Runcorn is the northern of Halton's two main towns, set on a sandstone bluff above the Mersey Estuary and the Manchester Ship Canal. The old town, around the medieval church and the Victorian streets below the bluff, retains a distinct character from the New Town estates that cover the hill above it — Beechwood, Murdishaw, Castlefields and Halton Lea — which were built from the mid-1960s to house Liverpool overspill. The Runcorn Gap, where the Silver Jubilee Bridge and the Runcorn railway bridge cross the Mersey, is one of the most dramatic river crossings in north-west England, and the estuary saltmarsh below the bridge is a significant bee-forage site from July through September.
Swarm collectors in Runcorn are called most often to the older sandstone and brick properties in the old town below the bluff, to the garden trees and fascia boards of the new-town estates on the hill, to the hawthorn hedgerows along the Mersey Valley paths, and to the riverside scrub and bramble below the Silver Jubilee Bridge. The chemical-works brownfield land on Astmoor and Weston Point attracts colonies from April.
Nearest BBKA-affiliated associations to help with swarm collection and local advice.
WA6 7QN· approx. 5 km
Visit websiteL25 7TE· approx. 10 km
Visit websiteCW8 2DN· approx. 15 km
Visit websiteAssociation data sourced from the British Beekeepers Association directory via SwarmBase.
The Mersey Estuary saltmarsh at Hale and the Weaver Navigation corridor carry sea aster, sea lavender and coastal meadow wildflowers through July and August — an uncommon estuarine forage source for the area. Oilseed rape is grown on the clay farmland around Halebank, Farnworth and the eastern edges of both towns, providing an April flow. Hawthorn hedgerows are dense along the Mersey Valley paths between the two towns and in the Daresbury and Moore corridor to the east. White clover fills the rough grassland of the Halton Lea area and the open ground around the new-town estates. Bramble is prolific on the railway embankments, the brownfield margins of the former chemical works, and the Spike Island reserve. Lime trees line the older streets of Widnes and the Victorian quarter of Runcorn, while ivy on the sandstone bluff faces and older brickwork closes the season in October.
More on beekeeping in HaltonReport it in under a minute and a trained local beekeeper will arrange safe collection.
