River Bollin Riverlands Project at Alderley Edge

A frog and some frogspawn in a pond — The Riverlands Project is helping to create more habitats for wildlife and cleaner water for all. | © National Trust Images/Rob Coleman

We’ve been improving the health of the River Bollin catchment in Cheshire. Since 2024, we’ve restored habitats at Dunham Massey, Hare Hill, Alderley Edge, Quarry Bank and Lyme as part of the Riverlands project.

What happened at Alderley Edge?

The dramatic red sandstone slope of Alderley Edge holds views over the Cheshire Plain to the Peak District. To improve riverland habitat here we restored 13 ponds, which improved 2.93ha of land.

Where is the River Bollin?

The River Bollin and its catchment meander through Cheshire and the southern fringes of Manchester, flowing by many places along the way, including Quarry Bank, Dunham Massey, Alderley Edge, Hare Hill and Lyme. The largely rural and agricultural nature of the catchment gives way to the city of Greater Manchester to the north.

What is the Riverlands project?

The River Bollin was part of our national Riverlands Programme which had the following three key aims:

Rivers and catchments that are healthy, clean and rich in wildlife.
Rivers and catchments that are easily accessed, valued and loved for their heritage and beauty.
Sustainable long-term care for rivers and catchments.

Throughout the project we restored 45 ponds and created 23 new ponds resulting in over 20ha of habitat improvement across Cheshire. We also improved 8.644km of watercourse and installed over 100 leaky dams. To complete this work, we had more than 1,830 hours of volunteering help and support.

We also worked with local communities to help them rediscover and reconnect with their rivers – as spaces for leisure and activity, to socialise, or simply take a walk beside the water and clear their minds. Across the project we engaged approximately 29,990 people through a range of workshops, events, and activity.

An investment of almost £1m from the Government's Species Survival Fund helped to support these projects, protect fragile ecosystems and create nature-rich landscapes. The fund was developed by Defra and its Arm's-Length Bodies. It was delivered by The National Lottery Heritage Fund in partnership with Natural England and the Environment Agency.

To find out more about some of our milestones across the project, look through the updates below.

Latest updates

7 March 2025

Stop, snap and share: Help us track habitat changes

Join in with a citizen science project that will help us to better understand the Bollin landscape and track changes in its habitat. As a dedicated visitor or someone local to Alderley Edge you may have seen many changes in the landscape over the years. Next time you visit, please stop, snap and share pictures from the fixed-point photography point that has been installed at Alderley Edge.

We have installed the fixed-point photography point next to a pond we are restoring in Windmill Wood. Ponds are amazing freshwater habitats and provide a home for a variety of plants, insects and animals. They’re also vital in making the environment more resilient to drought and flooding during extreme weather events by holding water on the land for longer. At Windmill Wood we are removing willow and deepening the pond to hold more water.

Demonstration of how to use the fixed-point photography point | © National Trust Images/Paul Harris

Glossary of key terms

Catchment – the geographical area that supplies water to a main river or lake.

Culvert – a pipe or tunnel that moves water underground. Often this water would have naturally flown overground.

De culverting – removing the pipe or tunnel to allow the watercourse to return to a more natural state.

Ghost pond – an old pond that no longer exists because it has been filled in either naturally or by people.

Landslip – material that falls down a slope, usually smaller than a landslide. At Lyme, this material is man-made litter.

Tributaries – a river or stream that flows into a larger river or lake.

Watercourse – a stream of water (e.g. a river or a brook).

A close up of a kingfisher with a fish in its mouth perched on a branch

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Natural England is the government’s adviser for the natural environment in England. They help to protect and restore our natural world.

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