Former coal mines that have transformed into Wigan and Leigh ’s popular green spaces have been nationally recognised as nature reserves. What were once colliery areas known for smoke and soot, loved for their huge employment boosts in their hayday, have now become the ‘lungs of Wigan’ that dog walkers, bird watchers and nature lovers now aspire to visit.
The areas, now called ‘The Flashes of Wigan and Leigh’, will knit together a total of thirteen sites including Wigan Flashes, Amberswood, Three Sisters, Bickershaw Country Park, Pennington Flash and Viridor Wood near Bamfurlong in Wigan, creating the first National Nature Reserve in Greater Manchester. Dozens of environment and political figures gathered at Amberswood on October 3 to celebrate the momentous occasion.
The new NNR will protect 738.21 hectares of precious wetland habitats, home to nationally significant wildlife populations including the willow tit, water voles and great crested newt.
