AN APPEAL to raise £3.5 million to buy a large part of the historic Smithills estate has been launched.

Conservation charity the Woodland Trust needs to find the cash over the next two years and at least another £5 million over the next 20 years to restore and revitalise the 1,700 acre estate.

The Trust wants to protect wildlife, plant trees and work with the community to make sure the beautiful estate does not fall into disrepair in the future.

Mark Gordon, Smithills project lead for the Woodland Trust, said: “Smithills estate is an exciting opportunity for the Woodland Trust to turn around a declining upland estate. We are excited to work with tenants and the public to create and restore a landscape with vibrant wildlife habitats that can be enjoyed by people and remain a source of local pride.

“With the right investment, the right management and careful, long term planning for the site’s future, Smithills will stand proud as an example of how all our uplands can be saved, transformed and preserved, long into the future.”

The Smithills estate, which has strong links to Bolton's industrial past, consists of wooded cloughs, grassland, moorland and bog habitats, which were once teeming with many species of wildlife.

Now though, Smithills is in decline and at threat from neglect and under investment.

The site has traditionally been exploited for coal, quarrying and water, providing the area with a rich industrial heritage.

It is also a site with a proud history — in 1896, more than 30 years before the Kinder Scout mass trespass, 10,000 people took to the Smithills moors to demand their right to access the estate.

Liberal Democrat leader, Cllr Roger Hayes, for Smithills, said: "I welcome the Woodland Trust's takeover of the estate — they are a charity with excellent aims and objectives and I'm sure they will do a good job of restoring it.

"The estate has a lot of history — the cottage where I live used to be part of it. It's an amazing place in this town and I think there's every chance its restoration will improve tourism and bring more people to Smithills."

The Woodland Trust will hold a number of public consultation events and will work closely with local community groups as part of the project.

The Trust has promised that it will carry out restoration in the appropriate places, rather than simply carry out "wall-to-wall planting".

To find out more about the project, or to raise funds towards The Woodland's Trust's purchase of the Smithills estate, visit www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/smithills