Rooksbury Mill Nature Reserve; A School Outing for Weekly Walk #18

I spent last week at Broughton Primary School on a work experience placement, and as such I didn't get away for my usual weekly walk, but I did join the children on a school outing at Rooksbury Mill Nature reserve near Andover for a short walk and some pond dipping.

Rooksbury Mill refers to the grade two listed building that straddles the River Anton. The two lakes or ponds were formed by gravel extraction to build the A303 and now the site has become home to a wide range of habitats, making for a nice area to escape daily life, go fishing, or learn about the pond.

A CSI esque mobile lab and the team from the Hi-Teck Wild-Trek Trailer greeted us and I remember thinking how I never had anything that cool when I was a child. After they'd scooped pond into their nets and examined for pond life, the children got to see their creatures in high definition on a big screen, which was really interesting as I've never, for example, seen a baby-pike or Mayfly up so close.

I'll have to come back again to enjoy the serenity of the walk, but I must admit it was interesting to stop and determine types of trees by their leaves and examine bugs in one of the fields. The reserve have worked hard to improve water quality and encourage species to thrive, and it really does make for a more beautiful walk, and is actually one of the main routes into town, giving even more of an excuse to get out and take in the aesthetic.

Information on Rooksbury Mill from the Test Valley Council website.

Read more about the Hi-Tech Wild-Trek Trailer and their wildlife discovery days, here.