{"id":1848,"date":"2024-05-16T11:31:25","date_gmt":"2024-05-16T11:31:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/shmuel"},"modified":"2026-01-15T11:47:49","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T11:47:49","slug":"newsletter-may-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kingsdownconservation.co.uk\/?p=1848","title":{"rendered":"Newsletter 5th May 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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NEWSLETTER 5 MAY 2024<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/div>
On 26 April a group of us \u2013 around 25 members \u2013 visited the Wildwood centre in Blean Woods. Some of us presumed this was all about bison but in fact it was far more varied and fascinating than that. We were taken on a two-hour tour of large and ingenious enclosures, within which we glimpsed a huge variety of animals and birds. Many of them are part of Wildwood\u2019s breeding and reintroduction programme, being species which are either extinct in this country, or endangered. These included cranes, storks, red squirrels, pine martens and scores of water voles, which are part of a hugely ambitious project but which shyly kept out of sight in their nest boxes. Their decline has been catastrophic, due to habitat loss and predatory minks, and Wildwood has the most ambitious project in the UK, both here and in Devon.
\u00a0 We also saw three somewhat disheveled bison (they were moulting I think) – part of a larger herd which roam the proper woods and for which tunnels are being built, so visitors can watch them in safety. There were also some warthogs, which are fantastically useful for rewilding as they break up the earth and encourage new growth. And, surprisingly, there were three huge brown bears which had been rescued from Bulgaria where they\u2019d been traumatized by captivity in a compound where they were kept for trophy hunting. Now they were gaily frolicking in their own pond which was a totally delight. And, following on from our choughs talk a few weeks ago, we saw a breeding flock which will be released in Dover when they\u2019re ready.
\u00a0 In other words, it was totally fascinating and well worth a visit. If you take children they\u2019ll find a fabulous adventure playground, plus a caf\u00e9. All in all, a marvellous day out.
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Items to look forward to:<\/strong><\/u><\/div>
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Tomorrow May 6th <\/strong>\u00a0 Martin Crowther, Maison Dieu Engagement Officer will talk on \u2018Reawakening a Gothic Fantasy\u2019\u00a0
Discover the fascinating history of Dover’s Maison Dieu and find out about an exciting Heritage Lottery-funded project to breathe new life into this historic and iconic building. Learn about the conservation programme, the decorative scheme, how the building is being made accessible and the ambitious activity plan to bring in new audiences, as well as how to get involved.\u00a0 Kingsdown Village Hall 7pm.\u00a0
\u00a0 In other news, please remember to sign up for Sue Buckingham\u2019s flower walk on 28 June<\/strong>. They\u2019re always great, but she can only take 15 \u2013 20 people so do email Sue Lamoon (events@kingsdownconservation.co.uk<\/a>) to secure a place. Meet outside the Zetland at 9.30 for a three-hour walk up to Walmer Castle and along Hawkshill Down.
\u00a0 \u00a0And do remember our AGM<\/strong> at the Kings Head on 3 July at 7pm. Food provided and the first drink is on us.
\u00a0 \u00a0You might also notice that we\u2019ve become plagued by Alexanders the huge, smelly and invasive plants which will smother our more vulnerable flowers.
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Some of us have been out with shears to cut them down before they set seed, which they will soon, so any action is necessary pretty quickly. Do help by doing some cutting yourselves; it\u2019s surprisingly satisfying and you\u2019ll be helping the precious ecology of our very special, coastal landscape.
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\u00a0 And isn’t it great that it’s stopped blooming raining.\u00a0 All best wishes from your committee Alison, Anne-Marie, Debby, Ian, Jerry and Sue<\/div>

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NEWSLETTER 5 MAY 2024On 26 April a group of us \u2013 around 25 members \u2013 visited the Wildwood centre in Blean Woods. Some of us presumed this was all about bison but in fact it was far more varied and fascinating than that. We were taken on a two-hour tour of large and ingenious enclosures, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_header_footer","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[38],"class_list":["post-1848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-members-newsletters","tag-newsletter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kingsdownconservation.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kingsdownconservation.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kingsdownconservation.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kingsdownconservation.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kingsdownconservation.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1848"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/kingsdownconservation.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1848\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2150,"href":"https:\/\/kingsdownconservation.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1848\/revisions\/2150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kingsdownconservation.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kingsdownconservation.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kingsdownconservation.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}