Hoe Grange Quarry

We have carried out this essential work to ensure the site is safe for visitors. After a rockfall at the beginning of 2026, unstable rock faces were identified across the site, and we consulted with external geotechnical experts.  On their advice we closed the site and went ahead with the agreed work to install ‘bunds’ (mounds of soil) to contain any future rockfall and form a physical barrier to discourage access into any potentially unsafe areas, close to the faces. This work was completed in early July 2026, and the site was reopened for the reserve managers to access.

This was the best option for us to take to both minimise disturbance and ensure we could keep the site open into the future. Other alternatives included full rock face ‘dressing’ which would have involved large excavators physically taking down the loose elements of the face which would have caused significant damage to both the ground conditions and habitats on the face. Longcliffe chose the least intrusive and damaging option in undertaking the work – 95.5% of the footprint of the site was left undisturbed by this work. This figure has been calculated from detailed topographical surveys undertaken pre and post the work.

Fencing of the site was not practicable. Whilst it may have prevented close access to the face, it would not have prevented rock falling through when a failure occurred, possibly when people or visitors were close to the faces.

We maintain stores of sub-soils and overburden on Longcliffe sites for these very purposes (bund management and restoration), so they were brought to the site from our Brassington Moor Quarry. It is important to note these were sub-soils/overburden (and not top soils) for the future promotion of the species found at the site.

Longcliffe invested thousands of pounds in the safety work at Hoe Grange.  We see it as part of our investment in maintaining and developing the biodiversity value of our former operational sites, at the same time as keeping them as safe as possible.  You can already see the biodiversity returning in the area in which we had to work. As an alternative, we could have closed the site for access, which, whilst not impacting on the biodiversity of the site, was something we sought to avoid as we want the local community to continue to benefit.

We are committed to protecting and developing biodiversity across all our sites – both working and former operational quarries. However, safety will always come first, and we are confident that the area in which we have installed the bunds will quickly re-establish itself as a rich habitat.

Whilst 4.5% of the surface area has been disturbed (with some temporary tracks left from the machinery used to construct the bunds), it has been the most sympathetic scheme to the biodiversity of the site. The majority – 95.5% – of the footprint of the site was undisturbed by this activity, whilst still protecting visitors. 

We have used a sub-soil, low nutrient media for the bunds which is the most suitable for encouraging wildflower development. We are confident that the site – including the installed safety bunds – will soon regenerate.  Indeed, in visits during July and August (and despite the heatwave) we were already starting to see flowers growing in areas traversed by the vehicles that installed the bunds.

Both charities were informed on 25 February via email that the site would be closed for essential safety work to be carried out, which both acknowledged. 

Following that initial communication, multiple updates were sent via email from the Longcliffe Managing Director Paul Boustead as follows: 

• 25th February 2026 – sent to both Derbyshire Wildlife Trust and Butterfly Conservation East Midlands – ‘Can I ask you advise any visitors to Hoe Grange that they should remain well away from any rock faces and edges. We had had a rockfall at the site. We are investigating and will be putting in place rock traps to keep the public away from areas of concern etc which we identified last year’. 
• 26th February 2026 – I advised the Butterfly Conservation East Midlands Recorder – ‘given the issues elsewhere on the site where there has been serious degradation of the face due to the recent wet weather – we will be taking advice from a geotechnical specialist on the best approach’. 
• 27th February 2026 I advised the Butterfly Conservation East Midlands Recorder  ‘we will barrier of entry to the pond and to the area past the open pasture land’ 
• 25th March 2026 (where I highlighted – ‘we did agreed a plan of works to put in place with the specialist – additional rock traps and bunding (which will double as butterfly banks) around a lot of the site’ and 27th April 2026. Important to also note, that in this email to the Butterfly Conservation East Midlands Recorder on 25th March 2026 which he acknowledged, I outlined the bunding which was to be put in place and explained that there would be restrictions to areas of the site that could be accessed in the future. 
• 19th May 2025 – emailed the Butterfly Conservation East Midlands Recorder detailing: ‘There will be restrictions on where people can go in the future given the geotechnical assessment and significant areas have had to be bunded with rock traps. All visitors will be expected to remain in the areas not bunded’. 

It is also worthy of note that the safety work at the site did not commence until 8th May 2026 and whilst we expected it to take only two to three weekends, we had to stop work over this period when there was heavy rainfall. This halt in the work was to prevent further disturbing the surface with the mobile equipment in the wet conditions. Multiple emails were exchanged with both organisations during this interim period. The safety work was completed on 2nd July 2026.

At the request and understanding of both DWT and BCEM, Longcliffe has always tried to keep Hoe Grange to be a rather ‘understated’ site. Whilst we celebrate the Open Days and have the website(s), we tried to keep it ‘off the radar’ of climbers / mountain bikers / people picnicking / dog walkers / poachers / general public etc. 

Since the site reopened, we have become aware of visitors accessing the Quarry and climbing over the bunds to get closer to the rock faces.  This is clearly totally contrary to our aims in installing the safety bunds. As a result, we have installed further signage at the entrance and around the site to deter non-authorised access and provide a clear warning of the risks of getting close to the rock faces.

We recognise and appreciate the considerable amount of conservation and monitoring work that has taken place on this site by both Butterfly Conservation East Midlands and Derbyshire Wildlife Trust in partnership, and with funding from Longcliffe. We have a long-standing partnership with both charities, and our aim is for this to continue, including making plans for Hoe Grange Quarry’s future.

We are a long-term sponsor of Derbyshire Wildlife Trust and have an agreement with them to manage Hoe Grange and other sites. We hope that we can maintain this relationship and enable them to continue. We will discuss this at a meeting in early September.

We have also worked for many years with Butterfly Conservation (East Midlands) and have had dialogue with their Chairman, outlining our aims to continue this relationship at both Hoe Grange and two other Longcliffe-owned sites.

Hoe Grange reserve remains an incredibly important site for both butterflies and other wildlife. At our invitation, we hope that both charities will continue to use the site to undertake transects for the benefit of monitoring biodiversity.

First and foremost, we want to ensure the site is safe. We will monitor activity, in particular any further evidence of trespassers climbing over the bunds and putting themselves in danger by getting close to the rock faces.

We are committed to ensuring the site continues to be a haven for wildlife and would welcome advice from both Derbyshire Wildlife Trust and Butterfly Conservation.  And whilst we accept that visitors will not have the access in close proximity to the rock faces, they once had, we believe that survey transects can still take place on the site to allow numbers of butterfly species to be recorded. We would be happy to walk the site with Butterfly Conservation East Midlands and our Geotechnical adviser to agree a safe transect route together.

As we have committed to holding Open Days every two years from now on, we hope to hold an event in the summer of 2027.