Site Event/Activity record ECH7236 - Hale Duck Decoy Restoration Project

A Heritage Lottery funded project, undertaken in the early 2000s, to restore Hale Duck Decoy and its use as a nature reserve. The decoy is a scheduled monument and one of only three extant decoys in the country. The restoration project was initiated by a local volunteer group, Friends of Pickering Pasture, and was undertaken in liaison with other parties including Fleetwood-Hesketh Estate who own the site, Halton Borough Council, Mersey Valley Partnership, English Heritage, English Nature, Cheshire Wildlife Trust and Cheshire County Council. The site also received a Forestry Commission Woodland grant for tree/shrub planting. The official launch of the restored site occurred in August 2003. The work to restore the site followed on from earlier works undertaken in 1990-2 to secure the site from flood risk. In February 1990 the decoy was damaged when it was flooded with salt water caused by the combination of a high tide and a north-westerly gale. Following this, in the summer of 1990, the central pond was dredged, and in March 1991, the moat was dredged, placing the mud on its banks to increase their height. Works undertaken in 2001-3 included:- - Dredging of moat. - De-silting outdrain channels and repairs to outfall pipe and tidal flap to leading to the Ramsbrook. - Selective reconstruction of metal hoops over pipes - one restored with hazel/willow hoop system (EA), two fully restored metal system of hoops (CD and DE), the others to remain largely unrestored; repairs to side screens. - Repairs to boardwalk and swing bridge. - Repairs to hides. - Provision of access across salt marsh and around the site to facilitate guided tours. - Provision of interpretation panels. - Repair/upgrade of the Game Keeper's Cottage. - Re-planting of the site. A grant from the Forestry Commission (2003) was given for re-planting trees and shrubs damaged by flooding (source ?). An LHI grant (2004) was provided to facilitate further upgrades to the Game Keeper's Cottage/educational facilities (source ?). Also a replacement swing-bridge occurred in 2004 with funding from Mersey Waterfront. A salt marsh survey was undertaken in 2002 by English Nature.