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John McCombs is the Chair of the Friends of Childwall Woods and Fields. He describes his talk as being "the story of the place, the people, our purpose and our project: to improve the access and habitat of this wild place within the city".
Childwall Woods were largely planted in the 1700s. They were originally known as 'The Grounds'. The wealthy owner of Childwall Hall owned vast amounts of land around the mansion, and much of this was planted as woodland. In 1967 - in the presence of Lord Cranborne, the grandson of former owner the Marquess of Salisbury - the woods were opened to the public. A commemorative tree was planted by Mr George Mellor, Chairman of the "Childwall Woods Preservation Society". Nowadays, it is the "Friends of Childwall Woods and Fields" who have a mission to improve, protect and preserve the Childwall Woods Local Nature Reserve for future generations.
Understanding its importance for people and nature, the FCWF's ambition has been to tame the overgrowth, make the paths passable and give nature a helping hand. Their trustees and members have also been demonstrating its ecological value by identifying and cataloguing a significant number of species - some rare or even unique. In 2019 the group was successful in obtaining funding of £93,000 to improve the (then) much neglected local nature reserve. As the project to complete the works comes to an end, the journey to deliver the improvements can be told.
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