Children and adults have a new platform where they can delve into the creatures living in the Norfolk Broads.
A new boardwalk at How Hill in Ludham has been hosting families on summer holiday fun days to explore the bugs, reptiles and fish swimming around the dykes off the River Ant.
It replaces, and adds to, a previous wooden platform that was rotting away after a busy 12 years of use by schools and families visiting the environmental study centre.
Director Simon Partridge said: “Our residential and day visitors use the boardwalk virtually every day.
“We had to curtail its use early in the year for safety reasons, but the new one, which has plastic piles to stop them rotting, is now in full use.”
Schools use it for dyke dipping, netting a mix of mini beasts including newts, sticklebacks, rams horn snails and dragonfly and damselfly nymphs. Some older students also do water quality comparison checks as part of their environmental science work.
The project was paid for thanks to an 80pc grant from the government’s Farming in Protected Landscapes programme which supports schemes that help people discover, enjoy and understand their local landscape. The balance came from the Friends of How Hill who regularly assist the charity-run centre.
Find out more about How Hill and its work, including family fun days and adult courses, by visiting www.howhilltrust.org.uk or its Facebook page.
