Soil Bank re-shaping

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We have been busy working on the remaining peat soil cliff left over from the creation of the project in 1994, to lower the height and stabilise it for the future.  For the last 20 years the spoil has slowly been removed by a local contractor for use as topsoil.  However, recently, the exposed cliff has been used by sand martins extending the colony from our limestone cliffs.  We plan for some cliff to remain for the future but where the cliff face has been worked and worn thin we are dropping the height to nearly half and using the removed soil to stabilise the rear of the bank. 
​This work is part of the regeneration project for the lower limestone and will be complemented by a large scrape down to the natural limestone bed below the cliff and a network of ditches connected to the contour ditch to develop into reed fringe ditch, prime habitat for Bitterns to feed. 
The remainder of the work is expected to be completed by September 2017 where we will look to fund a continuation of the fence around this area.