Just fifteen miles down the road from Croydon, buried in the Surrey countryside, sits a wildlife conservation charity dedicated entirely to Britain's own species. It’s home to forty-odd animals that already live on this island, most of which you'll never see in the wild because they’re so endangered.
The British Wildlife Centre is open to the public at weekends, but on a school inset day we went one better and booked a private tour. Grandma and Grandpa came along for the ride.
We were introduced to Clare, our guide for the next three hours, a fountain of knowledge who'd been at the Centre for well over a decade. Within the first five minutes she'd told us deer eat their own antlers when they fall off. The boys liked Clare instantly.
Face To Face
We started with the owls. Long Eared, Tawny, Barn, and the boys' clear favourite, Little Owls. Clare got them close enough to look properly nose-to-beak, well outside anyone's comfort zone, if Finn's expression is anything to go by.
The boys looking less than comfortable
Next came the foxes, mum, dad, and their cubs, trotting right up to the fence to look the boys dead in the eye. Jax and Finn were loving it.
Frisky Otters & Pungent Fish
From there we hiked to the Wetland Boardwalk (loads of frogs, as promised) before stopping to feed the Centre's Otters. They were "Frisky" little critters and "Pungent" rather undersells the fish they were offered for lunch.
I've never seen an otter in the wild (that's the plan for later in the year, up in the Outer Hebrides), so watching them bound about a few feet away was genuinely special.
Sunbathing With One Of Sixty
Clare kept the facts coming as we worked our way round. The Red Squirrel Walk, the Badger Den, and, the highlight for me, the Scottish Wildcats. There are only around sixty breeding pairs left, all isolated up in the Cairngorms, and here was one having a sunbathe a few metres away. No crowds, no glass, no other visitors in sight.
More Than A Day Out
The Centre is built for visitors, but since opening in 1997 it's quietly become one of the country's leading conservation stories. A major player in UK red squirrel breeding, and instrumental in turning around the fortunes of the Water Vole, Britain's fastest-declining mammal.
It's also just become a registered charity, having always operated as a not-for-profit. I struggle to think of a local wildlife cause I'd rather back.
Three hours in, we were back at HQ. The boys were flagging in the heat by the last twenty minutes, but stayed properly engaged the whole way round.
Clare asked them what their highlight was. No debate required. A hedgehog they got to hold and stroke. They spent twenty minutes with Grogu, a Star Wars character, apparently, which delighted the boys no end.
Grogu was a delight and the boys were obsessed
Jax and Finn spent their pocket money on a notebook each from the shop, and spent the drive home listing every animal they'd seen. If only their spelling matched their growing passion for wildlife!
Would We Recommend It?
110%. I feel like a broken record saying it every fortnight, but this one earns it. Less than an hour from London, and the chance to see some of the rarest animals in the country up close, with nobody else around.
The private tour was £260. Not cheap, but worth every penny. You can also bring 10 people on the tour, so can split the cost with other families. If you can, ask for Clare, she somehow kept Grandma and Grandpa just as fascinated as the boys. We nearly asked if she did babysitting.
What Are We Loving At The Moment?
I'll do a full newsletter on this in a couple of months, but we picked up a beginner's digital camera for the boys from Fruugo and they've barely put them down. Zoom, flash and fun backgrounds, the works.
These cameras are perfect for little photographers
It makes them feel like proper little wildlife photographers.
£50 each, built for 3–8 year-olds, and seemingly indestructible so far. Thumbs up from us.
Photo Of The Fortnight
Not from the Centre this time, a few weeks back I spent an afternoon in a hide near Slough with Ned Neville, photographing rural foxes. I splashed out through Lens For Hire (a great family-run outfit for short-term lens rentals) on a 400mm f/2.8 prime lens for the afternoon.
I was pretty happy with some of the shots I took.
Next Up?
A few of you have asked what I'd recommend for older kids, in their teens. That's next fortnight's focus, including whether it's actually possible to take the family diving with wild sharks, right here in the UK.