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NEWSLETTER No. 15 -  Summer 1986

WEST MIDLANDS BRANCH, BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION

Contents

We made it! Thanks to the generosity of members, considerable levels of grant aid and wholehearted support from the national society, Monk Wood, a few miles outside Worcester, has been purchased jointly by the Worcs N.C.T. and the BBCS. The wood will be managed between the Trust and ourselves as a joint reserve, and members of both bodies will be able to visit the woodland and enjoy for themselves the rich wildlife it contains. This is by no means the end of the story, however, as the branch are keen to work with the Worcs Trust to secure Goosehill and Trench Woods, two further Harris woodlands, which are excellent for butterflies and now up for sale. The purchase price has to be found within the next couple of months and further money, therefore, is desperately required. We are keeping open the Butterfly Woodland Appeal and if you have not yet made a donation or are able to give more please do so. The address to send money is Butterfly Woodland Appeal, c/o 48 Penny Park Lane, Keresley, Coventry, W. Midlands (make cheque payable to BBCS (West Midlands branch)).

Our Winter events were generally well-supported by members and it was encouraging to have extra help on our work days. The visit to Stratford Butterfly Farm proved popular and we are grateful to Gareth Ireland and his team for their hospitality. We now have a permanent display at Stratford, thanks to the hard work of our Press & Publicity Officer, John Reeve, and we trust that will provide the Society with greatly needed publicity and result in many new members for the branch.

At a national level, the new sub-committee structure referred to in an earlier newsletter is slowly becoming established and West Midlands branch members are playing a full part in this. Ron Hatton continues as Chairman of the Branch Liaison sub-committee, and Martyn Davies has agreed to chair the new Information & Education committee. John Reeve and myself are involved with the Publicity/Fundraising and Conservation committees respectively.

Two major events planned for this year are the Moth & Butterfly Day School at Warwick University on 26th April (see full report in next newsletter) and, of course, our third annual Cotswold Butterfly Festival at Postlip Hall, Winchcombe on Sunday, 13th July. We urge all members, especially those who have not been before, to come along to the Festival, which this year, more than ever, promises to be a great family day out. Fingers are already crossed that for this year's Festival the sun will shine non-stop!

The usual varied field trip programme has been arranged for the Summer and we are again providing the opportunity of a coach outing to a superb butterfly habitat. This year our destination is Cumbria to see the southernmost locality for the Scotch Argus, together with Dark Green & High Brown Fritillaries, Grayling and Northern Brown Argus. A booking form is included with this newsletter.

Our photographic competition sponsored by the Portman Building Society continues for 1986 and we hope that the success of last year's competition will encourage an even higher entry this year. New entry forms will be circulated with the Winter newsletter.

We are grateful to Coriacfous Ltd who have generously sponsored the printing of this newsletter.