Gowy Meadows Nature Reserve
Gowy Meadows Nature Reserve is a nature reserve near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, England. It consists of low-lying meadows immediately to the east of the River Gowy near its confluence with the River Mersey, south of Stanlow Oil Refinery and west of the village of Thornton-le-Moors. It is managed by the Cheshire Wildlife Trust on behalf of the landowner, Shell UK, and was founded in 2002. The M56 motorway runs along the southern edge of the reserve.
The reserve consists mainly of low-lying wet pasture divided by ditches. It is part of the Gowy & Mersey Washlands Living Landscape initiative. Before the construction of the Manchester Ship Canal the Gowy would have been tidal in this area and much of the reserve would have consisted of saltmarsh with brackish creeks, whose traces can still be seen in places.The pastureland is dominated by soft rush and tufted hair-grass. Locally uncommon plants include meadow rue, brown sedge, water violet, whorl-grass and the carnivorous bladderwort. Five specimens of black poplar grow on site; this tree, uncommon in the UK, is near the northwestern limit of its range.
The reserve has valuable populations of aquatic invertebrates, including the "vulnerable" mud snail and range-restricted lesser silver water beetle. Water voles breed in the ditches, and otters are known to use the Gowy. Birdlife includes occasional breeding snipe, lapwing and good numbers of stonechat.
