Danes Moss

A cut-over, lowland, raised mire SSSI, surrounded by a woodland fringe. Characteristic bog plants include sphagnum mosses, cotton grass and cross-leaved heath. 11 species of dragonfly and damselfly have been recorded on the reserve along with the green hairstreak butterfly.

Location
The Moss lies to the south of Macclesfield, between the A536 and the Macclesfield - Kidsgrove railway line. The Trust nature reserve lies to the south of the footpath which runs roughly east-west across the southern end of the area (O.S. Grid Ref.: SJ907704).

Access
Leave Macclesfield via the A536 (Macclesfield-Congleton road). In Gawsworth Warren turn left at the crossroads, bearing left after 200 metres. Conitinue for approximately 0.9 miles (1.5km) where a footpath leaves the road on the left hand side, just before a sharp bend. Cars should be left at the side of the road. Proceed on foot along the public footpath. After 300 metres turn right, walk along the track until the reserve is reached. The footpath marks the northern boundary of the reserve. The reserve is open to all; for reasons of safety please keep to the public footpath.

Status
23.3 acres (10.24 ha) of the nature reserve (mostly open peat moss) is owned freehold by Cheshire Wildlife Trust, being donated by Fisons Horticulture Ltd in 1971. A further 7.8 acres (3.12 ha) is managed by agreement from Cheshire County Council's Estates and Valuation Department.

Topography
Danes Moss is classified as a 'raised peat moss' which if not modified by peat cutting, would have a gently domed cross-section. The Moss sits in an irregular saucer-shaped basin, which is likely at one time to have contained a shallow lake. Currently the Moss surface is roughly level, rising in the south-west corner. The Moss is now dissected by deep drainage ditches and access tracks.
In order to re-activate the peat surface, we have raised the water level in the eastern part of the reserve. This has formed an area of open water.

Vegetation
Four major vegetation zones may be distinguished in the nature reserve. The largest area (covering about 10 acres (4 ha)) was formerly covered by purple moor grass with invading birch and willow. This area is now flooded, the vegetation being replaced by Sphagnum spp.
Most of Moss Wood consists of Corsican pine Pinus contorta with purple moor grass ground cover. Substantial strands of bracken, pedunculate oak Quercus robur, and sessile oak Quercus petraea woodland also exist. The wetter drainage channels and flooded area are dominated by Sphagnum cuspidatum and Drepanocladus fluitans.
Other species recorded from the reserve include cross-leaved heath Erica tetralix, ling Calluna vulgaris, bilberry Vaccinium myrtillus, cotton grass Eriophorum vaginatum and Eriophorum angustifolium.
Some species which formerly grew here, before drainage and peat cutting made them extinct, have been reintroduced from elsewhere in the county.
The site supports at least six species of sphagnum moss, a few of which are important precursors to bog development as they degrade over time to form peat, thereby creating bog habitat.

Fauna
Most of the small mammals have been observed on the Moss, together with badger, brown hare and grey squirrel. At least 75 species of bird have been recorded in the area. Nationally notable species, including green woodpecker, willow warbler, reed bunting and bullfinch are known to breed here. The open water area attracts wildfowl during winter and early spring.

Eleven species of dragonfly and damselfly have been recorded, many of which are rare in Cheshire, including the black darter, which is Britain’s smallest dragonfly. The black darters habitat requirements are very specific requiring nutrient poor acidic pools in boggy waters with associated sphagnum cover along with the green hairstreak butterfly.

At least 19 species of butterfly occupy this site including the green hairstreak, which has declined across the Cheshire Plain. Bilberry is one of its favoured food plants a plant, which grows in profusion on Danes Moss. Over thirty species of moth have been recorded, one of which is a county rarity, the ‘Clay’.

The site supports a small population of common lizards, which are protected under Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981).

Management Objectives

Cheshire Wildlife Trusts main objectives at Danes Moss are to return the site to its original state. This is a slow and careful process that could take several hundred years.

Sheets of recycled plastic piling have been driven into the moss to act as sluices and bunds to retain water and direct it to where it is most needed.

The retention of water encourages the growth of sphagnum mosses, which will degrade over time thus creating bog habitat and forming peat.

The removal of invasive succession species such as silver birch and controlling re-growth is another important aspect of the plan. These woody plants remove valuable moisture from the moss through transpiration and can in the long-term change the chemical make up of the soil through the decay of leaf litter and affect the whole structure of the site.