Branch information and events
Information on the British Deer Society (BDS) Wessex branch including events, news, and contacts.
Events
| 7 Nov 2019 | Members Evening and Photographic Competition, 7.30 pm Lyndhurst Community Centre |
| 6 Feb 2020 | Branch AGM 2020, Lyndhurst Community Centre, 7.30 pm |
Branch Contacts
| Chairman | Dorothy Ireland | d.ireland@bdsbranches.org.uk |
| Secretary | Hugh Goodman | h.goodman@bdsbranches.org.uk |
| Membership | Stephen Farr | |
| Treasurer | Karene Johnson | |
| Range Officer | David S Davies | |
| Photographic Officer | George Trebinski |
| Committee |
David Barrett, Mark Hatt-Cook, Trevor Hughes, Roger Ireland, Matthew Moore, Nigel Dewing, Terry Hoskins |
| Hon. Vet. | Keith Cutler BSc MRVCS |
Branch Areas
| Postcode | Area |
| BA12 - BA15 | Bath |
| BH | Bournemouth |
| DT | Dorchester |
| GU10 - GU12 | Guildford |
| GU14 | Guildford |
| GU17 | Guildford |
| GU21 - GU22 | Guildford |
| GU26 | Guildford |
| GU30 - GU35 | Guildford |
| GU46 - GU47 | Guildford |
| GU51 - GU52 | Guildford |
| GY | Guernsey |
| JE | Jersey |
| PO | Portsmouth |
| RG | Reading |
| SL | Slough |
| SN8 - SN9 | Swindon |
| SO | Southampton |
| SP | Salisbury |
News
AGM
The Branch AGM took place on February 7 at Lyndhurst Community Centre, the Officers remain the same:
Dorothy Ireland Chairman
Hugh Goodman Secretary
Karene Johnson Treasurer
Committee: David Barrett, David Davies, Mark Hatt-Cook, Stephen Farr, Roger Ireland, Nigel Dewing, Trevor Hughes, Matthew Moore. Terry Hoskins was also welcomed as a new committee member.
Terry Cooper stepped down due to other commitments. We thanked Terry for all the hard work he put into the Dorset area. Terry will still be in the background if help is needed.
We also said farewell to Stan Kemish. Stan joined the committee 50 years ago when Wessex was formed as a branch. A great supporter of the Branch but also BDS itself, Stan became our President a few years ago until 2018. He retires with a wealth of knowledge, not just of deer but on the BDS as well, going back 50 years. Thank you, Stan, for your tremendous support over the years.
Sadly our guest speaker could not make it, due to a flu type virus. We shall invite Stephen Proud of Surrey Wildlife Trust back at a later date to give us an update on the red deer on Pirbright.
Fencing
A year ago I was asked to accompany Forestry Commission Works Supervisor Keith Mansbridge and Forestry Commission keeper Maarten Ledeboer in the New Forest to look at the state of fencing around New Park Brockenhurst, the home of the New Forest Show and where the fallow and red herds like to be for tranquility during most of the year.
The fencing in a great number of places had fallen down. This was allowing the ponies to get into the showground causing some problems. The deer, on the other hand, are welcome to come and go.
We discussed various ways how the new fencing should be, the best way forward was very high tensile netting and two top strands, every so often split poles and smaller poles with gaps for the fawns/calves to get through. This can be seen from the photographs of the before and after at one section.
To complete the whole of New Park will take about two years, however, the first section has now been completed. The deer have taken to it very well, using the areas with the poles, etc. to come and go. It will be monitored to see how the fawns cope with it later in the year, but the smaller poles can be adjusted if need be.
By working together this has proved a valuable partnership to enable the deer to enter into a safe and quiet environment. Thanks must also go to the contractors who have done a marvelous job so far.
Antlers
Thanks to those members who have donated antlers for us to sell at shows. We are still happy to receive single roe antlers along with fallow. The stories of what members of the public make out of them are quite fascinating to listen to when they buy them at shows.
We look forward to meeting up with you at shows and other events throughout the year.
Email addresses
Email addresses, another plea for them, we cannot send the newsletters by post anymore it is too costly and I know some members must be missing out, so please send us your email address.
