Enjoying the weather.

Just before the end of school term I paid another visit to High Snab Farm with a combined group of children from Braithwaite and Borrowdale schools.  We split them into two groups with Tom (farmer) introducing one group to his hay meadows while I took the other to look for wild-life in the walls, hedges and down by the river.  We then swapped them of course.  Hay meadows are not nearly as widespread as they once were and High Snab provides a great opportunity to see and begin to understand the importance of these habitats. The Trust is committed to showing that it is possible to both enjoy and respect the outdoors so school visits like these are invaluable.  We had a great morning at High Snab and a lot of learning took place.

I’ve mentioned before that the creation of a Wild Play Trail is underway in Cockshot Wood.  It will take some time to complete it but already we have some things in place.  I have also involved local children by asking them to design a Wild Play Trail.  I have now received their plans and have been cherry-picking the best ideas to make a collage of things we hope to include in the Cockshot Wood trail.  The trail is meant to be mainly for the use of children so it makes sense to ask them what they would like to have. I took an opportunity recently to look in at Sizergh Castle where they have already made a woodland trail.  The pictures show you some of their ideas although Cockshot Wood has its own character so we can’t just copy the Sizergh model.  It was a really useful visit though as there is always something to be learned from others’ experience.

 

And finally for now, I’ll mention an unusual activity for me.  I had email from a Rescue Team guy who was looking for people to help out with a blind cycling event.  So, willing to help, I turned up to find that they were short of people to ride on the front of a tandem.  So I rode upfront with a young man who was blind.  We rode along a disused railway line leading out of Keswick.  Those who have cycled it will know that it is a fantastic ride out.  We had a great ride with lots of chit chat along the way.  Describing the route opened my eyes to our surroundings.  It was a really enjoyable experience.

Daisy here:

Roy’s Mum and Dad have a new cocker spaniel puppy. They are pleased with me because I am so gentle with it.  It’s going to be called Poppet but I think it should be Smudge.  It is a new friend but is still very small.