Yarrow Valley Country Park
Location
Birkacre Road, Chorley, PR7 3QL.
Free parking is available at the café/information hub.
Top Lodge Nature Reserve
Top Lodge Nature Reserve was developed as a nature reserve in the mid 1990s on the site of a derelict reservoir. The reservoir originally supplied water to the former industrial complex at Birkacre, which closed in the late 1960s. The reservoir system is supplied with water from the River Yarrow via a stone weir situated some 200m upstream. In the years prior to its reclamation the reservoir filled with silt from the river which became vegetated with the species poor Reed Canary Grass.
In the mid 1990s following an ecological survey of the site, the opportunity was taken to improve the biodiversity of the saturated silt bed by creating a reed swamp of Common Reed combined with areas of open water. Wetland habitats of this type support a much wider range of flora and fauna and are rare locally and declining nationally. Recent works on the reserve include the construction of a hide with seating from which to view the site.
Settlement Tanks
This Nature Conservation area is the site of the old effluent treatment plant that served the former industry at Birkacre. Since closure of the industry in the late 1960s the site, comprising a series of water filled tanks, has become overgrown and dangerous. The site does however support a diverse range of flora and fauna. In the mid-1990s work was carried out on the tanks to remove hazards, improve habitats and provide better access to the public.
Owing to the remoteness of the site and the presence of deep water the public are excluded from gaining access through the site although much can be seen from the viewing area. Exclusion of the public from part of the site also reduces disturbance to wildlife a problem that is evident in other parts of Yarrow Valley Country Park.
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