How it all began
WWT Martin Mere opened its doors to members in late 1974 and opened to general public on 1 March 1975. Over the last 40 years, we have welcomed over 5.5m visitors as well as over 300,000 school educational visits, but how did the journey of Martin Mere begin?
Sir Peter Scott and Ronnie Barker, a local haulage contractor, developed a close friendship in the 1950s and he knew of Peter’s passion for creating a large wild area alongside a collection of captive birds and an education centre in the North West. Ronnie knew that many Pink-footed geese and Bewick swans roosted in the Martin Mere area on land owned by the Slingers, owners of Windmill Animal Farm. In 1968 Ronnie introduced Peter Scott to Matt Slinger and Martin Mere’s incredible journey began. 363 acres were purchased for £52,000 in 1972. The land was derelict and used for intensive agriculture purposes. There wasn’t a tree on site and it took just three years to turn the site around to become a site of international importance, as seen when the Duke of Edinburgh visited in 1978.
