Blog

What is ‘Wellbeing’? For our 3 sessions in September we have explore what wellbeing actually is and what we can do to help improve it. We looked at the 5 Ways to Wellbeing and how these might relate to nature: Connect – both with each other and with nature. Learn – with the natural world there is always something we don’t already know. Every day is a school day! Be Active – taking a walk in …continue reading

Sunday 27th August 2023 A community farm (in every sense) When they talk about ‘community’ at Claver Hill, it means everything as well as everyone. What do I mean by this? Well, it was clear from our Wellbeing Walk around the space that it is very much managed with the natural community in mind. All too often, we forget that we are part of nature: no matter how much we silo ourselves in buildings and …continue reading

A personal journey Why do I have a photo of a cat here? Well, this was my lovely old Soots when he was in his prime, but I had to say goodbye to him this weekend. Aside from the obvious heart-wrenching grief of losing a precious member of my family, it has made me realise some things, and I wanted to share this in case it helps or inspires you. Firstly, I am a massive …continue reading

Talk & Walk – Saturday 1st July A hidden gem in the heart of Lancaster The Talk The Talk portion of the day was delivered by Janet, a volunteer who has a wealth of knowledge about The Storey Institute and the Gardens.  Janet delivered a fascinating insight into the history of the site (the gardens only exist thanks to World War II evacuees being located in The Storey), and how the Tasting Garden came to …continue reading

Dog rose (Rosa canina). Image (c) Ros Jones As a June baby, I am perhaps a little biased that this is the best month of the year. This isn’t without merit, however, as I hope you will see from what I have gathered below. This is based on observations and questions from the Summer Nights walk (3) on 1st June around Fairfield Nature Reserve. There was so much to see, a real abundance for the senses, …continue reading

Up close and personal with Visions of Landscapes On Saturday 15th April, artist Anita Burrows part of Higherford Mill Artists and I introduced some immersive walks in the beautiful Storey Gardens. This was in conjunction with the fantastic art exhibition, Visions of Landscapes, being held in The Storey.  Half-hour walks were given throughout the day offering people a chance to see the garden in a whole new way: up close and personal. We used hand-held lenses …continue reading

The aim of this session was to introduce and learn some different bird songs, of both resident and summer migratory species. This can be quite tricky to do in practice, attempting to distinguish one ‘voice’ amongst the many. Even more so as some of the songs are complex and varied. To make it easier, we started the talk part of the session listening to some recorded bird songs. I used an app for this, but …continue reading

Saturday 4th February 2023 How to ID trees in winter This may sound obvious, but for me the starting point is always observation: Once you have an idea of some of these features, you can then start to identify your species. If you already have some knowledge, this observation alone might be enough for you to make an identification. For example, most people know that silver birch has shiny white bark with darker fissures. But …continue reading

Wonders of Winter Wet but wonderful Our walk started out in the beautiful Fenham Carr Nature Reserve at Williamson Park. Despite a persistent drizzle (which soon had us all pretty damp), our spirits remained high. There was wildlife everywhere we looked: Blue Tits, Great Tits, Coal Tits, Robins, Dunnocks and Blackbirds at the feeders. There were plenty of other bird species as we walked, and signs of the coming spring in the trees. Ancient indicator? …continue reading

Rainbows and Reed Buntings This was the first event in a new series of talk-walks was organised to boost wellbeing. We started with a discussion about kingfishers – their biology and habits, with questions from the group. This was followed by two short mindfulness exercises. The event culminated with a walk along the canal and around Pony Wood in search of kingfishers (and other feathered friends). Who knew? We talked about some of the fascinating …continue reading