Volunteers build bridge at butterfly reserve

Volunteers have built a bridge to help the team care for a butterfly nature reserve.

Eleven members of Butterfly Conservation constructed the wooden walkway over a seasonal stream at the charity's Millhoppers Pasture site near Tring, Hertfordshire.

The bridge will help volunteers access parts of the site that need care and prevent areas from becoming overgrown.

Chris Hilling, a volunteer and professional joiner, said: "I've done joinery and built staircases but never a bridge: for most of us this was stuff that we'd never done before and it was a physical and logistical challenge, but hugely rewarding."

Millhoppers Pasture covers three acres (1.2 hectares) and is home to a number of butterfly species including the Common Blue, Marbled White and Ringlet.

The grassland habitat has wildflowers that attract butterflies and hedgerows believed to date back to Tudor times.

Volunteers had maintained the previous deteriorating bridge over the brook, but successfully applied for £5,000 from the Dacorum Shared Prosperity Fund to replace the structure.

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