EDITORIAL
The Spring Newsletter was somewhat late, but the summer Newsletter is going to be very late. I was hoping that once the Millennium booklet was finished that I would be able to get back onto programme. Unfortunately, there was the little matter of the Annual Report. That too is late, but at least it is now complete. Hopefully, I will be able to complete the Autumn Newsletter somewhere near the target date in about a month from now! I don't know what a sudden rush of publications will do to our Treasurer's cash flow!
There's plenty of variety in this edition. You are going to be transported from a badger sett in rural Lancashire to a ringing camp in Hungary after extricating yourselves from the brambles of Duxbury Woods. All this without resorting to the world wide web, which, nevertheless is waiting for you under the guidance of one of our former chairmen. Nice to hear from you again, Mike! Keep in touch and try to get out more! The regulars are there in the form of the Insect and Bird reports and general information at the back. Please keep the articles coming, and if anyone has given me articles which have not appeared, don’t hesitate to let me know, because my filing system isn't all that it could be and my memory is even worse.! Nothing is ever lost, but items can be occasionally mislaid.
I have just read in the Evening Post that the Duxbury Woods Action Group is meeting the planners tonight to discuss the now infamous road. I wish them well and hope that a satisfactory resolution of the problem can be found. The Society has made available natural history records to both the consultants, who are preparing the Environmental Impact Assessment for the Council, and to the Action Group.
From the other side of town there is more bad news as it now looks as if Gale Moss is going to be sacrificed at the Developer's altar. The new roundabout, which has been constructed for Botany Bay at Hartwood, has been provided with a spur leading to Gale Moss, which is far in excess of what would be necessary for farm access. Its days have probably been numbered for a long time, despite being designated as green belt in the Local Plan, but since the realisation of the pub and leisure centre just along the A674, its fate has probably been sealed. It is now just a nice little infill site with jobs potential and the added attraction of being next to the motorway. Lapwings of Chorley, where will you go now?