Weather
Green oasis for industrial area
From the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, first published Wednesday 15th Jul 1998.
LANCASHIRE is fast developing a skill in developing green oases in the heart of old industrial areas.
One of these is Strinesdale, which is a 50 acre reserve on the outskirts of Oldham. In 1992, two drinking water reservoirs were decommissioned, providing an opportunity to re-landscape the site. In place of the reservoirs there are two smaller lakes, several ponds, community woodland and meadows which offer a range of informal recreational activities. It is a wonderful place to walk and enjoy wildlife.
Strinesdale is owned by North West Water and it provides a ranger who manages the site with the support of Oldham Councils Countryside Service. The work at Strinesdale is funded jointly by these two bodies and the Countryside Commission.
Strinesdale gets its name from the old English word Strine, which means a boundary. The old Lancashire/Yorkshire border runs through the centre of the site. Upper Strinesdale reservoir was the first to be built in Oldham. This was in 1826 and in 1853 Lower Strinesdale was constructed. The developing cotton industry demanded more and more water and other reservoirs were built between 1870 and 1890 above Strinesdale. These were situated at Castleshaw and Denshaw. The old water treatment works is the base of the Countryside Service and there is a classroom used for environmental education. There is a car park, toilets, picnic tables and wild flower gardens. The wildlife is extensive and there are wildfowl and waders on and around the reservoirs throughout the year. There are also resident woodland birds, kestrels and great spotted woodpeckers. Mammals include foxes, wood mice, weasels and short-tailed field voles.
The pleasant circular walk is suitable for wheelchairs and in summer it is a real treat for botanists. Here grows the guelder rose, which has most unusual flowers which never seem to bloom properly.
There are growths with white petals on the outside but there are no male and female organs. Inside the blossom there are the male and female sections but no petals and so there seem to be buds but no flowers. The guelder rose is pollinated by insects and in the autumn shiny red poisonous berries develop.
Other plants around Strinesdale include wood avens, Himalayan balsam, mayflower and rosebay willow herb.
My last view of Strinesdale was almost obscured by a sudden rain storm. But whatever the weather, this is an excellent site, situated on the A62 between Oldham and Delph and reached via the M62.
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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