BBC Springwatch event at Aston Rowant Nature reserve

Almost 2000 people visited Aston Rowant Nature reserve this Saturday and joined in all the fun. Natural England kindly lent us a fantastic tent, not for shelter but to provide valuable shade as the temperatures soared! Probably about 200 or more children visited Going Wild and made a fantastic selection of Tree People who apparently live hidden in the trees on the reserve. There were vampire monsters, ugly sister monsters, fabulous fairy princesses and terrifying zombie boggarts with sharp blackthorn fangs! Every tree person created had a different character and many told us stories of the adventures their creature had had in the woods!

We had a fantastic day, of imagination and creativity all inspired by the natural world. Best of all their tree people were made from natural materials gathered whilst on a walk, there was not a bit of plastic in sight and hours of entertainment came absolutely free!

Naturefest

We have just come back from 3 days at Naturefest. The new outdoor event that celebrates the rich diversity of the Natural World. Set in the beautiful grounds of the Bentley Wildfowl and motor museum near Brighton people all committed to nature gathered together to share their skills and experiences. Organisations and individuals from country pursuits, wildlife, conservation, bushcraft, forestry and green woodwork, primitive living skills and traditional country crafts participated many offering hands on activities and demonstrations.

After a very soggy start on the Friday the weather cheered up and everyone felt much more excited about celebrating being outdoors! We had a wonderful time and loads of creative children visited us and tried out a few activities from our new book.