The emergence of bluebells each Spring is a hotly anticipated natural event. The array of bluebells which carpets many of our woodlands in a vibrant azure - purple hue is a breathtakingly beautiful sight and an accompanying subtle fragrance hangs in the air. The flash of a bluebell wood as you drive past in a car, or a glimpse...
Sometimes you don’t need to look too hard for wildlife, sometimes it comes to you! Woodland Warden Ian Retson had an unexpected encounter with a barn owl at Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Wood recently. One late Saturday afternoon, as dusk was falling Ian was in the bird hide having a look to see...
We’ve been living under the dark cloud of COVID this year and it feels like it’s been a worrying time for so long now. During the start of the year we went through the first lockdown, volunteering was temporarily postponed and many Woodland Trust staff...
Take a look at some of the year’s highlights here: Celebrating wardens and relief wardens across the central region During lockdown and over the summer months we saw a dramatic rise in the number of visitors to our woods. We were so pleased to be able to...
Dear Central England volunteers It would be easy, whilst writing during another England lockdown, to reflect on all the difficulty and challenges we have faced this year, but it is actually all the positive aspects of the year that are highlights that I wanted to share....
On a beautiful October morning, I went to Heartwood Forest. The sun was shining through the yellowing leaves and the ground was muddy underfoot. Walking up the hedge-lined track and past the ancient woodlands, I reached the valley on the most westerly edge of the...
Tree stock volunteers are helping to sort and box 20,000 trees for distribution to landowners within our Eastern Claylands treescape. Covering large parts of Essex and Suffolk, the Woodland Trust is working at landscape scale across the Eastern Claylands to protect, plant and restore trees and...
We’d like to say a huge congratulations to our Bramingham Wood volunteers and a great big thank you too! The Woodland Trust has been fortunate enough to have had volunteer support at Bramingham ever since it took over the running of the wood in 1985....
If you go down to the woods today, you’re sure of a big surprise! No, not a teddy bears picnic today, but in fact a long, colourful snake, which is currently weaving its way through Bramingham Wood, in Luton. During lockdown children from the local...
The last few months have been a tricky time for everyone, with many of us unable to get out and visit much loved woodlands, nature reserves, coastlines and greenspaces. By our very nature we are outdoorsy folk who seek out these places for volunteering activity,...