Pigneys Family Fun Day
We organised a Fun Day for all ages at Pigneys Wood (near Knapton) on Sunday 15th May. Admission was completely free, and over 360 local people attended the event!
The day was packed with activities, including Storyteller John Row, who captivated young and old alike with entertaining tales and a fair bit of audience participation. people also had the chance to listen to the Trix 'n' Stix drumming group, and have a go on the instruments themselves.
100 bird and bat boxes were made on the day, with some being taken home by the families who made them, and others being put up on the site to improve biodiversity there.
The pond-dipping activity proved hugely popular too, with long queues to take part at times! Lots of people learnt about aquatic minibeasts for the first time, including fierce little monsters like the great diving beetle and dragnofly larvae. One interesting question was how fish made their way to the site, as they have not been introduced to the pond by people - as far as we know! Nevertheless, lots of sticklebacks were present, including some males in their bright red breeding colours.
Another interesting (if a trifle gooey) activity was the bat dropping dissection. The droppings included various small rodents' bones but also - surprisingly - a whole bird skull!
A wildflower ID walk included sightings of milk parsley, foodplant of the swallowtail, raising hopes that this spectacular butterfly may come to the site in future. We also planted 20 types of wildflowers to encourage a range of pollinating insects, including cowslip, meadowsweet, toadflax and stitchwort.
Sustainable transport was taken into consideration on the day, with Minibus Transport to and from the site provided free on the day, in partnership with North Walsham Area Community Transport.
Pigneys Wood is owned & managed by the North Norfolk Community Woodland Trust, who were very pleased to see so many people who had never known about the wood before. The site, between North Walsham and Knapton, is open to the public every day.
what do owls have for breakfast?
On a beautiful day in Holkham National Nature Reserve, near Wells, the group spent the afternoon seeing what Barn Owls have for breakfast! The afternoon was led by Catherine Forman of Natural England, and involved equipping ourselves with tweezers before dipping into an unappetizing bucket of Owl pellets ... lunch anyone?
Carefully teasing the pellets apart, we found a wide variety of small mammal bones from Voles, Mice and Shrews. The pellets are comprised of regurgitated fur, bones and other materials that the Owls are unable to digest.
For details of local Natural England events you may like to join in with click on this link
50 bars of chocolate!
We like to be healthy at the Workout Project - we usually have fruit with our tea-break rather than biscuits, but sometimes we get a treat. There have been a lot of cakes about recently to celebrate project officer Mark's 40th birthday, and we have been forced to accept 50 bars of FairTrade chocolate by volunteering charity CSV (Community Service Volunteers)!
This photo won 2nd prize in their national picture competition, and so the 50 volunteers from our group who have attended most sessions have all received a little extra christmas present in the post...
Cromer's first Community Challenge
Over 60 local people turned out to take part in the first of our 'community challenge' events to take place in Cromer itself. Station Woods contains the remains of Cromer's historic "High Station", from which trains departed along the coast towards Mundesley.
However the site had become neglected in recent times, and so a bit of attention from the Wokoout project was called for. We cleared up dumped garden waste and all sorts of other rubbish, installed bird boxes and planted a wide variety of native trees and wildflower bulbs. We can't wait fro the Spring!
Pictured are some of the pupils from the nearby Junior School, who were praised by other volunteers for their exceptionally good behaviour - well done!
Norman Lamb MP visits Workout Project
Local MP Norman Lamb visited the North Norfolk Workout Project session at Sheringham Park recently.
Despite a very busy schedule, Norman arrived in time to snip away at some of the Rhododendron ponticum that has become such an invasive menace there, as well as chatting to several of our regular volunteers about the improvements in their mental and physical health since joining the project.
Beachwatch 2010
We took part in two sessions as part of the Marine Conservation Society's annual 'Beachwatch' this yearm, at Trimingham and Mundesley (the latter organised by local resident Gilly).
It was amazing what turned up, from barbeques and fishing bait to bilge-cleaning fluid and half a surfboard.
Our results into the national survey, the results of which will be published soon, at the Marine Conservation Society website .
Our 1st birthday party
In September 2010 we celebrated our first year of the project. We were joined by many volunteers at a great party at Holt Country Park during which we broke from the tradition of our usual healthy fruit and enjoyed a lovely homemade buffet and an amazing project birthday cake, as seen in the photo here. Partygoers included representatives from our funders at Natural England and the NNDC, along with the rangers of Holt Country Park, who gave our volunteers a special thank you for all their hardwork at the park over the last year. Certificates and framed photos were handed out to volunteers and they were able to record their favourite activity or humerous memory from the last year!
Catfield Sandholes Community Challenge
Nestled in the heart of the village but still a wild place, this site has mature oak trees and open spaces with lots of nectar-bearing plants for bees and butterflies. However it had become badly overgrown, so we set up a community challenge to clear the rank vegetation, put up some bird and bat boxes, and plant lotas of native trees and wildflower bulbs.
The local school got involved, as did the parish council. Our group will be back after Xmas to try to reinstate some old ponds and complete the bramble clearance. In the meantime we must hope that local people respect the site more now and don't dump any more of their garden waste there.
Non-native species weekend, July 2010
On the weekend of the 17-18th July 2010, events across the county were held to tackle the problem of non-native species invasion. Our volunteers helped in an event at the National Trust's Sheringham Park removing rhodedendron, a skill they are well practiced in! This species originally comes from Asia and causes problems due to its quickness to spread and take over, preventing native plants to grow and flourish. The thick extensive root system covers vast areas and releases chemicals which can stop growth of more biodiverse flora.
Volunteers praised for working through the winter
Two of our volunteers were commended by the Department for Communities and Local Government for their work during the recent cold weather. Robin and David (pictured) were selected from BTCV groups nationwide. They were invited to meet the minister and receive their awards at a reception in London. It was great to be recognised nationally like this - the guys enjoyed talking to volunteers from a range of organisations, and even found time to tour the Natural History Museum the next day!
Fakenham Fit4Life event
Workout Project volunteers attended the Fakenham Fit4Life event at the town's High School last month, and 50 people got involved in learning about conservation. Many of them - especially the children - got muddy by planting up a new flower bed in the school grounds.
Despite the exceptionally hot weather since then, the plants have survived (although we understand they will be moved for the summer so that they can be looked after over the long summer holidays!)
Our first Community Challenge!
Victory Hall in Neatishead is well-known as one of Norfolk’s greenest buildings – but until now it has been set in what can only be described as a very brown field site. But all that has changed in a “community challenge” event last weekend. A hedge with a mixture of 500 native plants was planted along the edge of the site, providing shelter and food to a wealth of wildlife, and flower beds were also installed all around the hall.
“This was an exercise session which enabled everyone to enjoy meeting new people, learning new skills and doing something useful”, said Workout Project Officer Mark Webster. “Many of the volunteers started without any experience or knowledge, and there was definitely no Lycra! We have all done something practical to improve a local green space whilst having fun and learning a bit about the natural world.”
“The people who volunteered to help this weekend had an opportunity to see our innovative straw-bale building,” said Victory Hall Project Co-ordinator Ian McFadyen. “The work they did this weekend will make a huge difference to the way our site is used,” he added, “We will have lots more space to enjoy on a summer’s evening, and maybe our garden will even produce a few herbs for cooking with in our kitchen”.
We are looking for locations for at least 3 more big ‘Community Challenges’ each year which could involve clearing and improving access to a local open space. Suggestions for future projects are always welcome.
