The Blue Slate Wood comprises a permanent and diverse native broadleaf planting scheme in the picturesque hills of Lancashire.   This is a small, yet perfectly formed project.

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The project was undertaken in partnership with the River Ribble Trust.  The Trust undertakes exceptional projects to improve water quality by reducing agricultural run-off, industrial pollution and undertaking river clean-up activities.  The new woodland will create a buffer to agricultural run-off whilst enhancing the landscape and providing habitat for wildlife.

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From a landscape conservation perspective, the project complements the nearby Yorkshire Dales National Park, Forest of Bowland AONB, Nidderdale AONB and a large Site of Special Scientific Interest at the Ribble Estuary. 

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The greater landscape is home to a variety of mammals including the red deer, fallow deer, otter, badger, red fox, red squirrel, pine marten, brown hare and dormouse.  The immediate marine environs are home to the bottlenose dolphin, grey seal and occasional whales.  The overall landscape is home to a diversity of bird species including, of particular interest: the curlew, golden plover, ring ouzel, lapwing, peregrine, hen harrier, merlin, lapwing, red grouse, redshank, snipe and stonechat.  As golden eagles have been reintroduced into the Lake District, there is potential for them to spread southwards to Lancashire over the coming years.

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The new woodland complements and expands established ancient woods in the immediate vicinity: Kiln Wood and Sharples Wood.  Kiln Wood comprises a canopy of ash, sycamore, alder and elm with rowan and wild cherry. Holly, hazel, hawthorn and ivy make up the understory. The herb layer is diverse and holds typical woodland species such as: wood anemone, wood sage, wood sorrel, dog’s mercury, lesser celandine, red campion, ramsons, bluebell, Lord’s-and-Ladies, great woodrush, moschatel, wood avens and the ferns hard shield-fern, broad buckler-fern and hart’s-tongue.

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Tree and shrub species in Sharples Wood are similar to those in Kiln Wood. The field layer also shares similar species. The ground flora includes male fern, herb-Robert, Lord’s-and-Lady’s, ramsons, three-nerved sandwort, wood dock, wavy bitter-cress, meadow saxifrage, wood anemone, opposite-leaved golden-saxifrage, foxglove and giant bellflower.  Both ancient woodlands are home to a carpet of bluebells during early spring.

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The riverbanks, field margins and banks, especially the southern bank opposite Sharples Wood, hold good populations of wild daffodil, a plant listed in the Provisional Lancashire Red Data List of Vascular Plants.

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The new woodland is located adjacent to Hole Brook and the River Darwen.  The River Darwen is home to a variety of fish including roach, chub, dace, brown trout and occasional rainbow trout.  It in turn feeds the River Ribble.  The Ribble passes the RSPB Hesketh Out Marsh Nature Reserve and then empties into the Ribble and Alt Estuary and the Irish Sea. 

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The Ribble is one of the longest and most diverse rivers in the UK, reaching 75 miles from the Yorkshire Dales National Park to the sea near Lytham.  The Ribble has one of the largest tide differentials in the UK.  The tide runs at five miles per hour and rises eight meters whilst reaching eleven miles inland.

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Exceptional features of the project include:

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1.  Educational visits by schools with content supported by the Ribble Rivers Trust; with a designated forest learning site on the river bank.

2.  A very open culture.  The landowner is keen to welcome visits from the company clients, which can include educational content and volunteering.

3.  The site has been described for generations as a 'corner of paradise'.

4.  The river bank is maintained by two trusted, local anglers.

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In terms of the broader green credentials of the estate:

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1.  They have installed an important pond for rare newts with the support of Natural England.

2.  The farm only supplies local restaurants and shops, so low food miles.

3.  They are planning to install solar panels to supply a neighbouring business with green electricity.

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Investment opportunities include purchase of all or part of the project Pending Issuance Units.  Please contact us for pricing details: richard@highlandcarbon.com