As parents prepare for their children’s imminent return to school and we are noticing the gentle shift from summer into autumn on the reserve, I’m back, with another access update from Old Moor.
Firstly, some welcome news! We have opened another hide, and it’s a goodie! Wader Scrape hide is now open. This is one of our larger hides and offers fabulous views out across the mere, and it happens to be my favourite on the reserve. This, like several others has been kitted out in warden Dave Waddington’s bay design to help people stay safe.
Many visitors have already taken advantage of the ‘tuck shop’ that we have opened, we are delighted to be able to be offer tea and coffee, ice cream and light snacks.
So that we can open more of the reserve, there is a bit of an update on what we’re asking you, the visitor to do to help everyone to stay safe too. We will soon be providing hand sanitiser at the entrance to the hides and we are asking you to wear face coverings inside the hides. By asking you to do this, it means that we don’t need to spend as much time cleaning down and can concentrate our resources on getting more of the reserve and facilities open in a safe way. We do ask that people be kind, and bear in mind that some people cannot wear masks for a variety of reasons. Please respect people's privacy and don't ask invasive questions to those not wearing a mask in our hides.
Looking forward, we are hoping to have the shop re-opened by the end of the month and our play area open once we can get a safety inspection done, I know a few of our younger visitors will be pleased about that!
Once again, thank you to everyone for your patience and understanding as we work through everything in order to keep everyone as safe as possible.
Making progress.
The screens seem to work well - not restricting light or communication. Looking forward to Wath opening too for the ‘mud’ season!