Page 44 - link magazine

44 The Link Magazine • April 2006
Gardens needed to open for cancer charity
Gardens may just be recovering from the winter chill, but now's the
time to plan to take part in the West Swindon Open Gardens in aid
of Breakthrough Breast Cancer on 17 and 18 June.
This is the fifth year it has taken place and organiser Lesley Dredge
is hoping a lot more gardeners will come forward and open up. Last
year nearly £3,000 was raised for the charity.
bow of colours to brighten For details call Lesley on 772869. She will also be talking about the
open gardens at Shaw Residents' Association meeting on Monday 3
your home this Spring! April, 8.30pm in Shaw Village Hall, Ramleaze Drive.
Charisma Blinds - the place for quality and value
Manufacturers and suppliers of all types of blinds Water meadows get a facelift
Full fitting service or cash and carry
Factory showroom open Monday to Thursday 9.30am - 5.30pm Work on reshaping the River Ray floodplain near Westlea got
Friday 9.30am - 5pm, Saturday 10am - 4pm underway at the end of February and pedestrians and cyclists have
been able to follow progress daily as the new channel has been dug
BSS House, Cheney Manor Ind. Est., Swindon. Tel: 01793 434584
out and features introduced.

TIMBER DECKIN
GREAT AESTHETIC APPEAL
- I N HARMONY WITH THE
ENVIRONMENT
- DESIGN FLEXIBILITY TO BLEF,
INTO YOUR GARDEN AND HOM
- CREATE ADDITIONAL SPACE
THOSE SOCIAL OCCASIONS OF
JUST TO RELAX
- PRESSURE TREATED TIMBER
FOR A LONG LIFE
- CALL FOR A FREE
CONSULTATION AND QUOTATI4
Harry Barton, Wiltshire Wildlife Trust conservation policy officer at the River Ray.
765901 STEPHEN NEVILLE TIMBER DECKING The canalised river can be seen on the right. The new course will meander across the
TEL: 07834 ENHANCING THE AESTHETIC APPEAL meadow which will flood in heavy rains to create a wildlife rich environment
OF YOUR HOME
"We've scraped off the top layer 1 to 2 metres depth will be dug
of soil from the meadow and put it near the cycle bridge so people
to one side and will replace it once will be able to see wetland crea-
tures such as dragonflies carrying
WAWBS Sayers, the Wiltshire Wildlife out their spectacular aerial displays
the channel is complete," said Jo
Trust's Water for Wildlife Project
in the summer months. Wildlife
will find its own way to the new
Officer, who is managing the
home."
project. "In this way all the seeds
The River Ray project is a part-
from the plants in the meadow,
which are lying dormant in the nership project between the Wilt-
topsoil, will be put back. They shire Wildlife Trust and its funders
should thrive as though the dis- the Environment Agency, Biffa-
turbance never happened." ward, npower, Swindon Council
The new channel will be only and Swindon Services.
half the width of the river which
had been turned into a straight Adopt me!
drainage canal. This means a faster
water flow and ensures water lev-
els will remain deep enough for
fish to move up and downstream
when its shallower in the summer.
The banks will be sloped so that,
although narrower, the river can
FREE DELIVERY spread out when necessary to hold
as much water as before. Some
COMPETITIVE vertical cliffs will be put in on the
PRICES bends to provide kingfisher nest-
ing banks.
OPEN 7 DAYS Shallow stony riffles are being
put in the river bed. Once in place,
BUILDING MATERIALS fish will be able to spawn on the
gravel and the movement of water
paving • Driveways •
helps to aerate it. To help the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust
"We only get a few very small bring back wildlife to areas like the
fish in the river at the moment, but River Ray, adopt an otter, a duck
these improvements should bring or a Beltie Galloway cow. Or give
Side of Manor Garden Centre, Cheney Manor Ind Est, more chubb, roach and dace into one to somebody else. Details from
Swindon. Tel: 484455 the new improved habitat," said 01380 725670 or
Jo. "After all this is done, a pond of www.wiltshirewildlife.org