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February 2022 February 2022
getting muddy or with wheelchairs and pushchairs getting stuck in puddles. It will
take a while to completely bed in, but it is hoped that everyone will get many OVER THE HILL
years of enjoyment out of it.

As I sit looking out of the window, it is the sixth of January and looking at the
Queen’s Platinum Jubilee colour of the grass, it stage of growth and its obvious need of mowing, you could
This is going to be a major event for the whole country and Bere Regis will be easily believe it was not mid summer. We have just experienced two mornings of
marking the celebrations with the following events: slight frosts but this is not sufficient to prevent the polyanthus from showing their
flowers in abundance, followed by the winter pansies and even the hydrangeas
nd
 Thursday 2 June - Lighting the beacon as part of the national beacon have opened some of their buds to present minimal amounts of leaf material far
lighting ceremony too early for its own good.
rd
 Friday 3 June – Annual duck race However saying this may be slightly overestimating the effects of the climate
change we are experiencing currently. What is happening and where will it end?
th
 Saturday 4 June – Street party with live music As we drive through the countryside, we see green buds on hedgerow trees and
 Sunday 5 June – Church service in the morning and an afternoon picnic bushes, far too advanced for the time of the year. Also the bird population
th
at the Sports Club with an old-fashioned sports day for all the family generally is not taking advantage of all the foodstuffs that they normally would at
this time of year, that we provide in the feeders in the garden. Obviously there is a
Preparations are still in the very early stages, but everything will be advertised and natural supply out there in some form or other. Perhaps this food is in the lush,
residents kept fully informed as time goes along. Our sincere thanks are extended green, soft vegetative growth in our gardens, hedgerows and in the countryside
to Judy Newton who has taken on the task of co-ordinating the weekend. generally and in the form of the insects that would normally be dormant but may
be actively producing offspring now at this time of the year, on this vegetation,
which are thus proffered.
We are constantly being told about the rewilding projects that are taking place in
the countryside. We have here in Bere Regis, a site where the Dorset Wildlife Trust
have purchased what was Court Green Farm and have renamed it Wild
Woodbury and intend to create a wildlife
haven for what have in the past been species
of “wild plants and animals” that have been
true natives of Dorset, in their natural habitats..
With climate change coming upon us, what
must we expect next?
Rewilding and climate change are of subjects
Extracts from news reports of the 1953 coronation where there is so much to learn about our
celebrations - thanks to Alison Bennett natural world and to find out more about this I
can recommend the following five books.:-

 The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter
North Street Gate Wohlleben 2016
The area either side of the gate is looking very neglected, and complaints have  Wilding by Isabella Tree 2018
been received about motorcycles using the pedestrian access as a short cut to
the roundabout. The Parish Council will be contacting Highways with a view to  Restoring the Wild by Roy Dennis 2021
replacing the gate and preventing motorbikes from using North Street. At the Otter Country by Miriam Darlington
same time, the signage will upgraded. Cllr Bates has kindly offered the services of  2112
the Wildlife Group to clear back the vegetation.

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