Storeton Woods - Higher Bebington
Site Description
This wood forms part of a belt of woodland running north-south along the Wirral Peninsula close to the villages of Storeton and Higher Bebington. It was purchased by the Woodland Trust in 1989 with the financial support of local residents who had formed the Friends of Storeton Woods (FOSW) in July 1987 with the aim of protecting and enhancing the woodland.
It lies on an escarpment/ridge of sandstone and is well drained. It is prominent in the landscape and can be seen from miles around.
It is mainly deciduous, young and semi-mature secondary woodland with the main canopy species currently being oak, silver birch, beech, sycamore and scots pine. The older belts of trees (beech, turkey oak, pedunculate oak, sycamore) date back to the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century and were originally planted to screen the sandstone quarry ( itself dating back to Roman times) which has since been in-filled with spoil from the first Mersey Tunnel in 1925. A number of historical features still exist within the site including quarry faces, sandstone walls and most significantly a section of the incline tramway that is now used as a footpath and bridleway. The site is also famous for dinosaur footprints that were found in the quarry in the 19th century (these have been removed and are now in a museum). Part of the wood has since naturally regenerated with birch, rowan and sycamore. The composition of the woodland has evolved in response to the variable soil conditions (resulting from the spoil deposition in the early twentieth century). Other tree and shrub species within the wood include holly, yew, rowan, whitebeam, gorse, elder and hawthorn. There is a large amount of bramble and bracken along with patches of Gaultheria (Wintergreen) which was originally introduced by previous owners as cover for game birds. The ground flora is reasonably diverse considering the relatively young age of the wood and includes heather, wood sage and wavy hairgrass.
The whole site is extensively used by local people and contains a diverse network of informal paths. In addition, a permissive bridle-path has been created along the old tramway route which runs north-south through the wood.
The site benefits from close involvement from local people. One of the sites key features is the fact that it has a local friends group, "The Friends of Storeton Woods". The group initially raised funds to purchase the site and continue to help co-ordinate efforts to manage the wood.
