History of the woodland
The woodland at Haigh has a long and rich history.
The plantations were laid out in the 1860s to hide the scars of coal mining. Much of the planting was undertaken by the mill workers of Wigan, unemployed due to what is known as the ‘cotton famine’ a depression in the textile industry caused by the American Civil War.
The Hall and plantations were purchased by Wigan Council, (Wigan Corporation at the time) in 1945 and made publicly accessible in 1947.
Woodland regeneration
Between 1975 and 1988 the woodland was managed under a Forestry Commission Dedication Scheme which provided a woodland management and planting grant. The main aim of this work was to replant areas of woodland where there was little natural regeneration largely due to colonisation by Rhododendron ponticum.
Since then, large areas of Rhododendron ponticum have been cleared and replanted with mainly native, deciduous woodland.
Why are the woodlands important?
The history of our native woodland begins after the last Ice Age about 12,000 years ago. After the ice sheets retracted, trees slowly started recolonising the land.
Today, only around two per cent of the UK has woodland that can be dated back to the Middle Ages. We are very proud to have some ancient woodland on the estate at Bottling Wood, which is also catalogued on the Ancient Woodland Register.
Ancient woodland is vital for wildlife, providing special habitats for many rare and vulnerable species. Their loss would be irreparable.
Great diversity is found in the structure and type of our woodland. Perhaps most important is our wet woodland, which supports a wide variety of wildlife living near our ponds and streams - adept at coping with seasonal flooding. Our areas of younger woodland provide a habitat for wildlife as the trees grow and fill the canopy. The trees outside our main woodland, in fields, hedgerows, and even urban gardens, provide refuge and make it easier for wildlife to travel safely around the estate.
These trees also help connect our woodland to important neighbouring habitats such as Borsdane Wood Local Nature Reserve (external link) and several recently planted Woodland Trust sites.
Flora and fauna
The woodland at Haigh primarily consists of beech (Fagus sylvatica), with a proportion of oak (Quercus robur), horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum), sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus), ash (Fraxinus excelsior), lime (Tilia x europaea) and Scot’s pine (Pinus sylvestris).
As you walk along the 40 miles of paths, you will find a variety of woodland plants such as wood anemone (Anemonoides nemerosa), lesser celandine (Ficaria verna), and fungi, including fly agaric (Aminata muscaria) and puffballs (e.g. Lycoperdon perlatum).
The woodland is an ideal habitat for many species of birds, mammals, amphibians and insects. Listen out for woodpeckers (both lesser spotted and greater spotted), and cuckoos in spring. If you are lucky, you may even see glimpses of roe deer or fox cubs.