Chartley Moss National Nature Reserve

LOCATION

DROINTON, STAFFORDSHIRE

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Our View

Chartley Moss NNR is thought to be the largest example of a floating or quaking peat bog (or schwingmoor in German) to be found anywhere in Britain. The sphagnum moss ‘lawn’ of the reserve supports some very important botanical communities especially adapted to grow in this unusually rare and hostile environment. These plants, such as sundew and bog rosemary, in turn support a large number of wetland invertebrates, including the rare white-faced darter dragonfly,which is found here at the most southerly point of its range. The Chartley Moss NNR offers this insect one of its best habitats anywhere in the UK. There are also records from Chartley Moss of small pearl-bordered fritillary, purple hairstreak and dingy and grizzled skipper butterflies.

Chartley Moss National Nature Reserve
DROINTON

Features

About the area

Discover Staffordshire

It was Staffordshire that bore the brunt of the largest non-nuclear explosion of World War II, when a munitions dump at RAF Fauld went up in 1944. It was also the county’s regiment that once boasted within its ranks the most decorated NCO of World War I, in the person of William Coltman (1891-1974). Going back a little further, George Handel penned his world-famous masterpiece The Messiah on Staffordshire soil. During another chapter of Staffordshire history, the county was home to the first canals and the first factory in Britain, and it had front-row seats for the drama surrounding one of the most notorious murder trials of the 19th century, that of Doctor William Palmer.

In outline, Staffordshire looks not unlike the profile of a man giving Leicestershire a big kiss. The man’s forehead is arguably the best region for hillwalking, as it comprises a significant chunk of the Peak District. This area is characterised by lofty moors, deep dales and tremendous views of both. Further south are the six sprawling towns that make up Stoke-on-Trent, which historically have had such an impact on Staffordshire’s fortunes, not to mention its culture and countryside. This is pottery country, formerly at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution and the driving force behind a network of canals that still criss-cross the county.

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