Forty-seven people went into the bat tunnel,
while rather more visited the exhibition of photos of the project and enjoyed the splendid
Jubilee Cake and other refreshments provided by Oxfordshire Nature Conservation Forum
in Horspath Village Hall.
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Despite being a grey and drizzly Friday afternoon, the ceremony still attracted about a hundred people to an enjoyable community event, and good TV and Press coverage was achieved.
Forty-seven people went into the bat tunnel,
while rather more visited the exhibition of photos of the project and enjoyed the splendid
Jubilee Cake and other refreshments provided by Oxfordshire Nature Conservation Forum
in Horspath Village Hall.
Here, Hugo Brunner, Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire is seen about to remove the Union Jack from the
Jubilee Wildlife Space plaque set up by ONCF beside the entrance near the Butts Road bridge.
This view of the Mini Digger, on the new gravel path,
gives some idea of the scale of the project.
Oxfordshire Nature Conservation Forum donated £750 towards the cost of the duck boarding for the tunnel and the 30 tonnes of gravel for the paths.
Morgan’s Mini Diggers sponsored the provision
of the 3 tonne excavator shown here, which was used to
lay the path, and a 1.2 tonne dumper truck used by volunteers to move the
gravel down from the road 400 metres away.
Hugo Brunner and other visitors are here seen adjusting their hard hats
while waiting beside the
wetlands before entering the bat hibernaculum in the tunnel.
Reflections from the water give a surrealist look to visitors entering the floodlit tunnel.
The duck boards to the right, provide a dry walkway
beside the water which is retained at the Horspath end in order to increase the humidity.
The improves the survival
prospects for the hibernating bats.
In the tunnel, visitors were able to see the bat bricks, specially made by the Norfolk Bat Group. These provide
suitable accommodation during winter hibernation for at least 12 bats in each brick.
The bricks will be installed at intervals in place of original bricks removed from the tunnel
walls. They will stay at around 7 degrees Celsius, which is ideal to keep the
bats alive while hibernating.
It is possible to sponsor the installation of these
bat bricks through donations of £9.50 per brick.
Anyone wishing to support
this project with sponsorship, should in the first instance contact Cynth
Napper, the Oxfordshire Jubilee Wildlife Spaces Co-ordinator, at the
Oxfordshire Nature Conservation Forum, by e-mail to cynth@oncf.org.uk or
by telephone on (01865) 407034. ONCF is currently working with the volunteers in
Horspath to ensure that the first batch of sponsored bricks are installed
this summer, so that when the bats return to to the tunnel in the autumn,
they will find some of their new homes ready for them.
The event concluded with refreshments provided by
Oxfordshire Nature Conservation Forum
in the Horspath Village Hall, where there was also
an exhibition of photographs showing the various stages of the project.
Here Cynth Napper, co-ordinator of the Jubilee Wildlife Spaces Scheme for ONCF,
is about to cut up the Jubilee Cake for the
volunteers and visitors to the Village Hall.
| Copyright © Martin Harris & Alan Simpson 2003 | Back to the Index | Last Updated 2003-08-24 |