeping Willow nearby seems to be
Page 23 and 24: 6.3.1. Smaller-scale 23 • Cut bac
Page 25 and 26: Smith, P.H. (1978c). Cabin Hill - a

The impact of sand extraction at Formby Point ... - Sefton Council

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