Shrewsbury beauty spot gets helping hand

An appeal was launched earlier this year to buy a hectare of land on the Stiperstones.

Natural England called on the public to donate to their campaign to raise money to buy and restore the land on the edge of the reserve called Windy Corner.

The area is famed for its rugged beauty and the purchase of Windy Corner would allow for the recreation of a continuous band of heathland along the entire 10km Stiperstones ridge.

The restoration would allow for the emperor moth caterpillar to crawl from one end of the ridge to the other.

Now that the body has raised the £10,000 needed, they can get on with the important task of restoring the heathland back to its glory of a carpet of purple heather, whinberries and cowberries. In turn it is hoped that this will attract more invertebrates such as the green tiger beetle and green hairstreak butterfly.

Natural England’s area manager Emma Johnson said: “We have a great opportunity here to increase the area of heathland, adding to the iconic Stiperstones landscape. Through the generosity of people, both donations and help from volunteers we will be able to provide yet more fantastic habitat for nature in Shropshire, which people will be able to enjoy for generations to come.”

Simon Cooter the senior reserve manager for Natural England’s Stiperstones NNR added: “Public support will help us in reaching our long awaited dream of having purple heather covered hills stretching along the whole of the Stiperstones ridge."