The British are coming - again

A handful of British vacationers will be on campus in August building a boardwalk and 30-metre bridge over the marsh which separates the wildlife sanctuary trails from the main campus.

It is a working vacation for the group, members of which pay their own fare. Participants are fed and billeted at Peterborough Robinson College.

Prof. Roger Jones of Biology, one of the organizers, says activities have been planned for the visitors when they are not working. Included are a trip to Algonquin Park and a barbecue at a Stoney Lake cottage.

This year's contingent will literally build upon the work of last year's six volunteers, who constructed two sections of boardwalk. The volunteers are members of the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers and the Ontario Federation of Naturalists is the project host. Volunteers from the Peterborough Field Naturalists are also involved in the project.

Last year's team was a diverse one, in terms of education and work experience. It included a high school teacher, a high school student, a recent university graduate, an accounting student and a warehouse employee. The leader was a municipal maintenance worker. Jones said they shared an interest in conservation and "they got along like a house on fire."