In September 2020, we completed our major restoration of the Western areas of Hermitage Quarry. This two-year project has seen a 20-acre area returned mostly to lush agricultural land, with traditional hedgerows and a coppice woodland of native hardwood species including oak, cherry, field maple and silver. These are already encouraging an abundance of wildlife such as kestrels and deer.
We’ve also created a lagoon with a Kentish Ragstone rock feature and weeping willow tree at its centre. The lagoon is stocked with grass carp, and is now home to a family of swans, as well as coots, moorhens and ducks. As an industry, quarrying doesn’t always get great press, so this project was a fantastic opportunity to make a positive contribution to our local environment.
“Our mission is to borrow the mineral and restore the landscape to a condition better than it was when we started.” Pat Gallagher
In our efforts to restore the landscape we have:
- Planted 500,000 trees, hedging, shrubs and plants.
- Planted over 10,000m of hedging to screen and limit the impact of our activities on our neighbours.
- Planted over 50,000 standard mature trees and whips.
- Restored 87 acres to agricultural pasture land.
- Restored over 20 acres to native woodland with an additional 100 acres in progress.
- Transformed 46 acres of meadowland for the sole use of habitat creation.
- Preserved and translocated over 200,000m2 of ancient woodland soil.
Our restoration programme not only brings with it environmental benefits but during lockdown, hundreds of local people used our woodland walks for their permitted daily exercise.
Our restoration work will continue to restore the land for the benefit of us all, and the generations that follow.
