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<div class='textboxV3' id='pgTextboxV3_1'>Creating a piece of <br />countryside on our <br />very own doorstep.... <br />a garden nature reserve, in fact.</div>
<div class='textboxV3' id='pgTextboxV3_3'>For 12 years from 1985 to 1997 we had a highly successful award-winning butterfly/wildlife garden in Derbyshire. It boasted 19 species breeding on site, including the rare White-letter Hairstreak (right), plus a few occasional species and a variety of day-flying moths.<br /><br />Since July 1997 we have lived in the Lincolnshire Fens - the habitat could not<br />be more different: flat, with mile after mile of arable farmland, and very lacking<br />in trees and hedgerows. It was initially very uninspiring, but we had researched<br />the area a few years prior to moving over and were aware that the large network<br />of dykes were quite rich in butterflies, courtesy of their wild, flowery banks that<br />were largely left alone. The local branch of the Butterfly Conservation society<br />was very surprised when we submitted our records - they had more or less written<br />this area off as inhospitable to most wildlife, especially butterflies. So, when we<br />moved over, we set ourselves an even bigger challenge than before.</div>
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