Discover local wildlife and nature trails

As well as building up a knowledge of my local area by actively looking I’m also looking at building up a knowledge of the local tracks, wildlife and key areas. It may be something that will come in useful at some point during and after an event.

So I searched the web for tracks, waterways, fauna, wildlife etc. in Cheshire. I found the following books which I am interested in. I have a couple of them already and the rest have gone on my wish list for when I have some spare money. I’ve also explained the reasoning behind each so you can see the way I am thinking.

• Waterside Walks in Cheshire – Canals for navigation, escape and hunting grounds
• Cheshire Ring – Map of the Cheshire waterways for Navigation
• Cheshire: Walks (Pathfinder Guides) – Keep off the roads while you travel
• All Terrain Pushchair Walks: Cheshire – Escape on foot with heavy loads and handcarts
• Mountain Bike Guide, North Midlands: Manchester, Cheshire and Staffordshire – Rapid escape and travel routes off the main roads
• Cheshire Airfields of the Second World War. – Plan for air evacuation, plan incoming picups and rendevous
• The Hidden Places of Lancashire and Cheshire – Potential emergency retreats and rendevous
• Exploring Woodland: The Northwest & The Lake District – Woodlands and locations of plants and trees
• The Mammals of Cheshire – Contains wildlife data and areas where they can be found for hunting
• Birds in Cheshire and Wirral: A Breeding and Wintering Atlas – Wildlife data for hunting
• Atlas of the Amphibians of Cheshire & Wirral – Fish and amphibian data for hunting

You should find similar books with knowledge of your local area and, if different, knowledge of the area around your retreat.

Now, I do not have all these books, and I might not buy them all as better ones may be out when I come to, but this is to give you an idea what I am looking at to build up my local knowledge. Remember, that I have good maps of my area already and have marked out the key areas on them from my previous surveys. Either add some reference data from these new sources or better yet get new maps and update with the wildlife and tracks data in the books. It will not be a waste actually going and have a look at some of the sites and walking the trails as well. Especially the escape and travel trails which could be potential lifesavers.