LOVERS of galanthus should make a bee-line for North Dorset in February, when Shaftesbury has its annual snowdrop festival, with drifts of the delicate white blooms all round the town. And don’t miss the snowdrops at Springhead, just down the road (A350) at Fontmell Magna, where the snowdrops will be in full bloom around the…
THE latest talk in the Help Our Planet series at the Marine Theatre, Lyme Regis, focuses on the return of beavers to English rivers for the first time in many centuries. Rewilder, farmer and conservationist Derek Gow’s HOP talk, on Tuesday 12th October at 7pm, is called Bringing Back the Beaver and its Pals. Gow has…
SOUTH Somerset District Council has awarded Ferne Animal Sanctuary a community grant of £950 as part of a £2,950 project to reintroduce water voles – the beloved “Ratty” of Wind in the Willows – to the sanctuary. Water voles are endangered in the United Kingdom and urgent action is needed to ensure the long-term survival…
IT is 55 years since Longleat became world famous as the first drive through safari park outside Africa. This year the Wiltshire wildlife park has created an even more unusual record as being the first place in the UK where hippopotamus and beavers are sharing the same habitat in more than 100,000 years. It is believed…
… a walk along the River Otter WE can’t fly anywhere and all our favourite places in Scotland are booked up into 2022, so it’s day trips for us this summer. When we read about guided walks to see beavers on the River Otter, we booked up for one immediately. The best holiday we…
ORGANIC gardening expert Sally Morgan is coming to Castle Gardens at Sherborne on Thursday 2nd September to launch her new book, The Healthy Vegetable Garden. Delving into natural, chemical free approaches to soil, biodiversity and managing pests and diseases, this free event will give growers of all abilities the opportunity to learn how to maintain…
SOUTH Somerset rangers are encouraging people to have picnics at Ham Hill rather than barbecues, which are now banned due to the high fire risk and damage they cause at the Iron Age hillfort. For the last 15 years, barbecues have been catered for at Ham Hill, with stone plinths erected near the rangers centre….
THE beautiful song of the skylark is becoming a rare sound in the countryside these days as the species is in decline nationally, but there are ways that you can help protect them. South Somerset’s rangers at Ham Hill Country Park are encouraging locals, visitors and dog walkers to remember nesting birds and take extra…
SOUTH Somerset District Council is trying No Mow areas, leaving spaces for wildflowers and grasses to flourish, as part of its declaration of a climate and ecological emergency. The No Mow trials, starting at Cucklington near Wincanton, are part of the council’s commitment to create biodiverse areas for wildlife to thrive. The project, supporting a…
NINE new sculptures and installations around the grounds of historic Longleat House follow five centuries of the estate’s working history, and introduce visitors to some of the people who worked there. The outdoor exhibition, Tales of the Garden, includes sculptures of workers and animals that were part of the grounds and gardens. Longleat has been…