NORTHUMBERLAND WILDLIFE TRUST
Nearest Town: Ford village
OS Map: NT970375 (OS 50 000 Sheet 75)
This 71.6ha SAC and SSSI in a lowland raised peat bog with woodland to the south and colliery remains to the north and west.
Location and access: The site is 2.5km east of Ford village. To get there, turn south off the B6353, along a lane signposted ‘Kimmerston’ and park on the verge outside the entrance gate, taking care not to obstruct the gate. A permit is required to go on the bog itself, but there are bridleways at the northern and southern boundaries and there is a permissive path to the east.
A lowland raised peat bog held under licence from Ford and Etal Estates, who retain the sporting rights. The area also includes extensive woodland to the south, and the remains of Ford colliery to the north and west, with the old colliery chimney and engine house still standing. The peat bog occupies a large depression and is, in part, floating. The peat, over large areas of the Moss, is dominated by heather, cotton grass, hare’s tail and cross-leaved heath. There are locally occurring sphagnum carpets with sundew, cranberry and bog myrtle. The natural vegetation is threatened by a number of factors, including dramatic over-grazing and tree invasion from self-seeding birch trees, which are an ongoing management problem, However bog myrtle can still be found. Local mammals include red squirrels, roe deer, and foxes with bird interest in the form of curlew, red grouse, woodcock, and snipe and reptiles including adders and common lizards.