West Dorset: Women challenged to survive where the wild things are

A WILD weekend in the woods of West Dorset is being offered to 25 Hardy Women.

The exact location is being kept a secret by Dorset Wildlife Trust, which is organising the event, but it’s on one of the Trust’s reserves and WILD BOAR LIVE THERE…

Possibly. They are very secretive creatures and no one knows for sure how many there still might be living wild in West Dorset.

They used to exist. I once saw one walking down the main street through Nettlecombe, and coming back from The Fox at Corscombe one night I remember being amazed by a huge prehistoric-looking sow with her young trotting behind her at Mount Pleasant.

Anyway, Dorset Wildlife Trust seem to have upped the stakes since last year’s first Hardy Women challenge on Brownsea Island; red squirrels seem, well, a bit cuddlier than big grunting wild boar. But – who knows? That, after all, is the appeal.

Fiona Sansom, Supporter Development Manager at Dorset Wildlife Trust, said the nature reserve chosen was featured in this year’s BBC Springwatch.

It is, she went on, “one of the wildest places in the county, with a real feel of the wild woods of long ago. Our Hardy Women will have the adventure of a lifetime with a real chance of seeing some very elusive wildlife. It’s also an opportunity to help protect Dorset’s wild places by practical conservation work and fundraising through sponsorship. Come and find out what you’re made of!”

This is one of those photos that you could probably think of many captions for. But let's just say it shows 4 Hardy Women on last year's challenge on Brownsea Island. Photo by Nicky Hoar.

The 25 Hardy Women from last year’s inaugural challenge on Brownsea Island claimed that the event had been life-changing: a chance to meet great people, tackle some serious conservation tasks, get up close with rare wildlife and, most of all, share an experience totally outside their normal lives.

Hardy Women runs from 24 – 26 September and costs £75 for the weekend, including transport. Dorset Wildlife Trust asks that in addition entrants raise a minimum of £100 in sponsorship, all of which goes straight to nature conservation. Participants must be over 16. For more information or to register, visit www.dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk/hw2010 or contact Fiona Sansom on 01305 264620

Editor’s Note: I’d guess the event will be out Powerstock Common or Kingcombe way. But I might be wrong!