BACK TO PURPLE: conserving and restoring The Stiperstones

This project started in 1998, one of the first three of the Tomorrow's Heathland Heritage projects grant-aided by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

English Nature, Forest Enterprise and Shropshire Wildlife Trust have worked together to stitch back together the half-dozen fragments into which The Stiperstones had, since the 1950s, been divided by afforestation and agricultural 'improvement'.

Why Back to purple? 'Back to' because the former state authenticated the intended future one. But this is not simply an exercise in turning the clock back, because The Stiperstones, now being rescued from the degradations of recent decades, is already a greatly enhanced asset for wildlife, the landscape, local people and visitors, and for the local economy. 'Purple' because this is the colour of heather when flowering en masse in August, but also because it is the colour of the fruit of the whinberry (the local name for bilberry, a fruit once gathered in huge quantities for the dyeing trade), and these two plants are the key components of the upland heathland habitat we are seeking to restore.

To date four conifer plantations totalling more than 90ha have been felled, and are, for the most part, being re-created as heathland. Forest Enterprise was initially the prime mover, sacrificing two of its plantations. More recently, with encouragement from Defra's Rural Development Service, a private woodland owner has become an enthusiastic supporter, leading to the felling of 30ha of conifers. And, with grants from a private trust and the Countryside Agency, Shropshire Wildlife Trust has acquired a new nature

reserve (their second acquisition through Back to purple) at Nipstone. Alongside this heathland re-creation, more than 100ha of heathland have been restored through the control of trees and bracken and the reversal of over-grazing. In a move towards more sustainable management, English Nature acquired a flock of Hebridean sheep to graze areas of re-created heathland.

Back to purple has included many other elements, notably a 500m 'All-ability Trail' (achieved with help from additional funding through Landfill Tax Credits, courtesy of Tarmac, and the Capital Modernisation Fund), a 'Wild Day Out' to celebrate the Millennium, hundreds of volunteer days, numerous talks and walks, as well as articles, displays and interpretation. And the re-created heathland has been made more accessible through the Stiperstones Shuttle, one of the Shropshire Hills Shuttle Bus Services, which, with grant aid from the Countryside Agency, Defra, English Nature, the National Trust and Shropshire County Council, has, since 2002, provided a 'green' transport link to this somewhat remote location.