Poster for Mick Jones talk

Dear Friends of Stony Stratford Library,

The next FoSSL talk at the Library will be given at 7 p.m. on Wednesday 24 October by Mick Jones. His subject will be ‘Wildlife West of Milton Keynes: Threats and Opportunities’.

Aylesbury Vale has traditionally been thought of as a wildlife desert, and the countryside to the west of Milton Keynes has relatively few areas designated as important for biodiversity. However, there is still a surprising amount of wildlife interest as well as some local specialities. We need to remind ourselves of this as pressure on the area intensifies with the expansion of Milton Keynes, the East-West Rail and Oxford-Cambridge Expressway projects, and the associated proposals for new settlements. Do we know what we want to conserve and are we being active enough to achieve this?

Mick Jones MBE has been volunteer warden at the Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust nature reserve at Dancers End, Tring for the past 36 years. During that time the reserve has grown from 78 acres to the current 211 acres, making it the oldest and largest of BBOWT’s reserves in Buckinghamshire. Mick’s interests have developed from birds and plants, through fungi and butterflies, to slime moulds, plant galls, moths and beetles. Now living in Mursley, north Bucks, he takes a special interest in the Whaddon Chase Biodiversity Opportunity Area and in conservation issues raised by the re-opening of the east-west rail line and the planned Oxford-Cambridge Expressway.

Tickets for the talk will be available at the Library (tel. 01908-562562) from Wednesday 3 October. There is no charge for tickets, but FoSSL is grateful to accept donations to cover costs and to support activities at the Library.

As always, wine, fruit juice and home-made cake will be served after the talk.