Encouraging Wildlife
Tree planting, changing the management of the land, and installing the water gardens have made huge improvements to the wildlife we now see at Beckside.
When we first moved here the large field at the side of the house was just that – a field, with power lines running through it, and an underground culvert but we could see the potential. In 2015 we embarked on an ambitious project to turn it into a haven for wildlife and worked with South Cumbria Rivers Trust to develop the project.
We began by sketching out a basic design and with the use of a large digging machine created ponds and streams. We kept all the excavated material on site and used it for ground moulding. Large rocks were set aside and used as features and turfs and small rocks were used to stabilise and create habitats along the pond and stream edges. We also used hay bales as silt traps to protect the river downstream.
In some areas we raked and stone picked before seeding with a wild flower pond edge mix and then we allowed the ponds to fill up naturally with rainwater and runoff before diverting the underground culvert to finish the ponds and keep the water flowing.
Trees were added in January 2016 to create a wildlife corridor linking our other existing woodlands. Newts and eels appeared in the pond soon after. Now the area is a haven for wildlife with hares, moorhens, herons, foxes and badgers being regularly spotted, and otters making their debut in early 2024.