Page 29 - br-jan-23
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January 2023                                                                        January 2023
       WILD WOODBURY                                                                        After a long campaign by BLU,

                                                                                            on 5 . November 2016 the lido
                                                                                               th
       Firstly,  a  Happy  New  Year  to  everyone                                          started  to  open  the  whole
       reading  this  article!  I  hope  you  all                                           pool  every  day,  a  supreme
       enjoyed your holidays and are ready to                                               example  of  people  power  at
       go in 2023.                                                                          its  best! I know that  there is  a
                                                                                            case  for  cutting  staff  costs  by
       We have had more volunteer parties at                                                reducing  lifeguarding  cover
       Wild Woodbury this past month, both of                                               on  poor  weather  days  but  it
       which have been cutting and dragging                                                 was  good  to  hear  that  this
       vegetation  to  make  way  for  the                                                  pool was bucking the trend.
       fenceline that’s currently being installed
       in  several  fields.  A  group  of  13  of  us                                       As we were leaving, I chatted
       were greeted by glorious sunshine on the first day, and quickly cleared the area I   a while with Laura Everett who
       had  in  mind  (I  always  manage  to  underestimate  how  much  work  we’ll  get    was  Fusions  Team  Leader  at
       through!),  before  moving  on  to  pull  some  more  Buddleia  and  cut  down  some   the lido that morning. She said
       larger Ash trees (with Ash Dieback). The second day was also sunny, but about -      that she loved working at the pool. There was a real feeling of inclusiveness and
       5’c  when  we  arrived  at  a  very  frosty  and  icy  field.  The  large  Willows  we  were   everyone was trying to work together.  There certainly seemed this spirit about. For
       dragging  soon  warmed  us  up,  however,  and  we  again  cleared  the  area  in  a   instance,  there  were  regular  “Meet  the  Manager  Meetings”  with  the  lido
       quick  time  (perhaps  also  spurred  on  by  the  promise  of  cake  from  one  of  our   managers and representatives from BLU taking part in an open forum. Pic 13
       volunteers, Sarah). There will be more volunteer tasks in 2023, so do keep an eye    I do hope the lido continues to flourish. As Mike said “You come here feeling all
       out on your emails if you’d like to get involved, or find my details at the bottom of   tense with all the pressures of everyday life but go away feeling relaxed, content
       the page if you would like to be on the mailing list.                                and happy”. Now you cannot buy that on the internet!
       You  may  recall  that  last  month  I  spoke  about  the  hydrological  restoration                                                             Bob Holman
       happening across several fields on site. This has now finished, with the final ditches
       strategically  blocked  up,  and  I  have  an  exciting  update  about  what  has
       happened  since!  During  the  Winter  of  2021  we  had  just  two  Lapwing  sightings
       across the whole site, in a field historically known as Peewit (an alternative name
       for Lapwing), but they stayed for just one day and weren’t seen again. Six weeks
       on from our hydrological restoration, we have, very excitingly, sighted 56 Lapwing
       in a single field, along with 9 Golden Plover and 30 Common Snipe! These, along                                               Quality Tax and
       with the Little Egret which were happily foraging around the diggers when on site,       KingsBere
       are just the beginning on what we could see at Wild Woodbury. I can’t wait to                                                    Accounting
       see which other species find the restored wet landscape over the next year.
       Over the past six months I have been leading walks for the staff who work as part       Accountants                     For professional advice, dealing with all
       of  Dorset’s  Integrated  Care  System,  a  partnership  of  organisations  that  come                                        aspects of accounts and tax
       together  to  plan  and  deliver  joined  up  health  and care  services  over  an  area.
       These walks, along with others that I’ve run, always remind me of the benefits of                                       Day and evening appointments available
       being in nature for both mental and physical health. In 2023 I hope to run many
       more  public  walks  and  demonstrations  –  everything  from  dawn  chorus  walks,
       going through moth traps, general walks about Rewilding, and much more!                       Phone Debbie Scott FCCA, ATII on 01258 830304
       If  you  would  like  to  know  more  about  Wild  Woodbury,  or  have  any  other                               office@kingsbere.co.uk
       questions,    please   do    get   in   touch    with   me,    Seb,   at
       shaggett@dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk.

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