As many of you are aware there was a fire on Thursday night (23rd April 2026) along the boundary fence/dry hedge between the land owned by Weaverham Trust and the Owley Wood causing damage to a length of about 30m.
The fence was erected shortly after the Weaverham Trust purchased the land in 2012.
This site is privately owned by Weaverham Trust. The Owley Wood itself being owned by Cheshire Wildlife Trust. The fence was NOT erected by the Weaverham Trust as it is NOT on our property but it was erected by Cheshire Wildlife Trust – a completely separate organisation.
The Bottom Pitch Meadow site is maintained by a group of volunteers on a regular basis and you can imagine how they feel about this act of pure vandalism.
The Weaverham Trust get no financial support from any Statutory Bodies (ie CW&C, Parish Council etc) and have to finance all work from donations and fund raising. The cost of any repairs will but a big hole in our reserves.
The Trust do allow public access and use of the open area and are insured accordingly, but the footway through the site is not a Right of Way and is not designated as a Public Footpath.
If any one know or has any information about vandalism can they please report it to the Police.
How the Weaverham Trust Acquired Bottom Pitch
On 23 August 2012, on a piece of land adjacent to Owley Wood, a “For Sale by Auction” sign was erected,causing a great deal of concern, as it was generally understood this land was already owned by the village.The Trust was approached by concerned villagers and an emergency meeting was arranged involving numerous parties in order to see who could help. The auction was being held on 6th September so the Trust had a matter of a few days to find support and come up with a potential solution in time.
With the support of the CWAC Councillors, who pledged £2,500 from their Members Budgets, £5,000 from The Weaverham Trust and a loan from a generous village resident, the Trust managed to raise over £16,000 in total and was successful in acquiring the land at the auction. If this had failed the land would inevitably been acquired by a property developer. As a result, Weaverham Trust has ensured that the land that is known as Bottom Pitch Meadow will remain available for the use and enjoyment of both Weaverham residents and visitors in perpetuity.It is believed that Bottom Pitch Meadow is the first Public park opened in Cheshire since 1918.