Fenn's, Whixall and Bettisfield Mosses NNR

Fenn's, Whixall and Bettisfield Mosses National Nature Reserve is a National Nature Reserve managed by Natural England, which straddles the border between England and Wales, near Whixall and Ellesmere in Shropshire, England. It comprises three peat bogs, Bettisfield Moss, Fenn's Moss and Whixall Moss. The Llangollen Canal runs near the southern edge of the reserve and the Ellesmere Canal joins it nearby.

The reserve is part of the Midland Meres and Mosses which was declared a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention in 1997. It is also a European Special Area of Conservation and a Wetland of International Importance.

The area is an extremely rare survivor – most mosses in the UK have been drained for agriculture, forested or become commercial peat digging areas at some stage. Commercial peat cutting ceased here altogether in 1991 and restoration work, as far as this is possible, has been carried out since then.

Wildlife in the nature reserve includes kingfisher, mute swans, water voles, dragonfly and damselfly species such as the white-faced darter, various reeds of duck, and even the rare bird of prey the hobby. Plants include cotton sedge, bog moss and sphagnum, great hairy willowherb, water figwort, flag iris, cross-leaved heath, bog rosemary, cranberry and sundew; alder trees and willow predominate.

In 2001 a partnership between English Nature (succeeded by Natural England), the Countryside Council for Wales and British Waterways developed circular waymarked trails through some areas of Fenn's and Whixall Mosses.

www.naturalengland.org.uk