‘Stop, snap and share’ as National Trust launch new project to monitor Cheshire habitats

‘Stop, snap and share’ as National Trust launch new project to monitor Cheshire habitats

The National Trust have installed fixed-point photography posts at Dunham Massey, Alderley Edge, Quarry Bank and Lyme and are asking the public to stop, snap and share photos with them.

Photographs taken by the public can be shared on social media to show seasonal changes in Cheshire’s landscape and help the charity track restoration of key habitats across the river Bollin catchment.

The photography project is part of an £800,000 investment that will improve wildlife habitats, create cleaner waterbodies, slow the flow of water to manage flooding, and hold carbon to help address climate change across the river Bollin catchment and beyond in Cheshire.

The National Trust are asking members of the public to help them to better understand the Bollin landscape and track changes in its habitat. The conservation charity is asking its visitors to stop, snap and share pictures from fixed-point photography posts that have been installed in the landscape at Dunham Massey, Alderley Edge, Quarry Bank and Lyme.

The river Bollin flows through Cheshire and the southern fringes of Manchester, passing a number of different National Trust places. As part of the Riverlands project, the Trust is making vital improvements to headwaters, wetlands and ponds.

Kathryn Heaton, Riverlands Project Manager, says: “Only 14% of England’s rivers are in good health. The effects of climate change, and pressures from farming and development, are all taking their toll on our waterways and their plants, insects, animals and birds.” 

“Through this exciting project, we hope to encourage people to stop and notice nature around them and interact with the landscape in a different way. We’re asking people to stop, snap and share their photos with us via social media. This will help us to build a better picture of how landscapes change over time.” 

The new photography project is part of an investment of just under £800,000 that will improve wildlife habitats, create cleaner waterbodies, slow the flow of water to manage flooding, and hold carbon to help address climate change across the river Bollin catchment in Cheshire.

Much of this investment comes from the Government’s Species Survival Fund, which supports projects to tackle habitat loss, protect fragile ecosystems and create nature-rich landscapes full of wildlife-friendly habitats, such as grasslands, peatlands and wetlands. The fund was developed by Defra and its Arm's-Length Bodies. It is being delivered by The National Lottery Heritage Fund in partnership with Natural England and the Environment Agency. Freshwater Renaissance is also supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery.

In addition to this, the Environment Agency’s Natural Flood Management Fund will help to increase the catchment’s resilience to flooding through natural flood management processes that will slow and store water.

Over the next two years, the National Trust aims to restore or create around 50 ponds, restore over four kilometres of watercourses, and install around 90 new ‘leaky dams’ that will help to slow the flow of water and reduce the risk of flooding.

The Trust will also be working in partnership with the Mersey Rivers Trust on an additional 14 ponds, creating two hectares of wetland and restoring another 1.3 kilometres of watercourses in the Upper Mersey Catchment.

Each fixed-point photography point features a cradle for your phone alongside information about how to share your photos with the conservation charity. The photography points can be found at key points of interest at Dunham Massey, Alderley Edge, Quarry Bank and Lyme, with exact locations being available on the National Trust’s website.

Throughout 2025 the Trust will host a series of events that aim to engage more people with nature and raise awareness of the importance of healthy waterways for people and wildlife. Events include pond dipping, a bioblitz, volunteer planting days and family trails.

More information about the National Trust’s work to improve water quality in Cheshire’s Bollin river can be found at nationaltrust.org.uk/riverlands-bollin.