The River Allen is one of England’s most beautiful chalk streams. In the unspoilt Dorset countryside, the river rises near to Monkton-up-Wimborne and flows through small villages and farmland until it reaches Wimborne Minster where the river enters the larger river Stour which flows out to the sea at Christchurch.

The river Allen is an important highway for Dorset’s bats and many different species are found along the river including: Greater Horseshoe bats, Brown Long-eared bats, Grey Long-eared bats, Barbastelles, Bechstein’s, Serotines, Whiskered Bats, Natterer’s bats, Daubenton’s bats, Soprano Pipistrelles, Common Pipistrelles and Noctules. Traditionally farmed meadows are full of insects and wildflowers. The river is used by the bats as a navigation route and our bat box installations are recording data on their activity in urban and rural locations.