Pensthorpe to be Springwatch home
A MAJOR BBC television wildlife programme has found a new home at a West Norfolk nature reserve for its 2008 series.
BBC2's hugely popular Springwatch, fronted by Bill Oddie and Kate Humble, has descended on Pensthorpe Nature Reserve at Fakenham ready for its latest series of live broadcasts to more than four million television viewers.
The production team now has the task of installing more than 50 hidden mini cameras and miles of fibre-optic cable in time for when the programme starts on bank holiday Monday, May 26.
As the glories of spring unravel, the presenters will be introducing a colourful new cast of wildlife characters as well as welcoming back old favourites.
It is the first time the show is to be screened from Norfolk, having moved from its legendary farm in Devon.
Bill Oddie said: "Pensthorpe is an amazing place with its combination of good things to see and do as well as wonderful conservation projects going on behind the scenes. I'm thrilled that it is to be the new home of Springwatch."
Pensthorpe's general manager Deb Jordan said: "It is fantastic news for Pensthorpe that BBC Springwatch has chosen us as its new home. It is also great news for Norfolk, which is the UK's premier birdwatching destination and is blessed with many internationally important nature reserves."
Pensthorpe Nature Reserve, located in the Wensum Valley, covers more than 200 acres and celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. The River Wensum, which runs through the reserve, is a Special Area of Conservation (SAC), Europe's highest nature conservation designation.
The reserve also boasts ancient woodland, wetland and marshland habitats and is home to a wide range of mammals, including muntjac and roe deer, badgers, foxes, stoats and endangered water voles. The river also contains the endangered white- clawed crayfish, otters, brown trout and the regionally-threatened bullhead.
The conservation team at Pensthorpe also works closely with other wildlife organisations on the breeding and re-introduction of endangered British species, including the corncrake and red squirrel. They are also aiming to re-establish the European cranes that once inhabited the region in their thousands.
Springwatch regulars Simon King and Gordon Buchanan will also be joining in with the action from other locations across the UK.
For more information about Pensthorpe go online to the site: www.pensthorpe.com or contact 01328 851465.
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Thursday 09 February 2012
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