Hatchmere Explained

Hatch Mere Nature Reserve
Location:Delamere Forest, Cheshire
Map:Cheshire
Map Width:250
Grid Ref Uk:SJ537709
Coords:53.244°N -2.672°W
Type:Nature reserve and SSSI
Area:[1]
Elevation:80m[2]
Operator:Cheshire Wildlife Trust
Open:any reasonable time

Hatchmere is a small mere and nature reserve in Delamere Forest, southeast of Frodsham, Cheshire, England. It is also the name of a hamlet near the village of Norley.

Nature reserve

Hatch Mere Nature Reserve covers 12.6ha. It lies within a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), and is managed by the Cheshire Wildlife Trust.

According to the SSSI citation "Hatch Mere is an example of a mere with moderate fertility and well developed floating and emergent vegetation. It is an unusual mere because of the surrounding vegetation which consists largely of acidic heath and bog communities."[3] The mere is a good example of a kettle hole, of which there are several in the Delamere area. Some are flooded as here whilst others are dry or contain peat mosses. The mere originated as a detached mass of glacial ice melted in situ towards the end of the last ice age.

Notable animal species include the Hairy Dragonfly Brachytron pratense, Variable Damselfly Coenagrion pulchellum and a rare caddisfly, Potomophylax rotundipennis. Rare plants for the area include Tufted Sedge Carex elata and Bog Myrtle Myrica gale.

There were several campaigns to maintain public access to the lake after it was bought by the Wildlife Trust in 1998.[4] Initially the Trust fenced off the only access point to the lake suitable for swimmers. A pressure group, the Friends of Hatchmere, was formed, and eventually the Wildlife Trust backed down and agreed to allow swimming in the lake. The Hatchmere campaign was instrumental in the forming of the River and Lake Swimming Association,[5] a group that promotes open water swimming in the United Kingdom. Angling is also permitted on the lake under the membership of Prince Albert Angling Society and anglers have purpose-built platforms where they have to fish from which each requires a key provided by the society. Fish present in the lake include bream, tench, pike, roach as well as some breeds of carp.Wild swimming in Hatchmere has been banned by the lakes owners since November 2019.[6]

In late 2020, a pair of Eurasian beavers were released[7] into a fenced 10-acre enclosure at the northwest end of the mere.[8]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Hatch Mere . Cheshirewildlifetrust.org.uk . 11 July 2012.
  2. Ordnance Survey . Northwich & Delamere Forest . Explorer Series . 1:25000 . 11 July 2012.
  3. Web site: Hatch Mere: SSSI Citation . Natural England . 1979 . 11 July 2012 . 23 October 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121023201522/http://www.sssi.naturalengland.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1002641.pdf . dead .
  4. Web site: History of the dispute . Friends of Hatchmere . 4 July 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131006154050/http://hatchmere.com/history.htm . 6 October 2013 .
  5. Web site: River and Lake Swimming Association. River-swimming.co.uk. 4 July 2013.
  6. Web site: Hatchmere | Cheshire Wildlife Trust. Cheshirewildlifetrust.org.uk.
  7. Web site: Beavers make Hatchmere their new home! . 4 November 2020 . 9 November 2020. Cheshirewildlifetrust.org.uk.
  8. Web site: Can you bring beavers back to Cheshire? . 9 November 2020. Cheshirewildlifetrust.org.uk.