Chapel's swifts, part 2 - What's been going on with the Chapel Milton Viaducts?

Read Chapel's swifts part 1: Why they matter

Many people have asked for some background and updates on what has been going on with the swift nests at Chapel Milton. What follows is necessarily long and detailed - because the history of engagement and decision‑making matters.

We love the Chapel Milton Viaducts and are fully behind efforts to protect them, but we want wildlife to be protected too. As explained in our press release and this Guardian article, we are concerned that swift nest site entry points on one of the pillars of the Chapel Milton Viaducts have been filled in as part of their renovation works.

Photo © SMJ (cc-by-sa/2.0) geograph.org.uk/p/2071664
Chapel Milton railway viaducts, taken 18/09/2010

 

Members of the biodiversity group spent a great deal of time last year gathering details of where swift nest sites are - we documented nine nests in the structure. We informed Network Rail, on numerous occasions, of exactly where the sites are. And yet we now see that three of the nest site entry points appear to have been blocked.  

The immediate and long term consequences of blocked nest entry points

When swifts return to a blocked nest they try repeatedly to access their entry point, which can have fatal consequences. This is deeply upsetting. But even if they live, when a nest site is lost, they are unlikely to continue breeding. Swifts are a long-lived bird that breeds again and again - often for over a decade - with an average success rate of 1.5 to 2 young per year. Those offspring that survive to breeding age go on to have chicks of their own, and so on. 

So when a swift nest is blocked, it doesn’t just stop one summer’s breeding. It removes a lineage that would have returned year after year, turning what might seem like a small action by Network Rail into a long‑term population loss. Swifts are rapidly declining in the UK and are on the Red List of Birds of Conservation Concern. According to the 2025 British Trust for Ornithology Breeding Bird Survey, swifts have declined by 70% in the UK since 1995.

 

What happened in 2025 - Documenting swifts and our FOI request

Our advocacy for the swifts of Chapel Milton didn't just start this month - this has been a long running issue, where we have been cautious about too much publicity because of an ongoing police investigation. Here's what we can tell you.

Led by local swift champion Deborah Pitman and with other members of the Chapel Biodiversity Group, local people started monitoring swift populations at the Viaducts in 2025, videoing and documenting their comings and goings, identifying their nest sites, and passing this information to Network Rail.

Network Rail put out a letter (shared by Chapel Parish Council on their behalf) to the local community in May 2025 (pdf) which included the following statements:

"Our ecologists will be carrying out biodiversity and ecology studies."

and "...we are committing to a biodiversity net gain of 10%. This means whatever is removed during the course of the work will be replaced with an additional 10%."

We submitted an FOI Request on 1 October 2025 to find out more about the surveys, how the 'net gain' of 10% would work, and whether local groups would be involved in the plans for biodiversity restitution and net gain. 

You can read the Network Rail response here (our request is reproduced at the end of the document). Briefly, this response made clear that Network Rail did carry out ecological surveys, but stated that they could not share the survey reports themselves, what they found, or exactly when the surveys took place because of an ongoing police investigation. 

The response also explained that Network Rail stepped back from its earlier commitment to deliver a 10% biodiversity net gain, saying that works were now classed as permitted development and therefore did not require it. They also stated that the project did not include mitigation funding or formal arrangements for community involvement.

What's happened so far in April 2026

We've been campaigning vigorously since we found out about the blocked entry points, urging Network Rail to unblock them as soon as possible. Swifts will be arriving in Derbyshire very soon. We're so grateful for the levels of support we've received, from fellow wildlife-lovers and birders to local and Network conservation and biodiversity groups.

Here's where we are, as of 13 April:

• Hannah Bourne-Taylor has been a fantastic source of support, and thanks to her advocacy on behalf of Chapel's swifts, we've had national engagement and support including from Deborah Meaden, Carl Bovis, and Baroness Jenny Jones.

• We generated widespread national attention across social media (Twitter/X and Facebook).

• The Guardian's Patrick Barkham reported our concerns in an article that was the 'most read' in the 'Environment' category on The Guardian website on the day it was published.

• We've lost track of the number of people who have told us that they have written to Network Rail's CEO Jeremy Westlake (email: jeremy.westlake@networkrail.co.uk).

• Jenny Jones has raised the situation with ministers and has been told by the Rail Minister Peter Hendy that he will speak to Network Rail. 

 

Photo: Deborah Pitman

 

 What has Network Rail said in response?

Network Rail started replying to the emails they received from 9 April onwards, with a long reply from Jake Kelly, "Regional director for North West and Central". This includes details of "endoscopic rope‑access surveys" that were used to determine whether crevices / nests were occupied.

The email states that 

"...certain structural cracks and crevices within the masonry had to be filled on safety grounds as part of the approved remedial design" 

and 

"Endoscopic surveys ... examined the specific crevices in question and found no evidence of active nesting"

They further said that they "recognise the strength of feeling in the local community" about this matter and made a statement of intent to install nest boxes to replace the blocked holes, subject to Historic England advice (the Viaducts are Grade II listed). 

Confusingly, there seem to be two versions of this reply. Some correspondents have a reply that states surveys were carried out in June and July, and others have a reply that states surveys were carried out in September 2025. The replies are otherwise identical in wording. Network Rail has been asked for clarification. 

Extract from Network Rail reply 9 April

Extract from Network Rail reply 10 April (FYI, September is not the height of nesting season!)

We appreciate the detailed reply and the constructive tone, but there are a number of elements we would challenge (much of which we'll have to leave for a future post). Most importantly right now, the fact that swifts return to precisely the same site each year means that blocking access between seasons has real consequences even if nests are not occupied at the moment of work.

What next?

As of 13 April, Network Rail has not committed to reopening the entry holes, and getting permission to install nest boxes is unlikely to be a quick process. Swifts will be here very soon.  

We are not stopping - we will continue to do everything we can to help these precious summer residents, and we really appreciate everything everyone has been doing to support us by continuing to email Network Rail's CEO Jeremy Westlake (jeremy.westlake@networkrail.co.uk), to publicise the campaign and to press Network Rail to unblock the nests as a matter of urgency.

We'll keep updating on this website when we get a moment. You can also see videos and images from our campaigning on our new Instagram page.

Chapel's swifts, part 1: Why do they matter?

We've been so busy over the last two weeks, raising awareness of the plight of swifts at Chapel Milton Viaducts, so we thought we should share a little of why we are so concerned and how we got here. 

Swifts across the UK are in steep decline and need help from everyone - from individuals to organisations - to protect and enhance their nesting opportunities. Swifts matter everywhere, but in this first post, we want to explain exactly why the swifts of Chapel‑en‑le‑Frith matter to us, before turning, in Part 2, to what’s happening now and what we’re doing about it.

Photo credit: Deborah Pitman

The magnificent Chapel Milton Viaducts on the edge of Chapel-en-le-Frith are home to a swift population that has built up over 160 years since the Western Viaduct was opened in 1867. These fabulous Grade II listed structures have several little crevices where these tiny birds nest and breed. These nest sites have been threatened by Network Rail's renovation of the Viaducts, which has led to some of those crevices being mortared up.

We're a little town with a big past

Chapel-en-le-Frith celebrated its 800th birthday last year. Like many Derbyshire towns and villages, there are families here that have been present for generations - local people will tell you as much, but any bit of digging into local history will soon highlight the same surnames that come up time and again in census data, registers of births and deaths, in gazetteers, and on gravestones. The Bagshaws and Friths, the Carringtons and the Lomases, the Garlicks and the Bradshaws... and so many more. Human family lineages, deeply rooted in geography.

Our ancestors - right back to our founding in 1225 - will have anticipated and enjoyed the arrival of swifts in May every year. And because the swifts have an extraordinary bond with the area they were born, the swifts we saw here in 2025 were the direct descendants of the same local breeding lines that were visiting in 1225.

Our shared history with swifts

A swift born in a crack in a Chapel-en-le-Frith eaves or wall will travel to Africa and back, thousands of miles, only to navigate back to Chapel to breed. And once they have found a mate, and a breeding site of their own near the rest of their family, they both come back every single year to the same exact place to breed.

Swifts will, of course, have been summer residents here for centuries before 1225. But the growth of the village, particularly during the 18th and 19th centuries, must have been a boom time for them: Chapel was a collection of stone barns and houses - a swift paradise. The built environment created by local families (the quarrymen and builders and farmers) is one likely reason the swift lineages thrived here. Humans built for themselves, but in doing so, they also built an ancestral seat for the birds. Swift family lineages, deeply rooted in geography.

We have a legacy to protect for future generations

A local farmer, leaning on a drystone wall in 1726, would have looked up at the same local families of swifts that someone returning home from an evening shop at Morrison's might see and hear above them in 2026. 

When we fight to protect these birds isn't just "swifts" in a general sense; it is a specific, local dynasty of swifts that belongs to Chapel as much as any family in the churchyard. We must do everything we can to protect them so that their descendants and ours can continue to enjoy this wonderful home.

 Coming up: Chapel's swifts, part 2: What's been going on with the Chapel Milton Viaducts?

URGENT - Returning swifts face disaster at Derbyshire viaduct after Network Rail multi -million pound refurbishment

We know how many of you care about Chapel's swift population, so we are all devastated by the news that nests have been blocked on the Chapel Milton viaducts.

We have issued this press release out and urge all our supporters to join us at 11am on Saturday, 11 April at Chapel Milton viaduct (whatthreewords: moment.reader.horseshoe) to draw attention to this impending disaster.

Swifts returning to Derbyshire within days could face disaster at Chapel Milton, where campaigners say nest access points in a railway viaduct have been filled with mortar.

The birds are due back in British skies imminently after their long migration from Africa. But when they reach Chapel Milton in Derbyshire, some may find their nesting places sealed shut. 

Swift Campaigner Deb Pitman said: “Seeing footage of what happens when swifts return to a blocked nest is deeply upsetting. They repeatedly try to access their entry point, sometimes with fatal consequences. It is thought established breeding pairs do not successfully relocate to a new nest site. In effect, when a nest site is lost, they stop breeding.” 

Swifts return to the same nest site year after year, and conservationists warn that the loss of nest sites is one of the major reasons for their steep decline. Swift numbers in the UK have fallen dramatically since the 1990s. 

Jason Adshead, from the Chapel Biodiversity Group, said: “We spent a great deal of time monitoring the work at the viaduct last year and we have evidence showing where the nest sites are. Its information we shared with Network Rail. We sincerely hope they will arrange for the nest holes to be reopened before the birds return in numbers. Swifts are the sight and sound of summer and we are incredibly lucky to have them here.”

Campaigners are calling for urgent action before the birds return.

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A bird releases the butterfly effect

Guest blog by Deborah Pitman

Autumn tones reveal themselves along the thinly wooded edge of Waterswallows Quarry, the wildlife haven just outside Buxton. The cliffs stand starkly majestic in the warm, mizzling air. We scan the water for a rarity.

A rare Arctic visitor...

The High Peak, it turns out, lies on the migratory path of a charming little bird: the Grey Phalarope. Just one paused its journey here at the beginning of October. The Grey Phalarope moves from nesting grounds in the high Arctic to winter warmth in the tropics. With only around 160 seen in the UK each year — most of them coastal — this inland stopover caused a stir.

Jason Adshead and I decided to go and take a look. At just 20cm long, it’s smaller than a blackbird. A beaming man passes us as we approach: “It’s tucked in on the far side.” Sure enough, we soon spot it scooting across the water, absorbed in its own world, almost exactly where he’d said.

Grey phalarope, picture from Ron Knight
CC BY 2.0 licence. via Wikimedia Commons

A birder from Matlock ambles over and smiles: “It’s my first visit since the seventies. I was a student on a field trip. There’s a volcano down there.” I’m used to shrugging off tall tales from strangers on walks — but he was right. Some 300 million years ago, molten basalt swept over the limestone; in the last century, we carved it back out of the earth.

Back to the Grey Phalarope. The Collins Guide to British Birds describes it as “often oblivious to human observers,” spinning on the water and delicately picking invertebrates from the surface. I can only hope it also remained oblivious to the wave of rubbish breaking around the quarry’s edge.

... prompts a marathon litter pick

Autumn’s levels of litter at Waterswallows are nothing compared with summer’s, but still too much. Nature is resurging after years of heavy industry. Wildlife has been coaxed back to the margins through tree planting and meadow creation — projects delivered by volunteers from the neighbouring Nestlé water-bottling plant. Fungi now cluster beneath the young woodland, mushrooms cheek by jowl with the litter that breaks down and disrupts the habitat.

The beautiful phalarope made the butterfly effect real — a single wingbeat inspiring something far larger. Chapel-en-le-Frith’s Biodiversity Group decided to act. This autumn’s clean-up follows the huge efforts of those who cleared the party debris left from summer nights. Around sixty volunteer hours, spread across four weekends, have seen bag after bag hauled from every corner of the site: car tyres, gas bottles, nitrous oxide canisters, plastic, glass, a whirligig washing line — everything, including a kitchen sink.

Deb, Jason and Nic at Waterswallows

Nic Callaghan paddle-boarded the perimeter, towing sack after sack of rubbish back to shore. The satisfaction is written across her beaming face. Making a mark on a natural space does that to you — it becomes a shared experience, a meditative act of rebellion. A quiet declaration that we don’t have to be passive in the face of rubbish when it stands in Mother Nature’s way.

Our paddle board champion litter picker Nic!

"Being part of the solution is a wonderful feeling"

Litter is a complex issue to solve, but being part of the solution is a wonderful feeling. Chapel-en-le-Frith Biodiversity Group carry out regular litter-picks around the parish — and occasionally further afield, when a passing rarity points us toward a problem.

Chapel Biodiversity Group volunteers with some of the litter from Waterswallows

Helping hibernators

Now that we are well and truly into Autumn and Winter will be here before we know it, we've added a page on hibernation which is full of tips for things you can do (and not do!) to support hibernating insects, reptiles and mammals. 

You can find the page on our menu above or just click here.

August 2025 Newsletter

We've just sent out our August 2025 newsletter - and it's a bumper edition! 

Featuring news about swifts, how we helped celebrate Chapel's 800th birthday, and upcoming activities you can get involved in - from water surveying to reporting Himalayan Balsam. 

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Or you can read the web version here.