Work begins to create new wetland at Great Fen near Ramsey
The work is part of one of the latest phases of the Great Fen vision, called the Peatland Progress, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The five-year project will see the linking of two remaining fragments of ancient fens, Woodwalton Fen and Holme Fen. The Great Fen Vision began in 2000 as the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire came together with other bodies to create a 14-square mile (36 sq km) wetland landscape. Ms Parker said: "It's great timing as this spring marks 25 years since we first started out on the Great Fen journey."
The new wetland will be created alongside a large winter water storage pool, ditches, and water control structures. "It will look a bit messy in the short term as we move earth about, but the vegetation will quickly grow back and there will be a newly transformed landscape where people can enjoy nature for generations to come," she added. Nearly 2,000 hectares (4,900 acres) of land is now under restoration management and work is set to begin at Speechly's Farm to continue joining the two National Nature Reserves.
Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
12 hours ago
- BBC News
Restoration of 'unique medieval treasure' begins
A £7m restoration project is under way to restore a Grade I-listed street and open up some of its buildings to the public for the first time. Built in Wells, Somerset, in 1348, Vicars' Close is reputedly Europe's oldest medieval street still being used for its original was originally built to house the singers of the Wells Vicars Choral and to this day it provides accommodation to the musicians, organist team and vergers who work at Wells Very Reverend Toby Wright, Dean of the cathedral, said: "This is a such a unique treasure in the world and we want everyone to know this space is there for them." The restoration of the buildings requiring "urgent repairs" will include re-roofing, drainage improvements, wall conservation, exterior joinery repairs and crucially "getting the place watertight", the cathedral restoration work will allow four of the 27 houses and a sensory garden to be opened up to the public, it added. Mr Wright said: "There are amazing opportunities for people to come and see what it was like historically."The project is backed by a £4.4m grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, alongside support from donors and Wright added: "This is a gamechanger for us, having the support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund and all of those National Lottery players who enabled this investment means we are able to open this space up."Speaking to BBC Radio Somerset about the nature of the restoration, Mr Wright said this was "phase one". "We've been advised very carefully by external consultants who have been really helpful to identify the key areas that we need to work on," he cathedral needs to raise a further £800,000 to complete the project. "We know the people of Somerset and beyond will want to get behind this because it is such a precious and unique opportunity."I want people to know that this space is for them regardless of whether they are people of faith or not," Mr Wright restoration is expected to be completed by spring 2027.
BBC News
4 days ago
- BBC News
Revamp of Armley Gyratory completed with new footbridges
A £40m scheme to revamp a major Leeds junction has been completed after three years of work. Newly built footbridges over Armley Gyratory have been opened, marking the end of the final phase of work on the redevelopment. It followed the earlier completion of changes to the road layout at the junction, which is one of the major access routes into and out of Leeds city centre. Leeds City Council thanked drivers for their patience during the works, which have been designed to make the gyratory safer and to reduce city centre traffic. The replacement footbridges span Wellington Road, Spence Lane and Gelderd Road. The council said the previous footbridges, which have been demolished, had been of poor standard and were approaching "expiry". More than 660 trees have also been planted in the area as part of the overall Jonathan Pryor, the local authority's deputy leader, said: "We would like to thank everyone involved in working on this scheme, along with people's ongoing patience while this essential project was carried out."Although it's great to see this project complete, we're conscious that there's still a lot of other work taking place around the city and we are working hard to deliver these as swiftly as possible while minimising disruption wherever we can." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
BBC News
6 days ago
- BBC News
World War One pillboxes in Norfolk listed by Historic England
A rare semi-circular bunker-like structure is among eight World War One pillboxes in Norfolk that have been granted Grade II listed concrete buildings were built in Norfolk between 1916 and 1918, designed to protect a stretch of English coast from a potential German sea invasion, including the semi-circular one at Bacton still have their original steel doors, gun loop shutters and white-painted interiors, according to Historic East of England regional director Tony Calladine said they were "a reminder of a time when determined communities prepared to defend Britain during the Great War". Listed buildings are buildings of special architectural or historic interest with legal but one of the newly-listed pillboxes are in the North Walsham area and they are: Two defending the Common Road and Bradfield Beck crossing point at Bradfield CommonA rare semi-circular pillbox at Bacton Wood, guarding a canal bridgeTwo circular pillboxes at White Horse Common at the Edbridge Mill crossingTwo either side of Bacton Road, Little London, defending the canal bridgeThe final pillbox is another circular one at Wayford Bridge, near pillboxes were positioned along the River Ant and the North Walsham & Dilham Canal - waterways that could provided further defence in The Broads. They are all slightly inland and were part of a network of pillboxes which were designed to "provide a barrier to invading enemy troops", said Mr Calladine. Pillboxes were generally camouflaged against the landscape to hide the occupants from enemy were installed with small holes in the walls called loopholes where weapons could be fired first pillboxes were built by the German army on the Western Front, but as the threat of invasion increased in Britain, they began appearing along the east coast of."The listing of these pillboxes recognises their historic significance and exceptional durability," Mr Calladine added. Historic England hopes people will add their photographs and drawings of the pillboxes and share their stories to its Missing Pieces Project. Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
