There has been some interesting activity along the riversides around New Mills during October. The kingfisher has been seen pretty frequently, flashing past just above the river, but often flying quite high and sometimes perching remarkably high up in trees.    The dippers have also been behaving strangely: they have been fighting, forcing each other

New Mills is featured in the Three Counties Rail Ale Trail which links Cheshire, Derbyshire and Greater Manchester. The whole trail can be explored without needing a car and New Mills boasts three featured venues which sit between its Newtown and Central railway stations. The Trail starts at Disley before continuing through New Mills, Marple

So, now that the heat of August has passed, which really dwindled much of the visible and audible wildlife, September has had cooler and wetter conditions, which has brought the local wildlife back in abundance.  On morning walks you might have noticed lots of spider webs catching the light, stretched out between ferns or grasses,

July has been generally scorching hot, as shown by the awful moorland wildfires, some caused by barbecues and even fireworks and campfires… You really can’t believe how daft some people are. Thank you to the fire service who are non-stop in their efforts.   In terms of wildlife, the insects and butterflies have been abundant,

May to June has had some very hot weather and some very cold very wet weather, but thankfully the wildlife seems to have survived that.   Our nest box of blue-tits has successfully fledged, despite a black cat perching on top of the nest box trying to paw the hole.  There are plenty of ducklings and