THE RSPB centre at Radipole Lake Nature Reserve has received a double boost ahead of the winter season.

Following a relatively dry summer the charity has been able to re-thatch the roof of the Wild Weymouth Discovery Centre on Swannery Car Park for the first time since the 1970s.

Managers at the centre also employed a London street artist, called ATM, to paint an art mural at the centre, and both the new roof and the art mural were unveiled on Friday morning.

Reeds from the Radipole and Lodmoor nature reserves were used in the re-thatching of the roof, which was then completed by two local thatchers.

Michelle Williams, centre manager, said: “The roof hasn’t been re-thatched since the 1970s when the RSPB took the centre over so it was needed.

“What makes the re-thatching great is that it used the reeds from our reserve, which we cut down two years ago.

“It was also completed by two local thatchers, Nathan Yates from The Purbeck Thatcher and James Scott from Sunrise Thatchers, so it has a real local feel to it.”

The centre, which is open 9am until 5pm every day, has also had a new art mural installed which was funded by a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The painting is of a Marsh Harrier, a species which up until 2009 hadn’t nested in Dorset for over 50 years.

A pair of the birds nested in Radipole in 2009 and successfully reared three chicks at the nature reserve.

Now, the species continue to breed and thrive in Weymouth and they have now started breeding at other Dorset reed beds. Michelle added: “We will be more visible to the public following these works. We have had a big surge in popularity over the last few years anyway and hopefully these works will allow that to continue.

“It will also give us the chance to tell the story of what the RSPB actually does as well and the works should enable us to get that message out there.”