The Cheshire Region is a low-lying plain between the Pennines and the Welsh Highlands, its western and northern borders stretching to the Irish Sea. The Mid-Cheshireridge divides the county into an eastern and western plain. 10,000 years ago the landscape was covered by ice sheets, these ice sheets retreated northwards leaving expanses of clay and sand. After the glaciers retreated, vegetation became established and was colonized by mosses and liverworts on the mineral-rich surface. This vegetation was followed by a variety of grasses, grasses and sedges. By 3000 BC climatic conditions improved and the soil became rich in nutrients and an entire deciduous forest covered the landscape with oaks, elms, alders and limes. During this Neolithic period there is little evidence to suggest human intrusion into this area as man was predominantly a hunter. At Lindow Moss, an area in Cheshire which is an SSSI, there are radiocarbon records dating back to 3,000 BC, of ​​human activity disturbing this landscape, this was located as late as 450 BC, where in Lindow moss wheat pollen and barley is associated with significant forest clearing. In addition to human interference, climate change has also contributed to the development of the country's extensive peatlands during cool, wet periods. Much of the colonization of open moors and low-lying peat bogs occurred in the Iron Age, when earlier forests in these locations were overrun by water-holding mosses. Substantial erosion in this period, attributed to both deforestation and heavy rainfall. Woodland reduction continued throughout the Roman period into 45 BC Agriculturally, Cheshire is now primarily a dairy farm, a... medium of paper... purchased in 1934 by public subscription in memory of TA Coward for his contribution to the natural environment. science. At the time of purchase the area was threatened by timber extraction. Currently the clough has undergone few changes from its natural state. There is lots of native fauna and flora including wild wild garlic Allium ursinum, dog mercury bluebells and yellow archangel. On the valley floor the flora is dense with kingcup Caltha palustris, pendulous sedge Carex pundula and other species that reflect the high nutrient content of the soil. Alongside Cotterill Clough there are numerous marl pits which are natural unprotected breeding areas for the endangered great crested newt, they must be deeper than 30cm. These ponds are at risk of pollution as they are relatively closed biosystems and the pollution is likely to be long lasting.