Forthcoming Events 2025-2026
Water Quality Testing:
Takes place at the beginning of each month. Dates tba
Cecilly Brook Litter Pick Dates:
These are on the 3rd Sunday of the month for 1 hour duration.
Meeting on S Moorlands Leisure Centre main car park off Ashbourne Rd.(10am)

Other Events: (Meet on S. Moorlands Leisure Centre car park off Ashbourne Rd at 10am unless otherwise stated)

October

Mopping up balsam that has recently flowered Wednesday 15^th

Riverfly survey Thursday 23^rd

Cleaning up round new bench Thursday 30^th

November

Path Edging Thursday 13^th & Thursday 20^th

Leaf Blowing & path Edging Thursday 27^th

December

Bramble Control Thursday 11^th

January 2026

Nest box clearance Wednesday 7^th

Hedge Laying tbc

Next Meeting at Thorley Drive Pavilion

Thursday evening 15^th January @7.30pm tbc

Social at Hales Hall Grosvenor restaurant

Friday 16^th January 11am (numbers attending will be required nearer to the day)

Friends of Cecilly Brook & Hales Hall Pool are hosting a mini-series of free wildlife talks in October and November 2025 & March 2026 supported by Staffordshire Moorlands District Council Community Climate Change & Nature Action Fund.

Thursday 30^th October 2025 7.30pm at Thorley Drive Sports Pavilion

‘The Transition from SMDC Sites to Wildlife Trust Reserves’

Staffordshire Wildlife Trust Senior Reserve Manager Mark Preece will talk about how Staffordshire Wildlife Trust took over the management of the Staffordshire Moorlands sites from the Council and what this means for the future.

Friday 14^th November 2025 7.30pm in the Oakley Room at the Cheadle Guild Hall.

‘Have Yourself A Wild Christmas.’

This fascinating and light-hearted talk by Kevin Reynolds, a well-known local speaker, is a look at the part animals, plants and the environment play in our Christmas festivities. Why holly, ivy and mistletoe? Why turkeys and robins? Why does Rudolph have a red nose? Join us to find the answers.

Monday 2^nd March 2026 7.30pm in the Oakley Room at the Cheadle Guild Hall.

‘Love and War – How we created Our Garden Birds.’

Also by Kevin Reynolds, this is an illustrated, historical journey looking at how our relationship evolved with the wild birds we now call ‘garden birds’. How did we go from persecuting, killing and eating them to caring about them and encouraging them to live and breed around us?

Thursday 19^th March 2026 7.30pm in the Oakley Room at the Cheadle Guild Hall.

‘All about hedgehogs’

Jody from Baddeley Green Hedgehog Rescue Centre will be giving a talk all about the nation’s favourite mammal the hedgehog. Hedgehogs are listed as vulnerable to extinction particularly in rural areas, so find out all about them and how you can help make a difference.

Bat and Moth Evening Adventure organised by
Friends of Cecilly Brook and Hales Hall Pool
Friday 22nd August 2025 at 8pm
Cecilly Brook, off Ashbourne Road, Cheadle
Join us for an evening walk to explore Cecilly Brook Nature Reserve at dusk.
Listen to bats with our bat detectors.
Take a closer look at moths from our trap.
Please bring a torch and wear appropriate clothing.

Join Staffordshire Wildlife Trust for a BioBlitz at Cecilly Brook Local Nature Reserve on Thursday 24th April 2025 between 10am and 3pm. Drop in to bug hunt, bird watch or examine plants and trees to find and record as much wildlife as we can.
This event is free for Moorlands residents thanks to funding from the National Lottery Community Fund. Suitable for all ages (children must be supervised by parent/guardian). Please wear suitable clothing for the weather and sturdy footwear.
Look out for the SWT shelter.
For more information go to staffs-wildlife.org.uk

Another successful Bat & Moth Evening for 2024 despite the stormy conditions of the night before. 30 adults & 5 children attended from a wide area which included Uttoxeter, Marchington & Stafford as well as more locally from Cheadle.

Moth trapping the previous night meant we had some live specimens to look at. There followed a short talk about moths & our light trap was set up which attracted more moths on the night.

Mark from SWT then gave a short talk on bats before issuing bat detectors & leading an evening walk along the Brook path towards Mill Rd footbridge listening in to Pipestrelle bats foraging among the trees & along the Brook.

Lots of positive comments were received. Everyone seemed to really enjoy the evening. Thanks to all the volunteers who turned out to help & support.

We continue to monitor water quality once a month at Cecilly Brook. The results generally show that the brook has a good or very good ecological status. Phosphate levels are always low, but nitrate levels vary recording higher levels in certain months especially after heavy rain.

Over the last year 43 bags of litter have been removed from and around Cecilly Brook, mainly plastic in the form of drinks bottles and snack packaging, glass bottles and cans. We have also removed larger items from the brook itself including shopping trolleys, bicycle wheels, metal poles and a children’s scooter.

Cubs from 2nd Cheadle Scout Group presented one of the bat boxes they had made to Friends of Cecilly Brook for putting up on the reserve, when they attended the very successful Bat and Moth Evening Adventure in August. 50 people attended the evening, both adults and children. We were able to show them different species of moths that had been caught in the light trap and we listened to Pipistrelle bats’ echo locations on our walk along the brook.