2001 was the year of the 'Foot and Mouth' crisis. The Chorley area was right in the middle of it since one of the first outbreaks was at a farm at Withnell. Strangely, but thankfully, that turned out to be the only one in the area. Perhaps since it was one of the first, steps were taken quickly enough to prevent its spread, unlike in parts of Cumbria and Yorkshire, where it spread like wildfire from the original outbreak.

The measures taken to prevent the spread of the disease included closing the countryside to the public, despite the efforts of the government to pretend otherwise. This meant that recording of flora and fauna was severely limited, with some parts of the countryside receiving no coverage during the breeding season. Annual surveys such as the BBS and the Winter Farmland Bird Survey could not be completed.

The first site to reopen was Yarrow Valley Park at Birkacre, being essentially in an urban area. This was during the latter half of March and was relatively soon after the start of the outbreak. It wasn't until the beginning of May that the next site reopened - this being Roddlesworth. Canal towpaths reopened in early July, and the remainder of the countryside around Chorley followed on soon after. Despite Public footpaths being declared open by Lancashire County Council, some farmers maintained 'footpath closed' signs on their land for some considerable time.

Despite the problems, we received plenty of records over the year as a whole, as the following report bears witness. Many thanks to all those who submitted records. Without them we cannot produce this report, which if nothing else will be a source of reference for future generations. The draft of the bird report is sent to the Lancashire Bird Recorder by the end of March for inclusion in the Lancashire Bird Report. Likewise, Lepidoptera records are made available to the County recorder. Several of our members have now had the Mapmate software, that we use for recording, installed onto their computers, which hopefully will lessen the workload of our recorders. We still have one or two licences available if any other members would like to use it.

The Garden Bird Survey, Rookery Census and Winter Wildfowl Counts continued, although the latter could not be completed in March because of Foot and Mouth restrictions. If anyone would like to take part in any of these please let us know. Members were also involved in practical conservation work and in the management of local nature reserves. The society was involved in an advisory capacity with West Pennine Moors, Yarrow Valley Country Park and Chorley Environmental Forum.

The one aspect of the Society's activities, which is in decline, is the organisation of field trips. If any one would like to take up this role or become involved, please let us know.

Many thanks to my fellow recorders who have prepared the various reports - Carol Kellet for Flora, Joyce Riley for Fungi, Phil Kirk for invertebrates, Tony Stott for Mammals and - new for this year! - Brian Derbyshire for Fish. Thanks to Jean Southworth and Tony Stott whose drawings have been used both in this report and in the Newsletters throughout the year. Finally, thanks to everyone who submitted articles for the newsletters. Please keep them coming.