Blogging in the Bog
This afternoon we visited the Fenn’s Whixall & Bettisfield Mosses. It is a National Nature Preserve that straddles the the English/ Welsh border near Whitchurch, Fenn’s, Whixal and Bettisfield Mosses. It is a remarkable site of Special Scientific interest, a European area of Conservation and a Wetland of International importance.
At nearly 1000 areas, the Mosses are the third largest and one of the most southernly lowland raised bogs in Britain.
Formed at the end of the last age in a shallow hollow flooded by melting ice sheets. The lowland raised bog was a slow growing dome of sphagnum bogmoss peat. . Bogmoss acidified the rain, water-logging the peat surface so only specialzed plants and animals survived. Dying plants, together with pollen from vegetation on and around the bogs, became “pickled” as layers of peat, forming a giant storybook of the last 12,000 years.
A bronze age ax found in a layer 3,400 years old Scots pine tree sumps in the peat, and the discovery of three preserved Bronze Age and Romano-British bog bodies, tell us that people have lived and worked here for a very long time.
For 500 years small case peat cutting at the edge of the mosses gradually enabled the outer areas to be turned into fields, sweetened with lime brought along the canal from Llangollen.
The bog was drained after he Enclosure Acts of 1777 and 1823 for this canal built in 1804 and then for the railway built in 1863.
During the 20thcentury the Mosses were commandeered for military use during the World Wars, and part was planted with pine forests in the 1960.
Mechanized commercial cutting of peat began in 1968, but when the rate of cutting quadrupled in 1989. The central area was acquired as a National Nature Preserve and in 1990 large-scale cutting was brought to an end.
Wonderful, very unspoiled area. Kathryn, Bruce, Christopher and Olli went off walking to go to the visitors center and viewing tower.
They returned filled with excitement for the area.
This is an experience like we have never had before.
posted by Jim and Elaine Barnett @ 10:23 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
The mosses sound similar to the "land" in The Netherlands - lots of peat that people have dug canals through so they could have "land" on which to build roads, houses, etc, with the canals used to drain the water from the peat. One of our guides said that The Netherlands probably shouldn't even exist.
Have you gotten off the barge to see any of the sites, or is it just too treacherous to get on and off the boat?
Once again, your sampling of food and beverages sounds really good and somewhat of an adventure all on their own. Take care.
Very interesting information about the National Nature Preserve where you were yesterday. I didn't know much about bogs and mosses but now I do! I hope you were able to enjoy the ride through the area even if you didn't go to the visitors center. Enjoy your last day on the canal with your family!
Leigh
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