Little Woolden Moss

Little Woolden Moss is a 115-hectare site which showcases a “restoration reversal” of peat extraction. This has involved rewetting the bog and introducing cotton grasses, sphagnums and heathers to the outlying areas. The late May to July cotton grass specular is something to behold. Nowadays brown hares are regularly running across the vista with hobbies flying overhead. Curlews successfully rear their young whilst dragonflies dart over the wetlands. There is also a chance to view archaeology with the millennia old bog oaks.

To say this place has been inspiration to many would be an understatement. Here are some resources to explore. [hyperlink the pink].

• Prehistoric Archaeology of Chat Moss - https://youtu.be/AU0cB3t8UFs
• What happened to Chat Moss- https://youtu.be/bA6O7k8tdTI
• Life and Times of Chat Moss Life & Times of Chat Moss | Carbon Landscapes
• Dave Steel, Birds of Greater Manchester’s peatlands - https://youtu.be/MbFR7mV8ct8
• Andy Hankinson, Little Woolden Moss Virtual Tour - https://youtu.be/INgRR7jkHIs
• Save our peatlands film - https://youtu.be/Dd0cg4zhFv0

Useful info

Access is around formal footpaths running around the perimeter of Little Woolden Moss. Parking is a problem as are the access roads that are in a poor state. The easiest way to access site is either via Astley Road Irlam or Moss Road Cadishead. Please keep to the footpaths as the reserve is boggy and to help protect the sensitive wildlife. Please keep dogs on a lead.

This site is owned and managed by Lancashire Wildlife Trust and has an active Friends group Friends of Chat Moss [hyperlink Friends of Chat Moss – Looking after Little Woolden, Cadishead and Astley Mosses]

Address

Off Astley Road, Irlam, Salford (nearest postcode) M44 5LR

Off Moss Road, Cadishead, Salford (nearest postcode) M44 5JU

Access is only permitted along the public footpath running around the periphery of Little Woolden Moss and the permissive route linking to Astley Road. Please keep to the footpaths as the reserve is boggy and to help protect the sensitive wildlife. Please keep dogs on a lead.

Off Astley Road, Irlam, Manchester M44 5LR