Derbyshire Wildlife Trust - History

History

The Trust originated in 1962 as Derbyshire Naturalists' Trust. In the early 1960s a group of concerned people gathered together to oppose plans to tip fly ash at Ticknall Limeyards in South Derbyshire. Backed by national pressure, they were successful and decided to form a local charitable organisation to handle such issues. Derbyshire Naturalists' Trust was officially launched.

By 1967, the Trust had established two nature reserves, one of them at Ticknall Limeyards itself. The other, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) at Morley Brickyards, was leased to the Trust by its owner and is still being managed as a nature reserve. The Trust also acquired Overdale, the first nature reserve that it owned outright. The 15 hectares (37 acres) of upland pasture were donated by Portland Cement to mark European Conservation Year. A bequest allowed the Trust to appoint its first member of staff in 1973.

As the Trust grew it was able to campaign more effectively and in 1984 hit the national headlines when it won a private prosecution against five men caught badger digging. After rebranding to become Derbyshire Wildlife Trust in 1986, the organisation became the focus of attention again the following year when it launched an appeal to raise £200,000 to renovate the old railway station buildings at Matlock Bath and create the Whistlestop Countryside Centre, an education facility in the old railway station buildings at Matlock Bath. Later in the decade a major Heritage Lottery Fund award enabled the Trust to develop more nature reserves work and set up a Midweek Volunteer Team.

In 2007 the Avenue Washlands Nature Reserve near Chesterfield was opened and won first place in the Conservation category for Restoration Sites in the British Trust for Ornithology’s Business Bird Challenge. In the same year, a Lottery grant allowed the trust to extend its educational programme with Grounds for a Change, transforming Derbyshire school grounds into wildlife havens and outdoor learning spaces. It also took over management of Drakelow Nature Reserve in the south of the county, an important wetland site playing host to over 200 species of birds.

In recent years the Trust has launched and developed a variety of projects aimed at protecting and raising awareness of vulnerable species and habitats. More recent projects have included Derby Cathedral’s Peregrines Project, Great Trees of Derbyshire and Saving the Great Trees of Derbyshire, projects which have raised awareness of the importance of ancient trees, and Water for Wildlife which has helped to restore wetland habitats.