Browse through our blog posts to find out what life is like at Hoe Grange Holidays along with some great ideas for days out in the Peak District.
We are excited to be supporting Derbyshire Wildlife who have a Butterfly Open Day at Hoe Grange Quarry this weekend. The disused limestone quarry is owned by Longcliffe Quarries and is now a nature reserve for butterflies and wildlife. Why not walk across the fields to find out more about these amazing insects? The Open Day runs from 11am to 4pm on Sunday 16th June.
Butterflies conjure up images of sunshine, warmth, and meadows full of colourful wildflowers teaming with life. However butterflies are fragile which makes them quick to react to change so their struggle to survive is a serious warning about our environment.
Having a butterfly reserve next door to us at Hoe Grange Holidays is wonderful news and we have certainly seen an increase in the number of butterflies around our farm and gardens.
The quarry is 4.75 hectares and has not been worked since the 1970s so a wonderfully diverse mix of habitats has developed, which are ideal for insects, butterflies and moths. It lies over the other side of the High Peak Trail near the sign for Hoe Grange Cutting and is just a short walk from our log cabins.
The quarry has areas of bare ground which provide the perfect place for insects to sunbathe, surrounded by beautiful flower rich short limestone grassland. The edges of the quarry are covered in taller grasses and woodland, and there is also a disused dew pond under restoration.
The environment at Hoe Grange Quarry is so rich in food for the insects that a total of 26 different species of butterfly have been recorded. The site is now managed by Derbyshire Wildlife in conjunction with the Butterfly Conservation Trust, whose volunteers have been walking a weekly transect of the quarry and recording their findings.
Amongst the butterflies are some BAP species (Biodiversity Action Plan) which are conservation priorities because of their rarity and rate of decline, including the Dingy Skipper, the Wall Brown, and Small Heath.
It’s also fantastic to see that there are some local species including Dark Green Fritillary and the Peak District version of Brown Argus. The most prevalent is a large colony of Common Blues due to its food plant, Bird's-foot-trefoil, colonising the entire quarry floor when the site was abandoned to wildlife in the 1970's.
We hope you have enjoyed our fascinating facts about butterflies. Here at Hoe Grange Holidays we encourage the butterflies and bees by growing flowers in the gardens - it's a win, win - butterflies thrive on the nectar before the flowers are cut, then our holiday guests can enjoy the vibrant scented blooms in their log cabins!
Why not make space in your garden for butterflies and bees by planting flowers to create a pollinators paradise?
Felicity