Sophie

Ranger Sophie Walpole

We welcome a new ranger at Paxton Pits starting today. Her name is Sophie Walpole and she came to us from the Wildlife Trust at Cambourne.

Sophie's post was created as a one-year post to cover Kirsty Drew's maternity leave, but her role will be slightly different. All rangers have to cover the basics like practical work, managing volunteers, health and safety checks and reporting, but we usually have a specialist role as well. Sophie will be responsible for supporting all our volunteers.

It's a lot deeper than it looks!
(Check out Matt's armpits)
The new outlet from Island Pit.

In the next few weeks she will be getting to know all of the volunteers, whether outdoor, indoor, midweek or week-end and asking them "What is the best thing I can do to support your work?" She will be also be looking for gaps which we might fill by recruiting and training new volunteers.

Meanwhile we have another busy week ahead of us on the Reserve. The drainage scheme at Pumphouse Pit is proceeding despite the mud, and the outlet from Island Pit  is now complete.

The strangest job on the list this week concerns the removal of all the brown-tailed moth larvae from Love's Farm housing estate. It is likely that they came in with shrubs that were planted when the houses were built. The caterpillars are covered with hairs that break off and can cause eye and skin irritation. I will let you know how we get on!