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Save The Water Vole! A River & Rowing Museum Garden At Chelsea Flower Show
By Caroline Lewis
19/05/2008
Image: Photo of a small rodent with wet fur standing on its hind legs to eat some berries
Water Vole © Andrew Parkinson, 2008
Henley's River & Rowing Museum is sponsoring a garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show which it hopes will inspire gardeners to help save the water vole.
The water vole, one of the UK's most endangered species, is the theme of 'Ratty's Refuge', on show at Chelsea from May 20 to 24 2008. As well as highlighting the need for water vole habitats, it celebrates the 100th birthday of Kenneth Grahame's classic book The Wind in the Willows, in which Ratty, a water vole, is the star.
The water vole population is crashing at a terrible rate – numbers went from just over 7 million in 1990 to under 1 million in 1998, due to predation by American mink and poor watercourse management.
It is now subject to extra protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, and the Chelsea garden has been designed to show how native planting near waterways can help to provide a green refuge for them and other wildlife, as well as being beautiful.
Plan of River & Rowing Museum Ratty’s Refuge. Courtesy the River & Rowing Museum
Paul Mainds is Trustee and Chief Executive of the River & Rowing Museum.
"Ratty is one of the most popular characters in English literature," he said, "and the garden coupled with the centenary of The Wind in the Willows provides a real opportunity to highlight the plight of the water vole."
"When the garden is translated at the River & Rowing Museum, it will be used to inspire our visitors and school parties and demonstrate what is possible. Hopefully it will also increase the number of water voles around the Museum!"
After the Chelsea Flower Show, Ratty's Refuge will be transferred to the riverside Museum, complementing its permanent exhibition on The Wind in the Willows and Thames Gallery, which explores river ecology and wildlife.
You can find out more about the garden, designed by Angela Potter and Ann Robinson, at www.rattysrefuge.co.uk.
River & Rowing Museum
Mill Meadows, Henley-on-Thames, RG9 1BF, Oxfordshire, England
T: 01491 415600
Open: Open 7 days a week:
1 May to 31 August 10.00 to 17.30
1 September to 30 April 10.00 to 17.00
Museum Cafe open from 10.30 daily
Closed: Closed Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve & New Year's Day
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