Farming returns to the meadows

FARMING has returned to Warrington’s Paddington Meadows – in the form of a herd of 25 native-breed Longhorn and Dexter cattle.
Cheshire Wildlife Trust (CWT) has introduced the cattle – along with a challenge to local residents to act as volunteer “stock watchers.”
Training sessions were given and the volunteers to picked up some simple techniques for cattle management.
Each of the Longhorns has an individual identification number and the volunteers have been asked to keep a record of, for example, the condition of the cattle during their visits.
Cllr Geoff Settle said: “Most of the people volunteering regularly use the footpaths so combining the two activities is an easy thing to do.”
Poulton-with-Fearnhead parish council chairman Ian Johnson said: ‘It’s great to see the Cheshire Wildlife Trust bringing farming back to Paddington Meadows.
“ We also have an Ecology Park only half a mile away. There is a great deal of history along this stretch of footpaths and the New Cut Canal.
“ Along with Woolston Parish Council and borough councillors we have started a project to bring the area’s heritage to life for the community.
“One key character will be ‘Old Billy who was bred at a farm in Woolston in 1760. He spent nearly all of his life as a ‘gin horse’ towing boats on the river Irwell, as well as one the New Cut Canal. In 1819 he retired to a farm in Latchford where he died on November 27, 1822, at the grand old age of 62. There is so much history yet to discover and the New Cut Heritage Trail Group. would like to hear from anyone with tales to tell.’