Family Day – Sunday 9th July

Posted on 29/06/2023 by committee

We will be holding our annual family day on Sunday 9th July from 2-4pm at the charcoal burn area in Oxclose Wood.

This year we won’t have the kilns lit, but will be loading them ready to burn – something that children love being involved with. We would recommend bringing gloves to protect your hands. It is a great opportunity to learn about the charcoal burns too, but without the smoke!

The pizza oven will be fired up and we will provide the dough. If you can bring tomato sauce and toppings that would be great. We won’t be able to provide seating, so please feel free to bring rugs or chairs.

There will be lots of fun for the children including willow weaving, scavenger hunt and drawing. Our Trust moth expert will have traps to show the children the variety of moths that live in the woods. There will also be the opportunity to learn more about the Trust, with talks on charcoal burns and how the woodland is managed.

This event is free for members or a minimum donation of £5 for non members.

We need to know numbers, to enable us to plan activities and prepare the right quantity of pizza dough. If you could let us know if you are coming and how many of you there will be, by Thursday 6th July that would be helpful. We are limited to the number of pizzas we can cook in the time available, so please book early to avoid disappointment. Please reply to thomasin@ekwt.org.uk, we hope to see you there!

Winter Bird Survey Saturday 14th January

Posted on 04/01/2023 by committee

We will be meeting at the entrance to St Mary Magdalene Church, Moor Lane, East Keswick at 10.00am. You are welcome to come and go throughout the day, please bring snacks and lunch, also binoculars if you have them. From the Church we will be walking through the Marsh, then along Moor Lane to the cricket field. We will then cross Harewood Road and walk down to the river, back up Fitts Lane and into the village. If time allows we may also include Ox Close Wood.

Salsa Fundraiser for the Save Bardsey Fields Campaign November 2022

Posted on 01/12/2022 by committee

Many thanks to Abi from Leeds Salsa Club for organising a salsa dance class in East Keswick Village Hall to raise funds for the Save Bardsey Fields Campaign. Everyone had a great time!

Harvest Mice Hunt Results

Posted on 20/11/2022 by committee

On 29th and 30th October Ann Hanson and colleagues from the Yorkshire Mammal Group joined East Keswick Wildlife Trust to survey Fitts Fields for small mammals. 50 humane large Longworth traps were set on the Saturday evening and on Sunday morning we met to open the traps.

The children who had helped to set the traps were very excited to see what we would find.

32 of the 50 traps had small mammals in them, all looked healthy and were a good weight.

We recorded: 14 bank voles, 3 field voles, 14 wood mice and 1 common shrew.

This shows that there is a very good population of small mammals in these fields and although we did not find a harvest mouse this time, we do know that they are living here.

Harvest Mice Hunt at Keswick Fitts

Posted on 26/09/2022 by committee

Saturday 29th October

Meet at Fitts Lane footpath entrance on the A659 opposite Cleavesty Lane at 4.30pm to put down 50 humane large Longworth traps.

Sunday 30th October

Meet at the same place at 9.30am to open the traps and record the weight and sex of the small mammals which will hopefully include harvest mice.

Family Day 10th July 2022

Posted on 18/08/2022 by committee

We had lovely weather and many families came along to Ox Close Woods and enjoyed all the activities.

Deep concentration on the scavenger hunt!

Making sculptures with clay and natural materials

The highlight of the day delicious pizzas! Howard our EKWT resident chef worked hard all day, lighting the pizza oven at 7 in the morning and cooking over 50 pizzas in the afternoon.

Thank you to everyone who helped either beforehand or on the day and to everyone who came and made it such an enjoyable event.

Family Event – Sunday 10th July

Posted on 03/07/2022 by committee

We will be holding a family day at the charcoal burn area in Ox Close Wood from 2 – 4.30pm on Sunday 10th July. This will be our first in 3 years, so we are very much looking forward to a great event!

The pizza oven will be fired up – we will provide the dough, if you can bring tomato sauce and toppings. We won’t be able to provide seating, so feel free to bring rugs or chairs.

There will be lots of fun for the children with willow weaving, a scavenger hunt and sculpture making. There will also be an opportunity to learn more about the Trust, with talks on the charcoal burn and how the woodland is managed.

The event is free for members or a minimum donation of £5 for non members.

We need to know numbers to enable us to plan activities and prepare the right quantity of pizza dough.

Please reply to thomasin@ekwt.org.uk as soon as possible if you would like to come.

We hope to see you there!

Harvest Mouse Nest Survey

Posted on 29/03/2022 by committee

Robert and Ann from the West Yorkshire Mammal Group joined us for our harvest mouse nest survey at Fitts Fields.
Families enjoyed looking at the base of large tufts of grass for the nests. None were found, but we did find lots of field vole nests.
In October Ann and Robert will be joining us again and setting Longworth humane traps to try and observe a variety of small mammals.

Tree Planting at Keswick Beck

Posted on 24/03/2022 by committee

Volunteers from the Trust recently joined with members of the Yorkshire Dales River Trust to plant trees alongside Keswick Beck. It was lovely to have so many volunteers of all ages taking part and learning more about the River Trust and their natural flood management plans.

Family Hedge Planting Event – a success!

Posted on 08/02/2022 by committee

The family hedge and woodland tree planting days in January at the Fitts Lane reserve had a great turnout, particularly on the Sunday, when approximately 30 people of all ages were there.

We planted a mixture of 20 species including blackthorn, willow, field maple, rowan, crab apple, alder and hawthorn to name a few.

We then enjoyed sausages cooked on the campfire and a chance to sit and chat.

A big thank you to everyone who came to help and planted hedgerows that will be a haven for wildlife for years to come!

East Keswick Wildlife Trust

For Wildlife, For Our Community, For Our Future

Category Archives: Family events