Forbury Fever and the Dirty Weekend
(Clayfield's Loggery)
June 2009

The weekend of 6th and 7th June 2009 was designated by BBC Breathing Places as "Dirty Weekend" with events across the country to encourage participation in conservation - Reading is a Breathing Places Town for the year commencing April 2009.

The regular monthly task at Clayfield on 7th June was registered as a "Dirty Weekend" task and it was decided to build a loggery, a habitat for stage beetle larvae. (The stag beetle is a protected species and a priority on Reading Borough Council’s Biodiversity Action Plan.)

Saturday, 6th June also happened to be Forbury Fever an annual event in Forbury Gardens, this year with the theme "Unite to combat Climate Change". For the first time Econet had a stall at this event to promote wildlife conservation in general as well as the activities of Econet and in particular Clayfield's Dirty Weekend task.

Despite dismal weather with light rain for much the day, Econet's stall was a great success with the stars of the day being the slowworms, especially with younger visitors.