Twyford

Ten teenagers from local schools will be finishing their final work experience task at Hurst Dinton Pastures Country Park o Friday October 16, winding up a week long programme of rangering tasks.

The 15-year-olds from The Forest School in Winnersh and Kendrick School in Reading have been digging into what it’s like to work full-time as a Hurst countryside ranger for the past week and have taken part in a variety of tasks to give them a taster of what life in the working world is like. Since Monday activities the group have taken part in include:

• Fisheries and river management

• Coppicing woodland – this involves cutting back the stems of young trees to ensure they have a longer life

• Repairing byways on the rights of way network

• Making willow sculptures for the Junior Rangers’ Nature Reserve

On Friday the young people will be putting the finishing touches to the willow arch they have created for the Junior Rangers’ Hurst Nature Reserve before reflecting on what they have learnt over the week.

Lucy Harris, Hurst countryside ranger, said: “The countryside service runs a work experience week for local school children every year at Dinton Pastures to offer young people the opportunity to learn about conservation management and practical skills while working in the great outdoors!

“The work experience group have been fantastic over the past week and have really got stuck in to the tasks that they’ve been set and so I’d like to thank them for their hard work – hopefully this week will have whetted their appetite for conservation and working outside and they will pursue a career in this field once they’ve finished their education.”

Wokingham Borough Council ~ Hurst