> Surface area: 918 sq km
> Population: 65,780 inhabitants
> Population density: 71.7 per sq km
THE NORTHERN MARCHES – ENGLAND LOCAL ACTION GROUP operates over an area of south west Cheshire and north Shropshire. It contains many small towns and villages, and is surrounded by a ring of much larger cities and towns. The most important is the City of Chester to the north, others being Nantwich, Market Drayton, Shrewsbury, Oswestry and Wrexham.
The programme area lies within the Cheshire and Shropshire Plains, and contains the ‘Meres and Mosses’ Natural Area of wetlands (as defined by English Nature). The landscape is mostly flat, lush and pastoral, but also has within it the distinctive ‘Sandstone Ridge’ of Cheshire.
As well as the major rivers which border the area – the River Severn to the south and the River Dee to the west – the area is crossed by the Llangollen and Shropshire Union Canals, which have in the past been important in the economic development of the area, and which now form an important attraction for tourists.
Dairying is the most significant single type of agriculture, with a long tradition of cheesemaking. The still hosts one of the main exhibitions for cheesemakers in England, at the annual Nantwich and South Cheshire Agricultural Show (www.nantwichshow.co.uk)
If you would more general information about the area, please visit www.shropshiretourism.info/north-shropshire/ and www.visitchester.com
If you would like to know more about the Meres and Mosses, please visit www.english-nature.org.uk/about/teams/team_photo/Mosses04.pdf
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