Lightshaw Meadows is an area of open countryside and a beautiful
mosaic of wetlands located in the heart of the Abram Flashes in Wigan. The landscape has been created over many years from mining subsidence and
is a stunning example of how Wigan’s industrial heritage has shaped the
local landscape. On a wider scale, Lightshaw Meadows forms part of Wigan’s Greenheart Regional Park, which lies between Wigan and Leigh.Lightshaw Meadows covers some 18 hectares of land, 13 hectares of which has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). However, over the last few decades, the SSSI gradually deteriorated into an ‘unfavourable’ condition as categorised by Natural England. Therefore, for the last three years Red Rose Forest and the Lancashire Wildlife Trust supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Environment Agency, Natural England and Wigan Greenheart have been working to improve the area and its status has now been upgraded back to a ‘favourable’ condition.
The latest news is that Lightshaw Meadows has now made it through to the prestigious National Lottery Awards final seven in the Best Environment Project category, with a coveted trophy and a £2,000 cash prize up for grabs if the project gets the highest number of public votes in the category.
You can vote by telephone on 0844 836 9686
or by clicking here: Vote for Lightshaw Meadows and entering your email address
Please Note: Voting ends at midnight on 24 July 2013