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Events Archive - 2012
January - Work Morning - Coppicing
Events Archive - 2011
November - Woodland Work Morning
As can be seen above, a vast array of litter was collected & removed, leaving the woodland in a much safer & neater condition.
Many thanks to all the helpers who turned out on this fine Sunday morning.
October - Owl Prowl
 Ian McGuire led a group of 50+ prowlers through the Ridge Wood in search of the resident tawny owls. At the various stops to play recorded owl calls to entice the birds down, Ian also described the different types of owl, their calls and environmental requirements, supported by video displays on his trusty iPad.
Despite hearing continuous call backs from the owls in the tree tops, we were limited to a brief glimpse of fluttering wings, so were glad to see Jaz at the end of the walk.
Do visit Ian's website, Wild Owl, for more owl facts, examples of owl nesting boxes and to listen to sound clips of owl calls. Also learn about Jaz's TV and movie appearances!
Keep up to date with Jaz, the Tawny Owl, on her Facebook Page
September - Bat Walk
Unfortunately this had to be cancelled due to bad weather, fingers crossed for next year.
August - Woodland Work Morning
Many thanks to all those who turned out for this worthwhile clean-up operation. It is amazing how much rubbish accumulates around the woodland, as testified by the number of bags collected.
Apart from the visual impact, there is a real danger of injury to people and pets from the broken bottles etc. See the Special Article on the How to Help page.
July - Mutt Strut & Fun Dog Show
Dog Walk, led by Mike Drew, pictures here
Dog Show, slide show presentation here
All proceeds to DAWG Bristol Branch
April - Woodland Spring Clean
Many thanks to all who turned out and cleared so much, so quickly.
February - Wildflower Planting
A dozen volunteers turned out to help create the Wildflower Area, at the Quarry Road entrance to the wood, as part of the tenth anniversary of the formation of The Friends of Ridge Wood.
Work started by digging over the beds, scarifying the seed area and pruning existing woodland shrubs.
A curve of Dogwood, Hawthorn and Wayfaring was planted to extend the current hedgeline.
Finally, the prepared area was scattered with the seeds of numerous types of woodland plants such as cowslips etc and we will be including an update to this article when, hopefully, the results of our labours come into bloom.
February - Youth Volunteer Work Day
A hardworking team from the Youth Section of the Gateway Revival Church have been busy in the wood as part of their community volunteering program.
Work included litter picking, dead hedging and ground levelling.
The results will be appreciated by all who visit the wood.
Great job!
The team enjoy a well earned break for refreshments, supplied by the Friends of Ridge Wood Catering Department.
January - Grant Cheque Presentation
Jenny Smith (on the left ), from the Co-op's Kennet & Avon Area Committee, presented the £1,550 grant cheque to Roy Bishop, the Friends of Ridge Wood Chairman, on the 10th January.
The FoRW responded with their grateful thanks for this generous donation and look forward to putting it to good use in the coming year.
Events Archive - 2010
December - Presentation Dinner
At the annual christmas dinner 2010, the current chairman, Roy Bishop, presented the walnut platter to the founding chairman, Peter Capnos.
This beautiful platter has been turned and carved from a piece of wood from one of the original walnut trees in Ridge Wood.
November - Nature's Decorations
A very special visitor greeted the young decorators at the Ridgewood Centre where the workshop started with drinks and nibbles, laid on by the FoRW Catering section.
Around twelve youngsters set to, with glue, pine cones, glitter and yet more glue!
Any glue left?
A handful of finished tree ornaments
October - Owl Prowl
Around 74 prowlers joined Ian McGuire for the ever popular search for wild owls in Ridge Wood. Unfortunately, the owls were conspicuous by their absence.
However, this resulted in Jaz the Tawny Owl being the star of the show.
October - Workday Morning
Many thanks to the dozen stalwarts who braved the showers for our regular litter pick in the woods.
Pictured right is just one example of the dangerous rubbish which could badly injure some person or some animal.
These work-days are so worthwhile.
Keep coming back to this site to check out the next one.
October - It's Your World
A most successful event, opened by Richard Angwin; pictured here with Jan and Roy Murley at the FoRW Stand.
Our local MP, Steve Webb, also expressed an interest in the Woodland Display Board and Rolling Photo Presentation on our new laptop.
Providing traditional country dance music were the excellent Packhorse Band
From the many visitors who stopped to enquire, we were pleased to welcome four new members to our group.
We do hope that this will become an annual event on the ecological calendar.
September - Bats Along the Frome
Many thanks to Richard & Michelle Cook, from the Avon Bat Group, for an introduction to the amazing world of the bat. At St John's Meadow, Richard briefed us on the likely types of bat to be encountered, out of the 17 species in the UK
An enthusiastic group of twelve, armed with Bat Detectors ( see below ) headed toward the Frome and the detectors soon began clicking and popping, triggered by the ultra sonic sound waves from the bats.
Across the road and walking behind the church by the riverside, even more bats were heard and could be seen in the torch beams, wheeling and swooping across the hedges.
At the flood plain area, by Quarry Road, there was so much bat activity that the group never made it to Ridge Wood. Unfortunately the bats flew too quickly for this photographer to catch a decent picture!
A superb detector available from Batbox.Com
Warning: These could be seriously addictive!!
 July - Woodfest
Woodfest 2010 was very well attended and a wide variety of crafts and woodland based activities were available. Feedback from visitors confirms that this bi-annual event continues to entertain. Click the logo to open a slide show in a separate window and view a short record of the day.
 May - Wild Flower WalkDespite the extended cold weather there were numerous exhibits to view when local wildflower expert, Rupert Higgins, led today's 'Wild Flower Walk' on a circuit of Ridge Wood.
Over twenty walkers attended and all were amazed at the variety to be seen. Rupert identified the different species, plus their latin and countryside names.
We were advised which ones were edible and which were poisonous, although no one appeared to do the taste test!
Many thanks to Rupert and his family for a very enjoyable and informative Sunday afternoon.
For more info, check out the Natural History Museum website here
The collage below contains just a few of the plants we saw. A larger version, in a separate window, is available with a mouse click.
 April - Woodland Work Day
Another fine morning rewarded the seven workers ( + dog ) The bags of rubbish just kept piling up. In fact, experts have estimated that this was a record 'weight per person' to date, so, many thanks to all involved.
Maybe Pat's refreshing squash & biscuits had something to do with it!
Check the News & Events page for the date of the next working party.
All welcome.
March - Woodland Spring Clean
Many thanks to the fifteen or so volunteers who managed to collect an impressive range of rubbish.
Events Archive - 2009
November - Nature's Decorations
Jo Wright, of Organic Blooms inspects the willow frame for the next Festive Wreath. Following Jo's guidance and using the materials supplied, these frames quickly took shape producing wreathes, pentagons and garlands. All from nature's foliage.
The afternoon session proved to be a more popular choice than the morning one, so the two sessions were combined. The Ridgewood Centre soon became a hive of activity, with more than the planned 20 places catered for.
Just one of the many completed decorations to be taken home at the end of a most enjoyable afternoon.
More pictures ( courtesy of Margaret Thompson ) Click image to open large version in new page.
Based at Frome Vally Farm Shop, Bristol Road, Frampton Cotterell. For further details, contact Joanna or Chris Wright on 01454-227458 or email: organicblooms@ironacton.plus.com
October - Heavy Horse Demo
Doug Joiner and Ella ably demonstrated the benefits of using traditional horse logging methods in a woodland environment.
Visitors were amazed at the way large logs were manouvered around trees, down muddy slopes and positioned accurately, for use as the base for future dead hedging. All this was completed using less than seven quietly spoken commands from Doug.
During the tea breaks he explained the harness and equipment being used. The traces connected to the swingle tree connected to the choker chain!
Ella is a Percheron mare standing some 17 hands ( 1.7m ). Originating in the Le Perche region of Normandy and bred for their hardiness, better balance and good temper, they were found to be particularly suitable for drawing artillery and general transport during WWI. Fortunately these qualities are now put to more peaceful use.
When all the jobs were finished Ella returned to base for a good meal of mash and the youngest visitors were given the chance to groom her.
The rest of us made for the tea & biscuits supplied by the Friends of Ridge Wood Catering Section ( managed by Pat Nicholls ) who had been doing a steady trade throughout the afternoon.
Please visit Doug's website at www.heavyhorses.net for more detail and for more information on the Percheron Breed try www.percheron.org.uk
Click here to see our current events list
October - Owl Prowl
Ian McGuire, pictured above with Jaz the Tawny Owl, led a large crowd of over 120 through the moonlit Ridge Wood on the trail of the Tawny Owls.
After two or three stops, where he played a recording of owl calls, he managed to entice at least three owls into the tree tops near by. We heard the male then the female owl responding, also the aggressive 'Clear off' call directed at us, the intruders.
Ian gave descriptions of many different types of owls and the reasons why their droppings, or 'owl pellets', can tell you a lot about their diet etc.
At last the owls appeared, caught in the strong beam of the torch, flying into the tree tops above to see what these 'intruders' were up to. A truly magnificent sight, as the reaction of the crowd confirmed.
Back at the start we were introduced to Jaz, see above, and there were many questions from a very enthusiastic audience.
Do visit Ian's website, Wild Owl Educational Services, for more owl facts, examples of owl nesting boxes and to listen to sound clips of owl calls. Also learn about Jaz' TV and movie appearances!
Note: Fresh, new site updated for 2010
If you want to know even more about Owl Pellets visit this page on RSPB website.
Just a few of the many prowlers!
Click here to see our current event list
September - Astronomy Evening
This was a joint event with the St. John's Park Conservation Group to give local people the opportunity to learn more about the sky at night.
The event began with an excellent presentation by Callum Potter of the Cotswold Astronomical Society. After this, under a clear moonlit sky, a large number of budding astronomers took the short walk to the wildflower meadow on St John's Park estate.
A laser-pointer guided tour of the constellations and the chance to observe Jupiter through the telescope were just two of the highlights of the second part of the evening.
Click here for current event details.
September - Work Session
A fine sunny morning greeted the many helpers who turned out last Sunday. Work was focused on the Glade area, some forming litter parties, others collecting loose branches and logs. The hedging quickly took shape, despite the good natured hilarity!
Also found were examples of the fungus, King Alfred's Cakes ( Pictured above ) Details of this sinister and inedible fungus can be found in the database on the English Country Garden website.
A useful morning's labours. Why pay for an aerobics class when you can exercise for free and save the woodland.
Make a date in your diary to join the next session. Check the News & Events for further details.
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Previously, in Ridge Wood.
 Fungus Forays
Have you tried the fungi quiz so you know a King Alfred's Cake from a puffball? At our autumn Fungus Foray, local fungi expert, Justin Smith, explained that there are 4,000 species of fungi in the British Isles.
 Bat Walks
One of a series at South Gloucestershire's Local Nature Reserves. These twilight walks to search for the common pipistrelle, Ridge Wood's resident bat, have proved very popular. (Photo: Rosie Corner, Bat Conservation Trust)
 Diwali
The autumn Hindu festival of light has prompted shadow puppet shows, Indian music on magic carpets and the brightest array of beautiful hand-made lanterns.
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