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DAVID BELLAMY OPENS FOWLMEAD |
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Written by Ian Andrews
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Sunday, 06 May 2007 |
David Bellamy, one of Britain's best-loved conservationists and TV personalities, has agreed to open Fowlmead Country Park, Kent's brand new open-air attraction for all the family, on Bank Holiday Sunday, 27th May, 2007.
Fowlmead, at Sholden on the A258 Deal-to-Sandwich road, was once the spoil tip for the old Betteshanger Colliery, and forms the major part of an £18.8 million regeneration project funded by English Partnerships which has taken eight years of careful environmental management to create a country park and nature reserve from a bleak landscape of shale and coal dust.
The 120-hectare park is now a superb fresh-air day out, with top class walking, cycling and horse riding facilities, and open-air terraces for arts exhibitions, all with sweeping views over the East Kent coastal plain.
As a stunning project of regeneration and environmental care it's particularly appropriate that David Bellamy has agreed to formally open Fowlmead on Sunday, 27th May, marking a free two-day celebration for all the family.
David Bellamy is one of Britain's best-known faces - and voices - on conservation and environmental issues, has been the writer and presenter of some 400 television programmes, and has authored at least 45 books.
In addition to his unique and BAFTA Award-winning talent of being able to explain complex environmental issues in a simple and fascinating way, he has held some of the most prestigious academic and professional posts in his field, including president of The Conservation Foundation, The Wildlife Trusts Partnership, Plantlife, the National Association for Environmental Education and the British Naturalists' Association.
Visitors to Fowlmead on the opening weekend will be able to see and experience a series of different zones highlighting the park's leisure and educational aspects.
Fowlmead has a particular attraction for lovers of wildlife, as the site has been nurtured and developed by strict adherence to a nature conservation management plan during restoration.
Bird watchers, in particular, are looking forward to the opening of the park, where an observatory platform gives a panoramic view of Worth Marshes, and areas of undergrowth provide ideal setting for 'hides'.
Fenced-off areas will provide habitats for ground-nesting birds, such as lapwing, grey partridge and skylark, while long-eared owls will roost in areas of managed woodland.
A wetland and reed beds have been created alongside the old mine rail track, and have already become home to moorhens, reed bunting and coots, while 'newcomers' to the site, such as kingfisher, sand martin and bullfinch, will be encouraged with the creation of new nesting habitats.
So focused has been the concern for supporting and encouraging wildlife at Fowlmead, that a tunnel has even been built underneath the A258 road, which divides the park from the old colliery pithead, so that bats and badgers can travel safely from one side to the other.
Similar care is being taken to nurture Fowlmead's indigenous water voles, with water levels in ditches being controlled and dredging restricted to between November and February to avoid the breeding season.
While visitors to Fowlmead are unlikely to see them, the vegetation is also home to lizards, slow worms and other harmless reptiles, many of which have been relocated from the old pithead site.
And while Fowlmead's population of bugs and beetles - or terrestrial macro-invertebrates, to give them their proper name - may be almost imperceptible to the naked eye, they are of national importance.
As a result, beetle banks and hollows have been created to encourage colonisation by beetles, spiders, and burrowing bees and wasps, while breeding boxes have been built for stag beetles.
Fowlmead Country Park will be open on the Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm, David Bellamy will perform the official opening ceremony at 3pm, while the ActiveLIFE and LiveLIFE zones are open until 9pm. On the Monday opening times are from 10 am to 4.30 pm.
For further information, visit the Fowlmead website at www.fowlmead.co.uk
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 06 May 2007 )
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