Our experience of being Tilgate Youth Rangers in 2025

admin
, 06 January 2026
Our experience of being Tilgate Youth Rangers in 2025
Youth Rangers at Tilgate © Tamara Jewell

Amy King (Youth Ranger, David Streeter Wildlife Champion and wildlife film maker)

I’ve been going to a Tilgate Youth Rangers group for about a decade now. It has been an almost consistent part of my life since I was twelve, and last year was no different. During an unthreateningly mild December day, the 16–25 group met for the last time in 2025.

Youth Rangers © Amy King

After building the upside-down fire, our group started working on campfire doughnuts. Batter whisked, sandwiches spread, sugar prepped, there was something for everyone to be getting on with. We were making two different varieties, traditional jam, and more festive mincemeat. This was mince pie mincemeat, not beef, although perhaps both types seem an equally weird pick for doughnuts. With a stack of small sandwiches piling up, focus shifted back towards the fire. By now, the blaze had died down, perfect for cooking with. We took it in turns to fry the doughnuts. Despite my reputation for burning things, I soon found myself with a frying pan in hand, gooey doughnuts sizzling over the flames.

Sawing wood © Amy King

It's not all sitting around a fire and cooking doughnuts though. From wildlife gardening to bird box painting, our group undertook a wide variety of activities last year. During a quiet moment, I asked the group what their highlight had been. Of course, our three field trips came up immediately. 

Harvest Mouse © Darin Smith

We went to Knepp to learn about rewilding, Wakehurst to see the seeds, and who could forget feeding orphaned lambs at the Sussex Wildlife Trust’s very own livestock unit on the Wiston Estate. But some of the subtler stuff also came up. We’d found rare Harvest Mice nests in our very own Tilgate Park, something that was a complete surprise to everyone. Armed with the knowledge of their presence, we can now make plans on how to conserve them better.

Leave a comment
Time Δ Debug Message - Perch Runway 3.2
1787404025.67880 [907] SELECT p.pagePath, pr.routePattern, pr.routeRegExp, p.pageTemplate, pr.routeOrder, s.settingValue AS siteOffline FROM swt_pages_staging p LEFT JOIN swt_page_routes pr ON p.pageID=pr.pageID LEFT JOIN swt_settings s ON s.settingID='siteOffline' UNION SELECT NULL AS pagePath, pr2.routePattern, pr2.routeRegExp, pr2.templatePath AS pageTemplate, pr2.routeOrder, NULL AS siteOffline FROM swt_page_routes pr2 WHERE templateID!=0 ORDER BY routeOrder ASC, pagePath ASC
1787404025.71270.0339Matched route: news/[slug:s]
1787404025.71290.0002Server address: 216.73.216.140
1787404025.71290Using master page: /templates/pages/blog/post.php
1787404025.71290Page arguments: 
Array
(
    [0] => /news/our-experience-of-being-tilgate-youth-rangers-in-2025
    [s] => our-experience-of-being-tilgate-youth-rangers-in-2025
    [1] => our-experience-of-being-tilgate-youth-rangers-in-2025
)
1787404025.71320.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1787404025.71430.001 [86] SELECT DISTINCT settingID, settingValue FROM swt_settings WHERE userID=0
1787404025.71610.0019 [1] SELECT locationID FROM swt_shop_tax_locations WHERE locationIsHome=1 LIMIT 1
1787404025.71670.0006INSERT INTO swt_shop_cart(memberID,locationID,currencyID,cartPricing,cartProperties) VALUES(NULL,'1',47,'standard','[]')
1787404025.72170.005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=24380563
1787404025.72230.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=24380563
1787404025.72280.0006 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_sales WHERE saleFrom<='2026-08-22 13:07:00' AND saleTo>'2026-08-22 13:07:00' AND saleActive=1 AND saleDeleted IS NULL ORDER BY saleOrder ASC
1787404025.7240.0011 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='our-experience-of-being-tilgate-youth-rangers-in-2025')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-08-22 13:07:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 10
1787404025.72850.0045 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1787404025.7290.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postID=3865 AND postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-08-22 13:07:00'
1787404025.730.001 [13] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_sections ORDER BY sectionTitle ASC
1787404025.73060.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blogs ORDER BY blogTitle ASC
1787404025.73120.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=73 LIMIT 1
1787404025.73180.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=36 LIMIT 1
1787404025.73220.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=53 LIMIT 1
1787404025.73270.0005Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1787404025.73290.0002 [162] SELECT catID, catPath FROM swt_categories
1787404025.7340.0011 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-08-22 13:07:00' AND postSlug='our-experience-of-being-tilgate-youth-rangers-in-2025'
1787404025.76020.0262Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1787404025.76060.0005 [250] SELECT country, countryID FROM swt_shop_countries WHERE countryActive=1 ORDER BY country ASC
1787404025.76220.0016Using template: /templates/pages/attributes/seo.html
1787404025.76240.0002 [1] SELECT regionID, regionTemplate, regionPage, regionRev AS rev FROM swt_content_regions WHERE regionKey='Banner image' AND (regionPage='/news/post' OR regionPage='*')
1787404025.76330.0009 [nil] SELECT * FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, c.regionID, idx.pageID, c.itemJSON, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_content_index idx JOIN swt_content_items c ON idx.itemID=c.itemID AND idx.itemRev=c.itemRev AND idx.regionID=c.regionID JOIN swt_content_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev AND idx2.indexKey='_order' WHERE ((idx.regionID=104 AND idx.itemRev=0)) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev ) as tbl GROUP BY itemID, pageID, itemJSON, sortval, regionID ORDER BY sortval ASC
1787404025.76440.0011 [82] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageDepth >=0 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1787404025.76720.0027 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1787404025.76770.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1787404025.76970.0021Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template.html
1787404025.76990.0002 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1787404025.77060.0007 [4] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1787404025.7710.0004 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1787404025.77320.0022 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1787404025.77440.0011 [7] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1787404025.77490.0006 [9] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1787404025.7770.002 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' OR pageSortPath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1787404025.77790.0009 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageHidden=0 AND pageNew=0 AND pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition
1787404025.78010.0022 [1] Using template: /templates/navigation/breadcrumbs.html
1787404025.78060.0005Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1787404025.78080.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='1' LIMIT 1
1787404025.78140.0007Using template: /templates/blog/author.html
1787404025.78180.0004 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='our-experience-of-being-tilgate-youth-rangers-in-2025')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-08-22 13:07:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 1
1787404025.78390.0021 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1787404025.78430.0004 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1787404025.78630.0019Using template: /templates/blog/comment_form.html
1787404025.78710.0009 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_comments WHERE 1=1 AND postID=3865 AND commentStatus='LIVE' ORDER BY FIELD(webmentionType, 'like', 'repost', 'comment', NULL) ASC, commentDateTime ASC
1787404025.84890.0617 [0] Using template: /templates/blog/comment.html
1787404025.84910.0002Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1787404025.84930.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='1' LIMIT 1
1787404025.85020.0009 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/what-we-do' OR pageSortPath='/what-we-do' LIMIT 1
1787404025.8510.0008 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-002' LIMIT 1
1787404025.85180.0008 [7] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-002%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1787404025.85520.0034 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1787404025.85580.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1787404025.85860.0028 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1787404025.85940.0008 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1787404025.860.0006 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1787404025.86050.0005 [38] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1787404025.86390.0034 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1787404025.86450.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1787404025.8670.0025 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1787404025.87030.0032 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/visit' OR pageSortPath='/visit' LIMIT 1
1787404025.87130.001 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-004' LIMIT 1
1787404025.87190.0006 [30] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-004%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1787404025.87510.0032 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1787404025.87570.0007 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1787404025.87860.0029 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1787404025.8810.0024 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1787404025.8820.001 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1787404025.88250.0005 [11] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1787404025.88480.0023 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1787404025.88540.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1787404025.88760.0022 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1787404025.88870.0012Request time: 0.2123
1787404025.88880Process time: 0.2121
1787404025.88880Memory: 1.623