Country life
Countryside news
By Tony Ridd
British Science Week - Discovery Bay
British Science Week 2017 , arrived with a bang on the Island last month thanks to Discovery Bay , a grand celebration of the natural world at both ends of the Bay in Shanklin and Sandown .
A cold and murky Saturday didn ’ t deter eager Bayologists from visiting Shanklin Rowing Club where an amazing array of fossils , specimens , museum collections , live bugs and the microscopes and specialist equipment with which to examine them . The first Discovery Bay walk headed off for Horse Ledge at the southern tip of the Bay , following the tide out to explore rockpools and reefs for wildlife ancient and modern . Drs . Roger Herbert and Martin Munt identified a wonderful diversity of fossils and sealife , from brachiopods to sea anemones . The discovery of a tiny starfish was quite literally a star moment as Common Starfish , despite the name , are a rare find on the Island . Sunday ’ s walk was along the Yaverland beach toward Redcliff , searching for fossils with the expert help of Dr . Jeremy Lockwood and Alex Peaker . Amazing Bay wildlife from 100 million years ago was found – clams , oysters , shark spines , corals , dinosaur bone and most spectacularly – a plesiosaur vertebra ! Ian Boyd at Artecology and Arc explains , “ Discovery Bay is a partnership between Sandown ’ s science organisations : Dinosaur Isle , IW Zoo , Arc and Artecology with great help from local universities , IW Natural History Society and Tina Whitmore at the excellent iWatch Wildlife project . Discovery Bay is all about uncovering and exploring the extraordinary diversity of natural world accessible between Luccombe and Culver .” A full gallery from the weekend will be available on Arc and Shaping the Bay ’ s Facebook pages as well as www . arcconsulting . co . uk and iWatchWildlife will be collating a full list of all species discovered .
New gardening area at County Show
This year ’ s Royal Isle of Wight County Show on 25th June will see the launch of a brand-new area ; Gardening & Outdoor Living , sponsored by Jewsons . Ten inspirational show gardens are being planned , created by local designers , organisations and charities to showcase their skills and inspire us all with ideas to take away and recreate at home . It will house the new County Show Theatre space , which will host the Show ’ s ‘ Gardeners Question Time ’ and throughout the day a timetable of fascinating seminars , demonstrations and workshops . If you would like more information and how to apply for a show garden pitch or trade stand go to the RIWAS website www . riwas . org . uk or call 0845 226 9098 .
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