PEOPLE in the Tamar Valley are being invited to celebrate one of the region’s ‘nocturnal wonders’ at a Bat Festival next month which will straddle the border between Cornwall and Devon.

The greater horseshoe bat is native to the valley and is an ‘intriguing and beautiful creature’, says Tamar Valley Centre manager Corinna Woodall.

An exhibition being staged at the centre, in Drakewalls, from Tuesday, September 12, to Friday, September 29, and open on weekdays only, will contain some ‘astonishing’ images, she says – and other events during the festival will appeal to people of all ages and interests.

The Bat Festival is being organised by the Devon Wildlife Trust, which has received a £175,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to carry out the five- year Devon Greater Horseshoe Bat Project, which aims to maintain the county’s population of the threatened creature.