Welcome to the website of the Long Eaton Natural History Society

Long Eaton Natural History Society LENS was founded in 1977 and offers a warm welcome to all who are interested in their natural surroundings.

We speak for and act on behalf of wildlife to promote conservation and biodiversity and prevent detrimental development.  Our group also maintain records of local flora and fauna and promote knowledge of natural history.

Membership of the society is currently set at a modest £8 per year, which includes a copy of our LENS bulletin, published twice yearly, as well as exclusive access to our online reference section. New members are always welcome, and we hold indoor meetings with guest speakers and organise site visits throughout the year, depending on the season – please see the Programme page. A membership form is available in the Forms section. Several back issues of our bulletin are also available in pdf format.

LENS works both independently and with Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust and Groundwork Derby and Derbyshire to achieve our objectives. We also encourage reporting of wildlife sightings in the Derbys/Leics/Notts areas to our recorder. Reporting can be done online using the Lens Wildlife Sighting Reporter form, or alternatively using a downloadable Postal Record Form which can be printed for postal return.

Long Eaton is in the County of Derbyshire on the border with Nottinghamshire. Most residences have a Nottingham address with the Nottingham postcode prefix NG, and use the Nottingham telephone area code 0115.

It is a common misconception that Long Eaton is part of Nottinghamshire (which can also be misleading when obtaining wildlife records of the area). The reason for the NG prefix in the postal code is that all mail for Long Eaton first goes to the Royal Mail’s Nottingham sorting office in Beeston (hence the NG), and then to Long Eaton’s delivery office on Tamworth Road.

The Long Eaton School has been an ECO School since 1999. The school became a Specialist Science College in 2003 and an Academy in April 2011. Claims to fame include Sir Harry Godwin (botanist and ecologist) who was once resident and educated in Long Eaton. Mary Clegg, (the daughter of a former headmaster of Long Eaton School, Samuel Clegg), married Frederick Attenborough, who had been at one time a teacher at the Long Eaton County School. Their children include Lord Attenborough (Richard Attenborough) the film director and Sir David Attenborough the presenter of television natural history programmes. Sir David Attenborough also opened the nearby Attenborough Nature Centre in 2005.