A group of conservationists and local residents hope to buy Bridestones Moor, and have launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise the money.
© Rob Greenwood
The 144-acre Pennine moorland near Todmorden, which includes Bridestones (West Yorkshire) bouldering area, is on the market for £575,000, and the community-led group, Bridestones Rewilded, say they've already had an offer accepted.
The aim of the buyout is to create a community-owned nature reserve, open to all, and to restore degraded peat bog on the over-grazed site, enhancing the habitat for rare birds such as curlew, lapwing, red grouse and golden plover.
"We can reverse the decline in biodiversity and mitigate against climate change" say the group on their website.
"The land around Bridestones has been degraded by draining the bog, followed by many decades of hard-grazing. But we have a well thought-out plan to restore nature and create an environment that supports more wildlife."
Educational and volunteering opportunities be created, say the group, helping to benefit local people.
"Our beautiful moors are wonderful, essential places and we want everyone to be inspired by this vitally important landscape" they say.
"Our job is to help people understand why protecting them is important."
With a target of £55,000, the Crowdfunder campaign has already raised over £29,000.
Comments
Thanks. Sounds like a great and well thought through initiative. Donated
This has some great potential - lovely to see them say that it's planned to be open access for all, too, although they are on CRoW land for the most part I think (maybe someone can correct me there as I've not actually been yet).
Bringing land into communal ownership for access and conservation purposes where appropriate has been a big marker of the success of the American Access Fund for a long time and we're starting to evolve our thinking on this in the UK as well I think - although against the backdrop of our rights of way and access laws things are materially different. I'm donating!
From discussions I've had with the group this sounds like a great initiative to me. I'm just waiting to hear back from the Yorkshire area and will then be happy help publicise the crowdfunder, so long as they are happy with this.
I was able to reassure the group that as the part of the crag included in the sale is on CRoW land, where a right exists to climb, they cannot be held liable for people exercising this right. An assurance was also given that we would continue to respect the arrangement that no climbing takes place on the Bridestone itself.
I'd have thought that North West Water or the local council would have been keen to restore the bog. It sits above Todmorden, near Hebden, both of which flood regularly. The more water the bog can take, the less flash flooding downstream. Hopefully it goes ahead and doesnt turn into another windfarm, like the one next door. Nothing wrong with wind farms in the right areas. But on moorland, the access roads and hundreds of tons of aggregate required to construct them, bugger up the eco system.
This looks like a great initiative with some brilliant expertise in the project team.
There's another (huge) windfarm in the planning locally...
https://calderdalewind.co.uk/
https://www.stopcalderdalewindfarm.co.uk/