SUSTAINABILITY

Merseyside
Altcar Training Camp
Sefton Coast. The following year a more
detailed survey found 517 spikes, many
having been damaged by mowing.
This led to an agreement to delay
mowing selected areas of the ranges
until 15th July each year so that the
orchids could flower and set seed.
Subsequently, numbers of flower-spikes
on C and I-ranges increased in most
years, reaching a total of nearly 32,000
by 2016. This is now by far the largest
population of this English Red Data
Book ‘Vulnerable’ species in the north
of England, being comparable in size
to colonies found on a few nature
reserves in the south.
As elsewhere, green-winged orchids at
Altcar show a wide range of colourforms
from deep magenta through to
salmon-pink and white. Perhaps
because of the generally damp soil
conditions, flower spikes are often up
to 30cm tall providing a spectacular
backdrop for the many local people
who attend guided walks in May to see
and photograph them.
Guided walk on I-range during the orchid season © Phil Smith
Altcar Ranges is managed by the
Reserve Forces and Cadets Association
for the North West of England and Isle
of Man, Altcar Training Camp occupies
approximately 250ha on the Sefton
Coast north of Liverpool in Merseyside.
Much of the area was reclaimed from
the shore in the late 18th century,
before becoming the Altcar Rifle Range
in 1860. It is now one of the UK’s
premier facilities for small arms
marksmanship training.
Flanked to the west and south by high
dune ridges and to the east by the River
Alt, the ranges consist of almost level
sandy grasslands, often waterlogged in
wet winters. To ensure uninterrupted
sight lines from the firing positions to
the targets, the ranges are managed by
mowing several times a year.
Altcar Conservation Advisory Group,
representing relevant statutory and
voluntary organisations and individuals,
as well as the Training Camp authorities,
was set up in 1977 to support and give
advice on the management of the
Altcar estate. The Group has developed
a Conservation Management Plan for
the site and also arranges a series of
guided walks for the public each year to
what is otherwise a restricted area.
Back in 1985, local recorders were
amazed to discover 35 flower-spikes of
green-winged orchid Anacamptis morio
on C-range as a new plant for the
Other orchid species colonised those
ranges that had the modified mowing
regime, in particular marsh-orchids
Dactylorhiza, up to 25,000 flower-spikes
of several different species and hybrids
having been counted. They are
accompanied by a rich variety of other
plants, creating a visually spectacular
meadow habitat that was once
commonplace but has now largely
disappeared from the wider countryside.
This conservation success story could
not have been achieved without the
helpful and willing co-operation of a
succession of Training Camp
Commandants and their staff over a
30-year period.
Philip H Smith & Steve Cross
Altcar Conservation Advisory Group
SANCTUARY 45 2016
79