A new nature reserve in Blandford will extend the Milldown and create a wildlife reserve for one of Europe’s rarest bats
Fields and woodland which adjoin Blandford’s Milldown Nature Reserve and the North Dorset Trailway have been bought by Dorset Council to create a new wildlife haven. The 13 acres will extend the Green Flag award-winning site, creating new wildlife corridors to support the survival of one of the rarest bats in Europe, the Greater Horseshoe. The new nature reserve will provide crucial habitat for adults and juvenile bats from the nearby Bryanston Site of Special Scientific Interest roost, whilst also supporting other bat species and a host of other wildlife. The project will see hedgerows restored, a wildflower meadow established and more trees planted. Cllr Ray Bryan, Dorset Council’s portfolio holder for highways, travel and environment, said: ‘This recent land purchase is an excellent opportunity to create much-needed habitat for Dorset’s wildlife.’ The purchase has been made possible through the council’s Habitat Compensation Fund, using money secured through developer contributions and extra funding for the project from Defra’s Farming in Protected Landscapes programme (administered by Cranborne Chase Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty), Blandford Forum Town Council and Dorset Council. ‘Protecting and restoring Dorset’s natural environment is one of the council’s key priorities.’ said Cllr Bryan, ‘We are determined to work with partners to promote the recovery of nature and tackle the ecological emergency.’
Come and plant a tree To launch the nature reserve, the council will be holding a volunteer tree and hedge planting event on the weekend of 21st and 22nd January. Members of the public are invited to come along from 10am on either or both days to help with the planting. Volunteers will need to wear stout shoes or boots and bring their own spades! To find the event, follow signs from the Milldown car park (DT11 7FU); council rangers will be on site to guide you.
• Donations of £40 (+vat) for the 70 trees being planted are being taken by Blandford Forum Town Council. Contributions can be made via their online form.
Some clear skies towards the end of December meant astrophotographer Rob Nolan finally managed to capture a much-wanted Christmas tree
NGC 2264 Cone Nebula, also known as the Christmas Tree Cluster.
A belated Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to all you avid astronomers out there – and congratulations on another successful full orbit around our Sun! Did you know, it takes 365 days for our Earth to orbit our Sun (a calendar year), but that a galactic year (the time it takes for our Sun to complete one full orbit around the galactic centre of our Milky Way galaxy) takes 250 million years. This means the last time our solar system was hurtling at 514,000 mph through this exact part of space, the dinosaurs walked the Earth. I find that mind-blowing! I had hoped to share this month’s image in the build up to Christmas, but alas, I was only able to capture it a week before Christmas Day. This is the very aptly named NGC 2264 Cone Nebula, also known as the Christmas Tree Cluster. For the very obvious reason that it looks quite like a Christmas Tree in certain orientations. For this image I chose to deviate from any standard colour palettes, so please forgive the artistic licence with these green and brown tones. But for the festive season I really wanted to isolate the tree structure from the rest of the nebula. All of the objects within this cluster are located in the Monoceros constellation around 2,300 light years from Earth. Due to its relative proximity and large size, it has been extremely well studied. Astronomer William Herschel discovered the cluster itself in January 1784, and then went on to locate a section of the glowing cloud about two years later at Christmas time. This image was captured with the Skywatcher 190-MN Maksutov Newtonian Telescope and the ZWO asi2600mm Pro Astro camera with narrowband filters. That’s right, folks (look away now, anyone who’s not already in the hobby), I’ve gone mono! Its been quite a learning curve with the very few clear skies we’ve enjoyed since I acquired the camera, but its already producing fantastic results!
The night sky, January 2023 – Rob’s guide for your stargazing this month:
There is only one object that everyone is excited about this month – a brand new comet for us to observe in the night sky for the next few months. There’s talk of it being visible with the naked eye! It might not be quite as spectacular as Comet Neowise back in 2020, but it will pass us by much closer and it will have a tail we can see. Initial observations identified the object as an asteroid but subsequent observations revealed a very condensed coma. This indicated that the object was in fact a comet. Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) was spotted as a very faint 17.3 magnitude smudge in the constellation of Aquilla. The 1.2m telescope at Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) is ordained with the comet’s discovery. What is remarkable about this comet is that it last appeared in our skies 50,000 years ago, when Neanderthals roamed the Earth. If our ancestors did see it, I wonder what they thought it might be – this strange new object above their heads? C/2022 E3 will pass within 26 million miles of Earth on 1st February, at which point it should be visible to the naked eye. Look towards the constellations Draco and Ursa Minor for a faint smudge as it transits across the sky. No prizes for guessing what I’ll be trying to capture for next month’s edition!
In other planetary news… Orion, one of my favourite constellations, stands out this month as it’s been steadily rising earlier and higher in our night sky throughout December. Orion’s Belt is easy to spot, made up of the bright stars Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka, which are more than 1,200 light years away. Despite the large distance, these stars appear so bright to us because they outshine our own Sun by 200,000 times. Look carefully below the Belt to spot a faint patch of light representing Orion’s sword. This is the great Orion Nebula, a hugely beautiful structure of incandescent gas, 24 light years in diameter. At the heart of the nebula is a birth-place of new stars, created from a dark cloud of dust and gas. Other spectacular shows in our night sky this month include the planets Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. If you are keen on spying the planets in our local neighbourhood, take a stroll out at dusk on 23rd January and look low towards the south west to see the thinnest crescent Moon in formation with Venus, the evening star, and fainter Saturn. On 25th January, Jupiter appears above the crescent Moon, superceded by Mars on the 30th which will lie above the Moon with the star Aldebaran to the left and the beautiful Pleiades (The Seven Sisters) to the lower right.
It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Luke Humphrey Peter Turner on 11th December 2022, aged 38 years. A much loved son, brother, father and uncle who will be truly missed. Funeral service has already taken place in Wimborne.
Are you looking to use your office and people skills to help others? We are looking for an enthusiastic person to join the Mosaic team. The successful candidate will be responsible for the administration and support of training and study days, both on-line and face-to-face, and the Mosaic Conference.
Requirements:
Experience of using on-line platforms (Zoom, Teams)
Excellent organisational skills and time management
Good, accurate, administrative skills
Good telephone manner
Excellent knowledge of Microsoft 365 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook)
Closing date: 27/01/2023
Full job description and application form available from:
SNADS next Panto will be a traditional style version of ‘Red Riding Hood and the Three Little Pigs’. Based on the two well-known stories, with of course the Big Bad Wolf, an outrageous dame and a host of other hilarious characters and eccentric villagers. Plenty of booing and hissing and fun for all the family – oh yes there is!
Please note a change to our performance schedule this year:
Thursday 16th February, Relaxed Performance at 6pm. Specifically aimed at people with additional needs, low house-lighting will be on throughout and an inclusive environment guaranteed. Accompanying carer/parent free entry.
Friday 17th and Saturday 18th evening performances at 7.30pm.
It’s a perfect half hour’s listening to start the new year – we catch up with the latest political thoughts before Roger shares the tale of the 18th century death that may not have have happened. We explore the winter woodland landscape with Dorset Wildlife Trust, and Jane Adams has some fascinating insight into our winter bees. Lastly, in yet another podcast exclusive, Terry has a chat with the always-interesting Caz from Dorset Food & Drink:
Almost 250 years after the funeral of the young Milton Abbey heir, questions remain about whose “body” was actually buried.
As winter sets in, Dorset Wildlife Trust’s Reserves Ecologist Steve Masters urges us all to go down to the woods today
Wildlife writer Jane Adams is on the lookout for a winter wild bee fix – even in December you can find them, she says
Dorset is known as a natural larder, from meat to dairy and veg to cakes. Caz Richards chats to Terry about the work of Dorset Food & Drink, how they’re supporting local producers and businesses – and shares her personal tips on some Dorset-produced highlights!
Unusually for us this one includes quite a bit of lane walking – but the roads are so quiet it was simply an enjoyable way to slowly appreciate some of the quietest hamlets. We really enjoyed exploring some unexpected corners that we whizz past in the car regularly.
To follow this route using the Outdooractive App, please find the route here.
Setting out on a wintery Dorset walk from Margaret Marsh
A few notes – the backtracking in the middle is worth it. We hadn’t plotted going that way, but the obvious alternative route down to Blackven Common would mean having to walk along the side of the B3091, a very busy narrow road.
It’s far more comfortable to explore the quiet lanes and just double back for a short stretch for a far more relaxed circuit.
The route explores throughly typical North Dorset farmland, with a view ringed by the surrounding hills and across the Blackmore Vale.
Be careful as you energe from the little copse to cross the B3091 for the first time – it’s a surprisingly fast road, and you come out on a bend so it’s very difficult to see traffic approaching. Listen carefully!
You can just see that the path exits the woods opposite, so the road bends away to your right – cross with care
Margaret Marsh is so named for a reason – even in the summer the fields can be a bit wet. I wouldn’t suggest doing this walk after a period of heavy rain without good footwear!
We were treated with ssurprise views across the Blackmore Vale without feeling like we’d done the climb
A stroll down a typical Dorset lane to Hartgrove
We’ve driven through Hartgrove for 30 years, and never knew this (frozen!) mill pond sluice existed
The Fontmell Magna village website has a fascinating and detailed history of Hartgrove and its residents at the turn of the century, with some early photographs of cottages you wil pass on this walk – it is definitely worth a read.
The view across to Duncliffe Hill
This was the only poorly-kept stile on the entire route – the bridge was sturdy, if overgrown and looking precarious, but the other side meant a careful barbed wire hop.
Parking is easy at the start at St Margarets Church (we walked the route a week before Christmas, and the organist was practicing carols – I can’t guarantee you a similarly magical start, however).
