Join Somerset Wildlife Trust for a two day ‘Festival of Wildlife’ to be held in the grounds of Bridgwater College’s Walled Gardens of Cannington, near Bridgwater, on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 May from 10-4pm
To celebrate the Wildlife Trust’s 50th Anniversary, Bridgwater College is kindly offering special free entry to the Walled Gardens for the festival, and special discounts on wildlife friendly plants. The Walled Gardens are full of splendour at this time of year, so it’s a wonderful opportunity to visit them for free - and if you’ve visited before, to see how they’ve developed and grown.
Visitors will be able to experience the ‘bee tent’, ‘barn owl tent and the ‘seaside tent’. In the ‘bee tent’ visitors can put their questions to bee experts from Somerset Environmental Records Centre (SERC.) For children there will be bug hunts around the walled gardens, bee bingo and bee mask making. There will also be an opportunity to look at insects under microscopes, projected onto a big-screen.
In the ‘barn owl tent’ visitors can meet Beau the Barn Owl and find out more about the growing family of barn owls in the Trust’s webcam nest box from Chris Sperring, MBE, Conservation Officer Hawk and Owl Trust and Vice President of the Somerset Wildlife Trust.
The ‘seaside tent’ will host a marine road show where people can bring along their marine treasures and finds for identification by the Trust’s Living Seas ambassador Nigel Phillips.
Other family activities taking place in the grounds include willow weaving, flower garland making, face painting, nature trails and challenges.
Festival of Wildlife organiser Amanda Brazington from Somerset Wildlife Trust said: “The festival is a great way to enjoy the bank holiday weekend as a family and our thanks go to Bridgwater College for opening up the gardens for this special event to celebrate 50 years of nature conservation in Somerset.”
Rich Mullan, from The Walled Gardens of Cannington said: “We are delighted that the Somerset Wildlife Trust will be holding their 50th Anniversary ‘Festival of Wildlife’ here at the gardens. The growing demand for land based courses suggests that the passion to protect our natural environment is widespread and for some it all starts at events such as this.”
The festival is taking place in the Trust’s 50th Anniversary year with the charity encouraging local people to ‘Love Somerset, Love nature.’ It is running four campaigns to celebrate some of the county’s best natural wonders - it’s woodlands, meadows, wetlands and coastline.
The Cannington Festival of Wildlife runs 24th & 25th May, 10-4pm at The Walled Gardens of Cannington, Church Street, Cannington, Nr Bridgwater, TA5 2HA. It is free entry to the Walled Gardens, with a small charge for activities. See somersetwildlife.org or canningtonwalledgardens.co.uk for more information.
