Kinson Newsletter for June 2013 to September 2013

Newsletter No 33 Compiled : 23rd May 2012. Welcome to Kinson and especially to our Moonfleet of Kinson website. We thank everyone who looks at our Kinson website which we strive to keep regularly updated with wide-ranging subjects and topics. Researching local history focussed around the central Kinson region continues to give us tremendous satisfaction. Since our last newsletter we have shown students accompanied by staff from the Bourne Academy around St Andrew`s church in Kinson in connection with a smuggling project and it was also pleasing to meet up with members of the Kinson Horticultural Society at Pelhams. During the springtime and into summer we have also been liaising with Mr Ted Taylor and visiting Turbary Common. We are hoping that the weather improves and we are certainly looking forward to interesting times ahead and getting out-and-about and making the most of the remainder of the springtime and throughout the summer months to come. As always, we have many commitments within the Kinson Community and some new projects planned. At the time of writing our latest newsletter, our thoughts are firmly on recording and counting wild orchids in the Kinson region up to June and July. Since the last autumn, throughout the winter and well into springtime, we have been monitoring the progress of emerging bee orchids. Although gps recording over 360, it is very likely that only a small percentage of them will reach the flowering stage. A small number of common spotted orchids continue to astound us and a minute twayblade of around 73mm tall manages to keep going despite the constant nibbling by rabbits. It will be our 25th orchid census on Kinson Common this year and we hope to improve on last year`s finds. At this location, the water table has remained high for a long time in the bogland and the lower valley remains very heavy going in some areas with developing scrub moving in. Regular checks around Kinson for other orchid species such as pyramidal will continue. When visiting Turbary Common with Mr Ted Taylor, which truly is one of the best conservation sites in Bournemouth, one quest each year is to find the elusive bog orchid. Who knows, perhaps one day we will find one? During our May visit, the stunning pink of the numerous louseworts were eye-catching and the vibrant blue of the abundant heath milkwort was wonderful. We make no apologies for repeating again that it really is important to build upon the foundations already laid and to maintain those all important little bridges with all age groups in the Kinson community. We never have to look for any new projects and we are very honoured that organisations approach us personally to be involved with them. Since we started this website back in 2003, We have continued to run on the firm principles of making our content as educational, informative and as interesting as possible. Running a Communigate website is fun and we greatly enjoy using our own materials and photographs which we take regularly or obtain from our extensive archives. For the remainder of 2013 and weather permitting, we are pleased to offer occasional Kinson walks to those groups & societies, of all age groups, who hold their own public liability insurance. This is felt to be the ideal way to see all the interesting places, flora and fauna that the Kinson locality has to offer. We are genuinely delighted with the interest you continue to show in our Butterflies, Isaac Gulliver, Kinson Wild Flowers, Kinson Smugglers and our Old Maps webpages. As well as making our Home pages colourful and distinctive, they are kept updated to reflect many changes happening throughout the year. Our Moonfleet Kinson Wild Birds Photo Gallery is updated from time to time and local ornithology continues to be an important focus of ours. In 2012, we recorded 61+ different types of wild birds locally. Welcomed visitors to Kinson last year included, blackcaps, chiffchaffs, cuckoos, little egret, whitethroats and willow warblers. Living in a well populated area of north Bournemouth, we are fortunate to have good access to nearby parks, open spaces, nature reserves, a river and even woods. While Pelhams Park and Kinson Common can be easy to reach, Cuckoo Woods, Millhams Mead and Turbary Common should not be overlooked in 2013. Another branch of natural history which we never tire of and always find extremely interesting is butterflies. Judging by the recent weather, it will be interesting to see how all local butterfly species fare this summer. At the time of writing this newsletter, brimstone, comma, green-veined white, holly blue, orange-tip, peacock, small tortoiseshell, small white, large white and speckled wood butterflies have already been recorded. Numbers generally not very high. Over 24 species of butterflies can be recorded around the Kinson region annually. Butterfly recording in 2012 was somewhat down for resident and visiting migrant species. The special butterflies we intend to look for this year include: clouded yellow, marbled white, painted lady, silver studded blue and silver-washed fritillary. We must also not forget the grayling which is a typical heathland species and this too is just about managing to hold on in Kinson. It remains to be seen whether our recording of a grizzled skipper will be repeated this summer? There`s always something worth rediscovering about Old Kinson, whether it be in connection with St. Andrew`s church or other local areas. We enjoy publishing details so that others can also share freely this information. Even the Kinson smugglers and especially Isaac Gulliver will be remembered while people of all ages continue to enjoy studying them. Our gps equipment is used on a wide-range of projects and we continue to add additional details to a personal Map project we have been working on since 2009. As well as central Kinson, areas such as Millhams Mead, Pelhams Park, Kinson Common, Turbary Common and Cuckoo Woods have been included. This has allowed us to produce maps covering the four seasons and wide-ranging topics in connection with flora and fauna to be found around north Bournemouth. One of our main aims throughout our website is to encourage people of all age groups to take an interest in their local community and to be aware of the rich history and heritage which an older and modern Kinson still retains. All our published photographs and maps have to be under 50k. If you require something on a much larger scale, do please contact us as we may be able to help you. Many pages within our website are set up and allowed to run without much maintenance required on our part. Please feel free to download any information you require. All we ever ask is that if this information is to be published, please acknowledge the source in the names of R.D & J. Haskell. As much as we like to be helpful in the local community, we regret that we cannot assist with any family history enquiries or researches. In all our newsletters we always strive to be positive and say it`s good to be involved locally and such involvement brings with it genuine satisfaction, stimulates new friendships & bonds the local community even closer together. One such place which really achieves this has to be The Kinson Community Centre, which proudly boasts royal approval (also a Green Flag for the parkland) and a first rate management team, which strives to offer a wonderful wide range of daytime and evening activities for local people and visitors.There are also many interesting display areas and even work by local artists` can be purchased. The Pelhams Park Leisure Centre (formerly Roko) is now well established and details of all their activities and events can be obtained from Bournemouth Council. A safe tarmac route for walkers and cyclists through Pelhams Park leads directly to the leisure centre at the rear of the Kinson Community Centre. There are also a whole host of other opportunities for those interested in outdoor activities and who care about "access for all" to local areas which are so richly deserving of protected status for wildlife and responsible daily use and enjoyment by everyone. Bournemouth Council continues to support keen volunteers and recognised conservation groups exist throughout north Bournemouth. Summer/Autumn voluntary work is a wonderful way of seeing the great outdoors, also giving the local community a much needed helping hand. If you have time to spare and would like to assist in numerous worthy local conservation causes, please contact Borough countryside officers on 01202 535140 whom we are sure can supply useful information about volunteering. If you have any older or more modern memories about Kinson, please consider letting us copy them so that we can share them with others who are also interested in Old Kinson. Then & now photographs are very appealing today. Over a long period of time many photographs of the main Kinson area have been well publicised. We ourselves are always interested in photographs of hidden corners and nooks which are not easy to recognise today. We continue to look for old local photographs. If you have information or old photographs you would be willing to share with others on our website, do please contact us. It is important that we all share our memories, ensuring that a generation now growing up can also be informed of them and share in them as well. If you have an interest in a Kinson topic which we have not covered to date, please inform us and we will look into the matter to see if we can cover it. Throughout the year we devote some time to astronomy. If you would like to spend time with us, do feel free to contact us. If enough people contact us, we may be able to undertake an occasional event in the near future. We extend our very best wishes to everyone who is involved in the local community of Kinson and the wider community of Bournemouth to which we all belong. We look forward to hearing from you and we continue to fully appreciate the benefits of belonging to the Dorset Communigate community.