Quarry Restoration
Progressive restoration of quarried land reduces the amount of
land under extraction at any one time and the industry plants some
thousands of indigenous trees and shrubs every year.
Some of the restoration work by the UK cement industry over
recent years:
spectacular for wildlife and people
The College Lake Wildlife Centre
in the Chilterns has been created from one of three chalk quarries
that supplied Castle Cement's former Pitstone cement works near
Tring. The 200-acre reserve is the result of a partnership between
the company and the Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust and owes
much to the dedication of former lorry driver Graham Atkins, who
has received the MBE for services to nature conservation. College
Lake attracts some 7,000 visitors every year and is described by
BBOWT as a truly spectacular place for both people and
wildlife.
from quarry to shopping mecca
A former Lafarge Cement
quarry in north Kent is now home to Bluewater, the largest shopping
centre in Europe. In its 64 years of operational life, the quarry
supplied around 80 million tonnes of chalk for cement manufacture.
The quarry closed in 1994 and development of Bluewater began in
1995. Costing £650 million, the centre opened in 1999 and the site
now provides employment for more than 7,000 people. Over 25 million
shoppers are expected to visit Bluewater's 320 stores every
year.
a living classroom
Children at Chatburn
school in Lancashire have a new interest in nature as a result of
the creation of a living classroom on a former Castle Cement quarry
area. Quarry staff worked closely with the Lancashire Wildlife
Trust to clear undergrowth, create a nature trail and establish a
pond in an area that has been dedicated to the school. Educational
resource material was developed and the area even has its own
wildlife website. The area has been equipped with seating areas and
interpretation boards and adjoins a quarry viewing point.
harmony in the Peak District
Lafarge's Hope cement works
operates at the heart of one of Britain's most beautiful areas the
Peak District National Park. Its quarries have been progressively
landscaped to create harmony between the works and its
surroundings, building on a plan first devised by Sir Geoffrey
Jellicoe in 1943. Initially some 2.5 million tonnes of stone was
re-contoured to conceal the quarry entrance and to create a feature
known as Jellicoe Brow. Some 75,000 trees have been planted in
stages over a 35-year period. Meanwhile, worked-out clay pits have
been restored as fishing lakes and a golf course.