February 2025 Meeting Report:

A new member and a visitor were welcomed to the February meeting, joining our members.

We were taken on a trip along the Wilts & Berks canal. David Maloney gave us a history lesson about the canal dating from 1810. After falling into disrepair after the war and with a declining income it was abandoned. The Wilts and Berks Canal Trust took on the project in 2000, to bring nearly 70miles of the canal back to life from Melksham to Abingdon, with several link branches. A difficult task with now over 250 landowners along the canal and several areas having housing built on the route.

Howard Yardy, the Trust’s wildlife officer, then showed us all the work done to bring native wildlife back to the area. From bee routes, creating new wildflower pastures, hedge laying and creating dead hedges (instead of having bonfires), planting trees and forming scrapes (allowing winter ponds forming). There has been a tremendous increase in wildlife from newts to otters and kingfishers. Bird and bat boxes have been installed. There is now 8miles of finished canal.

Look at their website www.wbct.org.uk for further information.

Jacky