Government's plans to boost wildlife will benefit an upsurge in red squirrel numbers in England

RECENTLY announced Government plans to restore Britain's wildlife habitats and create 25 new or enlarged national nature reserves is good news for England's small red squirrel population.

The Red Squirrel Survival Trust hopes that the large grey squirrel population in England will be significantly reduced as a result of a fertility control programme. Such a reduction would see the current small number of English red squirrels, currently no more than 29,000, and their locations increase dramatically as the number of greys diminish.

The Government backed fertility control programme will see extensive field trials begin in 2024, working with major land and forestry owners in England. This is expected to be completed by 2027 and it is planned that the contraceptive will be rolled out to other land and forestry owners, farmers and the general public as soon as registration is finalised.

RSST's Vanessa Fawcett says:- "The Government's plans for opening new and expanded national nature reserves are likely to take a number of years to come to fruition, and will benefit the natural expansion of red numbers, as the population of greys diminishes across England and they recolonise areas vacated by them. Any effort to improve wildlife habitat is going to be a major benefit to the expanding number of English reds."

Grey squirrels 1st came to Britain as a novelty species in parks and estates in the 1870s. Up until then the only British squirrels were our native reds that have lived here since the last ice age. Today it is estimated that there are more than 2.7 million greys and just 270,000 reds, the majority living in Scotland. As grey numbers reduce it is likely that the reds will expand their territories into England and Wales where existing populations and territories will also increase.

The expansion of the red squirrel population as the number of greys decline will be driven in part by the fact that some greys carry a pox that is harmless to them but always fatal to reds. The RSST and the renown gardener Alan Titchmarsh, who is an Ambassador for the trust, have devised a planting programme of trees and plants that will provide food for reds in domestic gardens as their territories expand. Supplementary feeding is an essential benefit to their successful breeding.

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HMS Mersey receives Honorary Freedom of the Borough of Sefton

THE crew of HMS Mersey (P283) have received the Honorary Freedom of the Borough of Sefton, and we had the privilege to cover 2 of them. The 1st event was a special ceremony, held on 13 April 2023, at Bootle Town Hall.

This event was the final point of the process of to grant the Freedom of the Borough to the Royal Navy Ship, HMS Mersey. This historic event was held along the side of a portrait of Captain Walker, along with a series of wartime naval memorabilia, adorns the walls.

This event finalised the proposal that was 1st motioned to the Council back in 2026. Attending was the Mayor of Sefton, Clare Carragher and a panel of Councillors, from all parties. You can watch the historic event on here.

Then the final part was on:- Sunday, 16 April 2023, when representatives of the crew of HMS Mersey joined with Sefton Sea Cadets to make the historic moment that saw the crew of the Royal Navy's River Class Offshore Patrol Vessel executing the terms of the newly granted Freedom of the Borough of Sefton by marching around the Town Centre:- "with drums beating, colours flying, and bayonets fixed."

This was the final day of a 4 day long series of events, starting with the official ceremony that granted the Freedom of the Borough, footage of which is being uploaded to our channel soon.

This event started with the vessel representatives lining up for inspection, by both The Mayor of Sefton, Councillor Clare Louise Carragher, and The Lord Lieutenant of Merseyside, Mr Mark Blundell.

The event then had a quick speech and the seaman's prayer was read out.

Despite the weather, as you can see, the crew where able to parade from:- Bootle Town Hall, around:- Trinity Road, Stanley Road, Merton Road, and Oriel Road before returning to the Town Hall where The Mayor of Sefton and the Lord-Lieutenant took the salute.

The route also included going past the former house of Captain Frederic John Walker, a World War 2 Officer who was in command of escort ships from Bootle’s Gladstone Dock, during the Battle of the Atlantic.

Captain Walker also played a huge role in the D-Day landings of 1944, helping set up an impenetrable wall of escort ships to stop German U-Boats from attacking allied boats going to and from Normandy. This 2 week blockade contributed massively to the Allied invasion’s success.

This connection to the route and to HMS Mersey's affiliation with Sefton is extremely significant, as She was granted partly in honour of Captain Walker.

Talking about the Honorary Freedom of the Borough and the connection to the Freedom Parade route, Mayor of Sefton, Clare Carragher said: - “Our Borough, and Bootle in particular, is synonymous with the heroism and dedication of our Royal Navy. It is poignant that just a few hundred yards from our council chamber still stands the former house of Captain Walker and battle worn ensigns from dozens of naval ships hang proudly within Bootle Town Hall."

That the end of the Parade, the ceremony moved inside for a few speeches.

This video is a historic record of some of the highlights from the day's events, including the speeches inside Bootle Town Hall, on:- Sunday, 16 April 2023.

• For more information about HMS Mersey, please go to:- RoyalNavy.MOD.UK.
   

• For more information about Captain Walker:- EN.Wikipedia.Org.
   

• For more information about Sefton Council:- Sefton.Gov.UK.

To see the motion that was past in 2016, to grant the Freedom of the Borough to the Royal Navy Ship, HMS Mersey, please see:- MODGov.Sefton.Gov.UK.

Did you know? This 'Freedom' honour dates back to ancient Rome which regarded the:- "pomerium," the boundary of the City, as sacred. Also, did you know that the current vessel named after the River Mersey, is the 5th Royal Navy vessel to carry the name? It is the 1st to be named Mersey in 84 years.