Деламерский лес: История и современность.

Delamere Forest is a large wood in the village of Delamere in Cheshire, England. The woodland, which is managed by Forestry England, covers an area of making it the largest area of woodland in the county. It contains a mixture of deciduous and evergreen trees. Delamere, which means "forest of the lakes", including walkers, cyclists, mountain bikers and horse riders. It is also an outdoor concert venue.

The twin medieval Forests of Mara and Mondrem were created within the county palatine of Cheshire by the Norman Earls of Chester in the late 11th century. However the area might have earlier been an Anglo Saxon hunting forest. Game was hunted with dogs and included wild boar, and red, fallow and roe deer. During the early Norman period, the penalties for killing game were blinding, mutilation or execution; although these punishments were gradually replaced by fines. The forest area also encompassed heath and wetland, as well as pasture, arable land and even small settlements. As large areas of Mondrem were slowly cleared of woodland, the northerly Forest of Mara remained wooded well into the 14th century. It retained a population of wild boar and wolves.

The remaining part of the southern part of the Forest of Mara remained classed as a hunting forest until 1812 when an Enclosure Act was passed disafforesting the remaining forest (that is, returning its legal status to ordinary land) and transferring ownership of the remnant half to the Crown and half to surrounding major landowners. In April 1821, the King's Bench determined that Delamere was one of four new parishes within the old Forest of Mara during a case about a pauper from Oakmere. The Forestry Commission, which was established in 1919, took over the management of Delamere Forest in 1924; the land was managed for timber production. Its management area occupies 16 percent of the former medieval forests. Since 1968, the Forestry Commission has worked with successive local authorities (now Cheshire West and Chester) to promote recreational usage of the area.

Blakemere Moss was drained in around 1815, supposedly by prisoners from the Napoleonic Wars. During the 19th century, it was unsuccessfully planted with oak, and later with Scots pine. The Forestry Commission planted the moss with pine and western hemlock during the 1940s, which proved uneconomic. In 1996 as part of a landscape planning exercise for Delamere Forest a hydrological survey was commissioned to look at the feasibility of clear felling the area that is now Blakemere Moss. Once the hydrological survey confirmed that it was possible to re water the site, clear felling took place in 1998 and the moss was allowed to re water by damming the drainage points. The restored moss now provides a habitat for a variety of wildlife, particularly waterfowl. Following the success of the project, it was announced in January 2010 that a further of drained fenland at four sites in the Delamere Forest area would be rewatered as part of Natural England's "Wetland Vision" scheme.

Delamere Forest forms part of the Mersey Forest, an initiative to increase woodland coverage in areas close to urban communities. Nearly all the Forestry Commission land is open access land under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. A few small additional areas contiguous with the Forestry Commission land are also wooded. The nearest town is Frodsham, to the north west; nearby settlements (anti clockwise from the south) include Delamere, Cuddington, Norley, Kingsley, Mouldsworth and Kelsall. The soils are very varied, including brown earths, podsols, peats and gleys. One valley adjacent to the railway line has eight different soil types within a small area, and hosts a soil trail. This part of Delamere Forest is undulating in character, with elevations predominantly in the range 60–90 metres. The basins form lakes and mosses (bogs) within the forest, the largest of which is Blakemere Moss, which originated in two glacial kettle holes and is now a lake around 1 km in length. Other sizeable wetlands include Black Lake, Dead Lake and Linmer Moss. The summit, Pale Heights, has a trig point and three transmitter masts which carry radio, television and telephone signals. There is a view point with views of twelve counties and metropolitan boroughs: Cheshire, Cumbria, Derbyshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, Shropshire and Staffordshire in England, and Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Powys and Wrexham in Wales. Dragonflies such as the southern hawker can be seen in the wetland areas; the nationally scarce white faced darter has been observed at several sites within the forest, including Black Lake. Linmer Moss is unusual within Delamere Forest in having a fen environment which is not dominated by Sphagnum species. The vegetation is predominantly tussock sedge and reedmace. Marsh fern and white sedge, which are rare in Cheshire, are found here; other species include cuckooflower, marsh bedstraw, marsh cinquefoil and Sphagnum squarrosum. The site has experienced rapid changes in water levels during its history, and contains the trunks of birch trees which died when the area flooded. It is now being colonised by alder and willow. Multiple other wetland SSSIs fall within the historical bounds of Delamere Forest, including Hatch Mere and Flaxmere Moss, which lie immediately outside the Forestry Commission boundary, as well as Abbotts Moss, Oak Mere and Pettypool Brook Valley. Little Budworth Common SSSI and the woodland around Abbotts Moss are considered to be among the closest modern representatives of the forest before human settlement in the area.

Delamere Forest is a popular recreational area, drawing visitors mainly from nearby urban areas. Britain's largest Go Ape facility opened in Delamere Forest in 2006; it includes numerous zip wires, Tarzan swings, tightropes and nets high in the treetops. Delamere Forest is the venue for the northern Hellrunner cross country race, and the Sandstone Trail Race finishes in the forest. A parkrun takes place weekly on Saturdays; the course is one loop of Blakemere Moss on the forest's trails. Since 2003, the Old Pale area of the forest has served as a music venue, playing host to performers including Ian Brown, The Charlatans, Jools Holland, Status Quo, Sugababes, Paul Weller, The Zutons, Tears for Fears, Doves and Elbow. The forest has also been used for open air theatre. The Linmere Visitor Centre has a covered picnic area, café, toilets (including disabled), and a cycle hire facility and shop. Picnic facilities are also found at numerous points within the forest including most parking areas, and refreshments are available at weekends at the Barnsbridge and Whitefield car parks during the peak season. A classroom and "learning garden" near the visitor centre can be hired for educational visits.