Activities to help nature at reserve

The morning of activities took place at Clark's Bog, a private nature reserve just outside of Morpeth.

Members of the 1st Ponteland Boys’ Brigade, which engages weekly with more than 18 young people, have completed some useful community and conservation programme activities.

A group from the Company and Seniors sections spent a soggy morning earlier this month at Clark's Bog, a private nature reserve just outside of Morpeth, with reserve warden Peter Matthewson.

The Boys’ Brigade provides the opportunity to develop existing skills and learn new ones through a fun, balanced and challenging programme of activities.

The Company section, ages 11 to 15, programme called Discover is based on three areas – community, recreation and skills – and the Seniors section, ages 15 to 18, programme is called Challenge +.

Members of the 1st Ponteland Boys’ Brigade installed a total of eight bird nesting boxes at the site.

The boys are encouraged to have a say and help shape their own programme and this time they chose to make eight bird nesting boxes as part of the community and conservation aspects of their programmes.

A 1st Ponteland Boys’ Brigade spokesman said: “The boys worked very hard and enjoyed being able to install their boxes on the trees around the reserve.

“During their visit, they helped the owner with some small tasks and assisted with the construction of an island, which is going in the middle of the pond that is being built on the site.

“Peter told them about the wildlife that has been seen within the reserve.”

For more information about 1st Ponteland, which also has Anchors and Juniors sections, go to www.1stpontbb.org