Check out the Photos here: https://picasaweb.google.com/101390618614769540246/BritishWildlifeCentreApr2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCLboo-CT6d_H7AE&feat=directlink
I learned about the British Wildlife Centre when surfing a while back and seemed like it could be interesting so I made it my target destination for the county of Surrey in my ‘Round Britain Whizz’ (only hard-core aficionados of Radio 4 may understand that last pun). I had deliberately chosen 29th April (the Royal Wedding) as part of my strategy to avoid the wall-to-wall coverage on TV radio and Tubeyou. Not that I am indifferent to it, I did watch the highlights, and I wish them well, but this way I avoided the tedious ‘build up’. My day panned out like this...
0830 Stuck in the draughty waiting room at Andover station – how on earth did this place get Station Of The Year?
0836 Train has arrived. As predicted the carriage is deserted apart from some rail staff probably on triple time gabbing away about nothing in particular. Ironically they have chosen the ‘quiet zone’ carriage to do this? I get my revenge by ostentatiously making a loud mobile phone call. The weather is a little dull which is not looking good for the wedding goers considering all the fine stuff we have been enjoying.
0930 Lots of police at Clapham Junction. Saw one poor chap sniffed positive by a dog and hauled aside. I found I am not able to buy my daysaver ticket at C Junction so it’ll mean a more expensive journey and ....aargh! I also got on the wrong train ...
1013 I am caught up with the wedding goers heading into London Victoria when catching my train back to Clapham Junction to correct my mistake. Everyone seems to be looking happy – lots of children in party dresses.
1035 Finally on my train to Lingfield where hopefully I shall not have any more hiccups.
1038 Skirting Croydon's suburban sprawl...weather is still overcast.
1050 Sunshine has broken out as we trundle through the Surrey countryside. I have succumbed and turned on the radio to listen to The Wedding. They seem to have recruited Jonathon Agnew the cricket commentator – what is that all about? An excited woman commentator shrieks, ‘and Kate’s dress is a...’ then we went into a tunnel.
1304. That’s better. Sitting down to lunch at the Wildlife Centre having had an uneventful bike ride from Lingfield station to the BWC about 4 miles outside town. It's a small zoo dedicated to UK wildlife and has around 40 species from bees to polecats and brown rats to Wildcats. They have organised it so that they feed animals every 30 minutes and give a talk so there is usually something going on. I did wonder how it was going to go as the stoats and weasels were nowhere to be seen. However, the otters were fun and very photogenic. The keeper said they spend most of their time playing – even the 11 year old adult.
0836 Train has arrived. As predicted the carriage is deserted apart from some rail staff probably on triple time gabbing away about nothing in particular. Ironically they have chosen the ‘quiet zone’ carriage to do this? I get my revenge by ostentatiously making a loud mobile phone call. The weather is a little dull which is not looking good for the wedding goers considering all the fine stuff we have been enjoying.
0930 Lots of police at Clapham Junction. Saw one poor chap sniffed positive by a dog and hauled aside. I found I am not able to buy my daysaver ticket at C Junction so it’ll mean a more expensive journey and ....aargh! I also got on the wrong train ...
1013 I am caught up with the wedding goers heading into London Victoria when catching my train back to Clapham Junction to correct my mistake. Everyone seems to be looking happy – lots of children in party dresses.
1035 Finally on my train to Lingfield where hopefully I shall not have any more hiccups.
1038 Skirting Croydon's suburban sprawl...weather is still overcast.
1050 Sunshine has broken out as we trundle through the Surrey countryside. I have succumbed and turned on the radio to listen to The Wedding. They seem to have recruited Jonathon Agnew the cricket commentator – what is that all about? An excited woman commentator shrieks, ‘and Kate’s dress is a...’ then we went into a tunnel.
1304. That’s better. Sitting down to lunch at the Wildlife Centre having had an uneventful bike ride from Lingfield station to the BWC about 4 miles outside town. It's a small zoo dedicated to UK wildlife and has around 40 species from bees to polecats and brown rats to Wildcats. They have organised it so that they feed animals every 30 minutes and give a talk so there is usually something going on. I did wonder how it was going to go as the stoats and weasels were nowhere to be seen. However, the otters were fun and very photogenic. The keeper said they spend most of their time playing – even the 11 year old adult.
The deer were good to look at but didn’t do much – I found out by asking afterwards that they cull their herd every 2 years to limit its size. There must be a lot of culling of wild deer too
1400 I have noticed that there appears to be a lot of other middle aged men with large cameras wandering about on their own. Is there something Freudian about that? I don’t want to think about it too much.
1530 A lot of the animals that were asleep before have now woken up. The polecats are I think my favourite. They are a lovely two-toned brown and saffron colour and their faces are very expressive. It’s an opportunity to see close up what you would have no chance of seeing in the wild, and just to get an appreciation of the size of some of them.
1800: Sitting on Lingfield station sipping from a can of Scrumpy Jack after cycling back from the British Wildlife Centre. Impressions... Favourable - I didn't think I was going to enjoy it as much as I did. The talks every 30 minutes kept things moving and there was lots that I didn’t write about - like the noisy showdown in the heron’s nest between three herons when the nest was patently only meant for two! There were some disappoints though. a ‘No show’ was a badger called Toby who positively refused to come out of his sett even for peanuts. A case of 'Toby or not Toby ' – ah – sorry about that!
1530 A lot of the animals that were asleep before have now woken up. The polecats are I think my favourite. They are a lovely two-toned brown and saffron colour and their faces are very expressive. It’s an opportunity to see close up what you would have no chance of seeing in the wild, and just to get an appreciation of the size of some of them.
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