Sat 5th July
Low Tide Walk
This is your chance to see some of the little known habitats along the Fleet, and underwater life only be exposed at low tide. Meet at the Chesil Beach Centre (grid ref SY668755), 2pm. Bring wellies or water shoes. Adults £2.50, accompanied children free.

Sat 5th – Sun 13th July
Spirit of the Sea Festival – ‘Pebbles, Boats and the Sea’
Activities for all the family, including the new Portland Mini-bus Heritage Tour, special Fleet Observer glass bottom boat trips, and guided walks. For more information contact the Chesil Beach Centre.

Sat 26th July
Fossil Walk
Come and find a bit of ‘history close to home’, and join us on a fossil walk around Pirates Cove. You may be lucky enough to find an ammonite! Meet the end of Camp Road (grid ref SY652772), 1pm. Adults £3, children £2.

Mon 4th Aug
Low Tide walk 2.30pm
A walk along the Fleet foreshore looking at the flora and fauna exposed at low tide.
Wear wellies or water shoes.

Sat 9th Aug
Summer Flowers 2pm
A stroll around the Ferrybridge area at this changing time of the year.

Tue 19th Aug
Low Tide Walk
As 4th except start time is 2pm

Sun 31st Aug
Low Tide Walk
As 4th except start time is 1pm

All events: Meet Chesil Beach Centre, Portland Beach Road.
Cost: adults £2.50 children £1.50
Tel. 01305 760579 for further details.

For further information please contact the Chesil Beach Centre 01305 760579 or have a look at the events list on our website: www.chesilbeach.org

Protection for Water Voles

The Water Vole, or ‘Ratty’ was once common throughout Britain, but in recent years, has been threatened by habitat loss and predation by American mink, and has become the UK’s fastest declining native mammal.

Today, conservationists are celebrating as water voles finally receive full legal protection. From 6 April it will be against the law to “intentionally kill a water vole, or to intentionally, or recklessly, damage or disturb the places they use for shelter or protection”, meaning that their future is a safer one.

Previous legal protection extended only to the vole’s habitat, not to the animal itself, which proved confusing for developers and land managers, resulting in the loss of important water vole colonies.

Many organisations within Dorset work together to encourage land management which can benefit water voles, and the picture for the county’s water voles is positive. Rachel Janes, Rivers and Wetlands Conservation Officer with Dorset Wildlife Trust, said: “Water voles prefer open banks, with plenty of long grass and not too many trees. Their burrows can be as deep as 5-8m from the bank, so management of the areas around streams and rivers is very important.”

As landowners in the Winterborne Valley, how you care for the land that borders the stream can have a huge impact on water voles. The species thrives where there are luxuriant swathes of bankside vegetation, providing food sources and shelter for the voles. Mowing right up to the edge of the stream, and planting garden species on the banks removes these features and exposes the water voles to predation. Use of machinery, or heavy grazing of the banks by livestock has the same effect, and can result in the collapse of burrows, and siltation of the channel.

Allowing a ‘buffer strip’ of natural vegetation to develop along the stream is the best way of providing water-vole–friendly habitat. If necessary, verges should be mown and in-channel weed cut on a rotational basis, cutting no more than a 50m stretch in one go. Cutting opposite banks in different years (in September so that some regrowth provides cover in winter), can also benefit the species.

Unless channels are choked with weed, clearance is not always beneficial to wildlife. Clearing central sections of weed and leaving areas of aquatic vegetation at either side can be the best way of maintaining flow without removing valuable aquatic habitat. This keeps sediment on the move, keeps the gravel clean and is kind to species which lay their eggs in gravels, such as trout, mayfly, and caddisfly.

If your garden or field backs onto the winterbourne, you can find out more about management that benefits water voles and other wildlife on the Dorset Winterbournes pages at www.dorsetaonb.org.uk

For further information, Contact the AONB on (01305) 756782.

New Membership: Applications are invited from anyone who supports the RBL’s aims and is aged 18 plus. It is no longer necessary to have served in HM Forces in order to join. The fee is £13, being £11 national affiliation fee plus £2 Branch Membership fee, for which you receive four National ’Legion’ Magazines and up to eight Branch Newsletters per year. If your application is received shortly you will obtain 15 months membership for the price of twelve.

The quarterly Branch Committee Meeting will be held at Portesham Methodist Church at 7.30 p.m. on Thursday, 17th July, 2008: new applications for membership will be amongst the items for discussion.

Our Annual BBQ** commences at 6.30 p.m. (not 7 p.m. as per the Branch Newsletter!) on Friday, 18th July, 2008, on the patio of Portesham Village Hall (or if wet indoors). Hot drinks will be available but bring your own bottle and glasses if that is your taste. This is your chance to bring along a potential recruit and introduce them to our friendly gathering.

This year’s Car Treasure Hunt** commences at 4.30 p.m. on Sunday, 10th August, 2008, starting from Portesham Village Hall Car Park, and is open to non-Members. As usual we shall eventually arrive at a venue for supper - in order to assist with catering please book with a Committee Member by 3rd August, 2008. If you would like transport or can offer a seat please inform me.

Book now for our Continental Christmas Shopping Long Weekend** from Friday 28th November to Monday 1st December, 2008 inclusive. Based on 3* Ypres (Belgium) Hotel we shall also visit Liege’s “Village de Noel” (Belgium), and Christmas Markets at Lille (France) and Ostend (Belgium). Travel will be by executive style coach via Channel Tunnel. There will be ample opportunity to buy your wine whilst avoiding the 15% UK tax increase recently applied! The trip is competitively priced and a full itinerary is available from myself on 01305 267617 on request, without obligation.

(** events open to non-Members)

Des Baker (Branch Vice Chairman)
Tel: 01305 267617