Vole revival

Val looks at the reintroduction of water voles at Trentham

- Val Bourne

AS a young thing in my 20s, 1 owned two canoes and I used to persuade one of my friends to paddle down the River Avon in Warwickshire with me on a summer's evening. We went from Wasperton to Evesham and back. The flow of the river took us downstream with little effort, although going back was tougher.

In the early 1970s, the river south of Warwick was very peaceful, and it was a lovely way to spend a quiet evening. There was no better way to see wildlife: kingfishers, sand martins and herons carried on regardless. It seemed that every few yards or so, there would be a satisfying 'plop' as yet another chestnut-brown water vole took to the river, swimming strongly with much of its body above the water. I might see 30 or so, swimming away from the bank on their solitary jaunts, during my 50-mile paddle.