Sell your county.

[partyboy]

iam lucky enough to have beeen born and bred and still reside in south oxfordshire,being only 5mins from the thames,10 minsfrom cholsey downs and 20 mins from wittenham clumps. why would i sell this gloriouse county.

[Mitty]

Originally Posted by GriGGerS

Hampshire

New Forest Otter, Owl and Wildlife Park!

Great place to get some natural looking wildlife shots.

And of course you pay towards a good cause..

Nige

Yes yes yes! love the butterfly enclosure (when it's open), and saw a fox cub being taken for a walk last time I was there.

My best bits of Hampshire are not very specific;
THE NEW FOREST - no question
THE SOUTH DOWNS - nearly half the county is National Parks now
THE SOLENT - with all its maritime history

Though I think Dorset trumps Hants on beauty

[Stinky Bob]

Hmm, let me see, nope nothing in the Wye Valley of interest, not worth your petrol coming here

[Burko]

I'm in West Dorset and anywhere past Dorchester is London as far as I'm concerned.

I'd go for

1) Lewesdon Hill - Highest hill in Dorset (not Pilsdon before we get the naysayers)
2) Lamberts Castle - Old iron age fort.
3) The view from Abbotsbury Hill.

[darrenm]

In Birding terms Nottinghamshire is great for the amount of established gravel pits and breeding and wintering Wetland bird populations. Attenborough Nature Reserve, Netherfield Lagoons, Langford Lowfields are all well worth a visit but there are many more places in the county.

The Trent Valley is a superb visible bird migration route if you pick your viewing point well and time it right.

Clumber Park, Sherwood Forest and the Welbeck Estate and are all superb for viewing Woodland bird species and sightings of large raptors. Hawfinch at Clumber and Lesser spotted Woodpecker too if you are lucky. Welbeck has viewing points from the side of the road and woodland species come to feed next to parked cars from feeders put up by local birders but Honey Buzzard and Goshawk are a good chance at certain times of the year flying over the estate. Sherwood Forest for mix of Woodland species and early morning is best before the hordes of day trippers arrive looking for Robin Hood and the Major Oak.

Small pockets of Heathland north of the city also produce Nightjar, Woodlark and normally a wintering Great Grey Shrike.

[alge]

Originally Posted by Wild-Woman

If you had to name 3 places in your county that would sell it to me. What would they be?This is mine.
KENT
1-The North Downs. A range of chalk downs with all of it's wonderful scenery and species.
2-The North Kent Marshes. A land of wonderous species and incredible history.
3-The white cliffs of Dover. To me coming home and keeping our land safe during WW2.

jules

Originally Posted by yellowhammer

hmmm, Dorset:

Powerstock Common - for reptiles & amphibians, butterflies, fungi, white fallow deer and the odd wild boar.
Portland - for wall lizards, insects, flora and of course birds.
Seatown beach - for peregrines, ravens and fossils, without the crowds and neanderthal rock-bangers of Lyme.

BUT - as I moved back to Kent yesterday:

North Kent marshes - for the biggest grass snakes I've ever seen, dragonflies and other insects.
Sheppey - for fossils (especially sharks' teeth) and birds
the Isle of Grain - for marsh frogs, birds and being like my own little TT course on a Sunday morning.

Originally Posted by zharca

Hi, here's some suggestions from the other end of Kent:

Sandwich: charming historic town surrounded by Sandwich bay (surprise!), the Stour, the wonderful Pegwell bay (especially in winter!) and Richborough castle, the fabulous Roman Gateway to Britain.

Dungeness: Strange, surreal landscape. The only other expanse of shingle like it is in China! Hugely important for many resident species and as a landing for migrants. Appears desolate, but everywhere you look tiny plants and insects are scratching a living from the stones.

........ Need three. Hmmmm. The Shepherd Neame Brewery will do nicely.

Originally Posted by Newhythebirder

Another three from Kent:

1. New Hythe/Leybourne Lakes (my patch!) surrounded by development but a magical place - live with birdsong in the Spring - Nightingales/Cettis Warbler, regular Bittern in the Winter. Always something new to see.

2. Queensdown Warrren - a KWT reserve. Chalk Downland. Fantastic variety of Orchid, clouds of Butterfly on a good day (Adonis/Chalkhill Blue/Marbled White/Brown Argus etc)

3. Isle of Sheppey/Harty Ferry - what a place 10+ species of Raptor in the winter can be seen along the Harty Ferry Road. The long long walk out to the spit end at Elmley can show that you can find a desolate place in the crowded SE. A memory from my younger days is sitting out there watching Short Eared Owls quartering the marshes in front of me.....magical

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Can everyone stop selling Kent please!

Dover is the most southern council in London and you can see France from the top of Big Ben on a clear day and thats the way i like it.

[The Woodman]

Come to Cumbria to see

Sellafield nuclear power station
West Walney wind farm
waterlogged M6

heard enough?
Kent does sound rather enticing.