Island Life Magazine Ltd October/November 2015 | Page 95

COUNTRY LIFE

Ra mbles by buses

T

he combined IW Ramblers/
Southern Vectis ’Rambles by Bus’
series of leaflets has now been
completed, making twelve titles in all.
The most recent include The Warrior
Trail, Pier to Creek, Discovering Dinosaurs
and Sandown to Bembridge. This series

of leaflets is very popular with walkers
across the Island. They are all available to
download at www. iowramblers.com, and
they can also be obtained from Visit Isle
of Wight information point at Newport’s
Guildhall and other tourist information
outlets.

A countryman's diary
D

uring the last couple of months,
dormice seem to have featured
quite often in our schedule. A lot of
monitoring is carried out over the
summer to catalogue their numbers
and breeding success. The best day we
had was at a new woodland we planted
twelve years ago. This was the first year
that boxes were put up and Landscape
Therapy was lucky enough to be
involved with the initial inspection. It
started promisingly with success in the
first box, and by the time all fifty boxes
had been checked we had seen a total
of 27 dormice, of varying ages.
Research into the way they move
through the trees and across roads
(or railways) has also prompted an
experimental ‘dormouse bridge’ to be
erected in trees at Briddlesford. The
bridge was built in compartments and
it was our job, with the help of Spencer
Rigging to rig up the wires to suspend

Red squirrel
hide re-opens
in Parkhurst

the bridge. BBC’s ‘Autumn Watch’,
spent the day in the woods with Ian
White, dormouse expert of The PTES
and Chris Packham got his hands
muddy winching the bridge up. More
has to be done to monitor if the bridge
is used, and hopefully we may see
some positive results later in the year?

B

ringing people closer to nature is
the main aim of ‘Gift to Nature’
and exciting new additions to
the Red Squirrel Hide in Parkhurst
Forest are helping do just that.
On the 25th September the Gift to
Nature Parkhurst Red Squirrel Hide was
officially reopened with newly installed
interpretation panels, sculptured
seating and magnifying posts designed
to help focus the senses on the
amazing forest environment.
Lyn Clarke, Chairman Island 2000
Trust said “The hide was initially built
by Gift to Nature in 2001 and has been
very popular by visitors ever since. With
the support of the Forestry Commission
and our other partners we are delighted
to be able to re-vitalise the hide and
surrounding area.”
Ben Phelan, Solent Beat Manager,
Forestry Commission commented:
“We’re delighted to be working in
partnership with Island 2000 Trust to
secure a future for the Red Squirrel
hide at Parkhurst Forest and hope that
visitors will continue to enjoy watching
these wonderful animals in their
natural habitat.”
www.gifttonature.org.uk
www.goilife.co.uk

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