Page 8 - Issue 80 Online

WILD W A TERS OF
WILD WATERS OF

WICKEN FEN
WICKEN FEN

Dawn on Wicken Fen in Spring

urn back the clock 400 years and Alongside maintaining paths, many
The Fens looked very different. miles of fences (to contain our 125 semi-
TMuch wetter in winter, for a start. wild ponies and 40 Highland cattle),
Manea was a tiny island surrounded leading guided walks and school visits,
by swamp. Since then, a succession of and monitoring the rich wildlife - from
drainage efforts shaped The Fens that Great Crested Newts to Cranes (Britain’s
we know today: a rich area for agriculture tallest bird, and one of the most illusive
with sophisticated drainage systems too!), one of our ranger tasks involves
that ensure rainwater is sent to sea, controlling water levels. Because Wicken
rather than turning our village back into Fen is a small area of wetland surrounded
an island!

If you want to see The Fens as they were,
you just need to travel twenty miles.
Never drained, Wicken Fen is the National
Trust’s oldest nature reserve. It celebrates
its 125th birthday on 1st May. I have
worked as a ranger at Wicken for the last
six of those (first volunteering there as
a teenager in 2005). Summarising a day
in the life of a Wicken Fen ranger is near
impossible, as no two days are quite the
same!
Highland Cattle on the Fen
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