Ordnance Survey maps of the Cheshire region in the 1870s indicated nearly 42,000 ponds. A survey by the Pond Life Project (1995-99) examining aerial photographs (1992-1993 series), found 16,782 ponds, indicating over 60% had disappeared in the last 120 years. With its multiple ponds, streams and brooks, Aldersey Green is an important site for traditional Cheshire wildlife.

Growing public awareness of the issues facing the ecology of our countryside and increasing pressure on land use means that golf courses like Aldersey Green play a major role in providing much needed habitat and nesting sites.

This concern for the local environment reflects the growing awareness of the importance of golf courses to natural history. Dr. Tom Tew, a regional director of English Nature responsible for the Sites of Special Scientific Interest Programme, has observed that a change has taken place in the perception that courses are artificially manicured playgrounds for humans alone.

"The benefits that golf courses provide for wildlife are much more widely appreciated these days," he says, "and the golf course industry is certainly taking its environmental responsibilities more seriously.”