Bickley Hall Farm

About the reserve

As part of a wildlife-friendly farm management regime supported by Natural England’s Countryside Stewardship Scheme our species-rich hay meadows and pastures along with their flower rich margins and wild bird seed plots, bordered by diverse hedgerows are great for invertebrates, small mammals and in particular, hundreds of feeding farmland birds in autumn and winter.

Our fields of spring sown cereals with overwintered stubbles host hundreds of finches and other seed eating birds and our mosaic of wet meadows, intersected by a network of ditches and scattered ponds are managed specifically for wintering and breeding wading birds.

Bickley Hall Farm is managed by Cheshire Wildlife Trust as an organic, wildlife friendly farm in partnership with a local grazier. The Trust has overall management of the farm and all its wildlife friendly features, including the hay meadows, the wet grassland, the floristically enhanced margins, the wild bird seed crops, the ponds, the hedgerows, etc. Our grazing partner provides the cattle for the Trust to manage the farm and grows a spring sown cereal in locations determined by the Trust.