Southern Hawker(?)dragonflies mating in Hollington
Dear All,
If you haven’t jetted away for your summer hols why not come and visit Hollington Wood on our Late Summer Open Day? Actually we have decided to hold two…
- On both days the wood will be open from 10am to 6pm
- Free admission (donations towards management of the wood always gratefully accepted!)
- Free parking on a first-come first-served basis. Please note that you can only park in the car park at the entrance to the wood, not on the concrete access road
- Tea & coffee will be available but you might have to make it yourselves if we are otherwise occupied at the crucial time! By all means bring your picnics/refreshments so long as you don’t leave any litter.
Sunday (23rd) is aimed for everyone. Aside from the normal opportunity to explore and/or chill wherever you want, Nick will be catching and tagging birds and I will be giving people the chance to have a go with the log splitter. You might be surprised how satisfying hydraulic splitting is whatever your age/gender – I have helped a 3 year old girl do it (she whooped ‘More! More!’ after every log) and the 87 year old Professor George Solt beams with delight when he achieves a perfect split. It’s a good year for butterflies, particularly fritillaries, and someone might do me a real favour by locating this year’s buzzard nest(s). For the last month or so I seem to hear a buzzard chick incessantly shrieking for food but I just can’t seem to locate it.
Monday (24th) is intended primarily for families. Jess will be providing Earthy Explorer activities all day and there will be nature trail challenges. By all means call Jess on 07789938996 if you want any more details. See also http://www.hollingtonwood.com/2015/07/17/earthy-explorers-activities-for-children-in-the-woods/ for Jess’s Earthy Explorer timetable. We’re about halfway through the schedule now and the series of sessions has been going exceptionally well. Organised activities aside, all the usual attractions will be available – swing, trampoline, rope bridge, scramble net, sawdust pit…
Alternatively, you might be interested in Hollington back-to-nature camping. Throughout the summer and autumn the two bell tents are available (£100 for up to 12 people and the wood to yourselves) but for the remainder of August we are widening the camping option to all-comers, £10 per adult/£5 per child – as few or as many as want to. First to book and pay in advance can use the bell tents, otherwise you will have to bring your own.
If you are one of our log customers, I will be e-mailing you again next month when the wood-fuel season gets into full swing but you are welcome to order logs any time before then. At the moment we are keeping prices the same as last season.
Before I sign off, I would like to draw your attention to the Nature Blogs on our web-site http://www.hollingtonwood.com/category/nature-blog/. These are written by the wonderful Maz, born-again ecologist, and are the product of monthly forays around the wood with me.
All the best
Philip