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FARMING
At the height of activity, the population of the Goyt Valley supported about 15 farms, mainly stocked with sheep but also some herds of Shorthorn cattle. The Derbyshire Gritstone sheep, one of the oldest native breeds, was commonly known as the Dale o’Goyt in the past - indicating that it may well have originated in this part of the Peak District.
Sheep farming is still the most common form of agriculture in the valley, although enclosed farmland now occupies only the lower land around Fernilee Reservoir. The hardy hill sheep graze the large areas of moorland throughout the valley in all weathers and contribute to the shaping of the moorland landscape.
RESERVOIRS
An increased demand for drinking water in the early 20th century led Stockport Corporation Waterworks to acquire Goyt Valley for the building of two reservoirs. by 1930 the farms and houses were empty and demolished in order to provide an uncontaminated water catchment area.
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Fernilee Reservoir
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North West Water now own much of the Valley and surrounding moorland, which is the water catchment area for the two reservoirs. These two reservoirs supply an average of 7-8 million gallons of water a day, some direct to Whaley Bridge and the rest to the Stockport region. A fly fishing club and sailing club use Errwood Reservoir; the sailing club have a permanent clubhouse on the eastern shoreline.
Common sandpipers and other birds breed along the reservoir banks - take care no to disturb them. The noisy canada geese and mallard are the most common resident summer waterfowl.
MOORLAND
Moorland rings three sides of the valley and its familiar heather and grassland vegetation has been formed through human influence over hundreds - even thousands of years. Heather, cotton grass, crowberry and bilberry are common plants of the moorland.
Heather is dominant in the better drained areas of moorland. There are also areas of bracken, particularly in the cloughs.
Blanket bog can be found on the higher and flatter areas of the moor, which are much wetter. Here the vegetation is dominated by cotton grass with some bilberry crowberry and big moss.
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Mountain hare
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Human influence is still shaping the moorland of the Goyt Valley. Sheep graze the moors and maintain the shrubby vegetation. Heather is burned in rotation to encourage new growth which provides food for both sheep and red grouse.
WOODLAND
Much of the woodland in the Goyt Valley has been planted relatively recently and is managed by Forest Enterprise. There are however some areas of older relict woodland in some of the valleys or cloughs where native species, such as oak and birch, are mixed with those introduced into Britain over the centuries.
Around Errwood Hall the native sessile oak and scots pine are found alongside the sweet chestnut introduced by the Romans and the European larch brought over from the Alps in the 17th century.
Subsequent planting by the Grimshawe family included the rhododendrons which are such a feature of the present landscape and a management problem to keep in check.
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Timber harvesting
(Courtesy North West Water) |
The mixed woodlands are rich in bird life and resident birds are owls, woodpeckers, goldcrest, nuthatch, tree creeper, jay and finches. Summer visitors include tree pipit, redstart, warblers and flycatchers.
Most woodland mammals are nocturnal, such as fox, badger, hedgehog and log-tailed fieldmouse. Grey squirrels and rabbits can be seen during the day, often around picnic sites. You may even glimpse Britain’s largest mammal the red deer.
ESA (ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE AREA)
The Goyt Valley lies within the newly designated South West Peak ESA. This designation, introduced to help safeguard areas of national importance, encourages land managers to enhance conservation values.
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