Here are some extracts of our newsletters from March and June 2024.
Wildflower Nursery
We’re teaming up with Bath City Farm on an exciting project to grow wildflowers from locally sourced seed. Building work is currently underway at the farm to create a new polytunnel, once complete we’ll be working with our partners at the National Trust and our brilliant volunteers to harvest seed. This will then be grown on at the farm, into plug plants and then re-planted at various sites around the Bathscape area to create more biodiverse grassland sites.
Improving Map Skills
At the end of April we ran our first map skills course, for people who were keen to build confidence using maps to navigate and plan countryside walks. Facilitated by staff and volunteers at Cotswolds National Landscape, attendees had a classroom-based session before striding out onto Lansdown to test out their newly acquired skills. The session proved popular and we’d be happy to run another one should there be demand so if you’d be interested in attending please let us know: info@bathscape.co.uk
Walking Booklet
We’ve had a new print run of our walking booklet. It details 11 short walks (less than 4 miles) in and round Bath. Each walk includes a map, step by step directions and things to look out for along the way. The booklet can be downloaded from our website but we’re keen to get the printed copies distributed too – if you have any recommendations for outlets that would be happy to stock them, please let us know.
Beckfords Tower Re-Opening
After going through a £3.9 million conservation and refurbishment programme, Beckford’s Tower reopened to the public on 29th June. The “Our Tower” project has restored physical access to spaces in and around the Tower, as well as taken measures to improve biodiversity in the landscape and refresh the interpretation, addressing difficult themes including Beckford’s involvement with the Transatlantic Slave Trade. You can learn more about the project here: https://beckfordstower.org.uk/
Lyncombe Hill Fields Photo Competition
There are three categories: Primary school; Secondary school; Anyone no longer at school. The competition if free to enter and the first prize is £25 (plus the chance to have your picture in the next calendar). Second prize – a full set of our greetings cards. All photos must be taken from within the area of Lyncombe Hill Fields and can be landscape shots, detailed studies of plants, animals or anything else. For more information, visit the Friend’s website friendsoflyncombehillfields.co.uk/photo-competition/ The competition closes Sunday 24 August.
Avon Wildlife Trust’s Wildlife Gardening Competition 2024
For the second year running Avon Wildlife Trust’s Team Wilder have launched their Wildlife Gardening Competition. There are 3 categories: Individual, Community, or Education/School.
There will be one winner from each category and a prize for an outstanding entry. Win a wildlife camera (NatureSpy WildCam2), wildlife gardening book, £50 Grow Wilder voucher and expert advice from the Team Wilder Community Ecologist. Finalist runners up will also receive a £25 Grow Wilder voucher. See here for full details.
Recording Our Ash Trees
The Bathscape area is set to lose upwards of 90% of its ash trees due to ash dieback – a serious fungal disease. Ash is a prominent tree in the landscape, from single trees to hedgerows, small copses, and woodland. We’d like a record of this change, to celebrate the ash trees we still have, remember them in the future and document the loss to the landscape.
Time is running out as felling is well underway. So we’d love for you to share your digital photographs or ‘portraits’ of significant ash trees in the Bathscape area. New photos and photos from your own archive are equally welcome, particularly those going back a few years or even decades. We’d ideally like to know when the photo was taken and where (preferably with a What3Words reference). For more information or to send your photos please contact info@bathscape.co.uk
Team Wilder Ecological Advisory Service
As part of Avon Wildlife Trust’s Team Wilder project, individuals and communities in Avon (Bristol, BANES, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset) who want to take action for nature can now get specific advice from their Community Ecologist, Amie. Amie can advise on making your garden, community space or land/small holding more wildlife friendly. Learn about the creation and management of small-scale wildlife habitats and/or habitat features that will work on your patch.
This free service is offered via site visits, a video call or workshop, mapping and coordinating activities to ensure maximum impact for wildlife and connectivity between green spaces. This service will be available until March 2025. See here for more information.
