In June 2021, part of the old hide was damaged and when we looked at repairing it, we quickly came to the conclusion that the hide had reached the end of its useful life and we decided to demolish and replace it. The old hide was more than 25 years old, so had lasted well!
The old hide was at the bottom of the steps which would have led down from Marbury Hall to the Mere.
When it had been removed some visitors asked whether the historic view of the Mere could be retained. so we developed a plan to construct the new hide further to one side of the steps.
Moving the hide further to one side of the steps would make replacement more expensive and would involve far more groundworks, but had potential to retain the historic view, whilst meeting the requirements of the birdwatching community. Greg Baker consulted with them and collected their views to feed into the project design.
Various bids were submitted during September/October 2021. Funding was received from Inovyn(through the Landfill Communities Fund), Anderton Concrete (now part of the Ibstock Group) and Marbury Ward Councillors. Together with a contribution from FoAM, the £13,000 necessary to start the project was secured.
Construction of the hide itself was delayed by removal of an unsafe tree and another which blew over in November 21 during the Arwen gales. As a result, the groundworks were not completed until March 2022. The national shortage of timber and other materials post Covid delayed purchase of materials..
On Thursday, 12th January 2023, we were delighted to welcome the Leader of Cheshire West and Chester Council, Cllr Louise Gittins, on a visit to Marbury, when she formally opened the new Bird Hide.
All the volunteers at the opening were involved with the project in some way and it is a great example of a community project of which everyone can be proud.
