Green Holidays

Have you ever put into words your close encounters or your love of the landscape?

Every year BBC Wildlife Magazine offer you the chance to not only be published in their magazine – but to win a wildlife experience in some far-flung destination desperately in need of volunteers and research.

All you need to do is write a short passionate story about something you love or have experienced that you want to share with others to help them see another side of nature – your version.

Whether you want to describe the fox family living in your garden, that one off encounter with a tiger in India, your hopes for conserving a small patch of endangered wildflowers or even your first-hand description as you witnessed a tornado rip through a field near you!

As long as it was something outside – and could appeal to anyone interested in the ‘great outdoors’ – then get your pen to paper and write out your thoughts!

The Competition:
Don’t worry if you can’t think of anything for this years competition (closing date 30th April 2011) – but you can start thinking about next years entry.

Nature writing normally means that you have captured your thoughts while caught in the middle of things – or that you have a lot of experience in your subject – so know it inside-out. Needless to say, you can’t just pluck such a story out of thin air.

They offer plenty of tips for your writing and you can read past winners tales too – but only be inspired by yourself.

The hardest part will be reducing your passion down to just 800 words – so don’t even worry about all the judging and the other people entering – get your story straight first.

photo credit: whyohwhyohwhyoh

(Click picture to play)

What If I Can’t Write?
Not everyone feels comfortable writing – so BBC Wildlife offer other competitions too – including poetry and photography.

Whatever your passion, experience, age or ability – they offer something that you can sink your teeth into!

Everyone is different – and their version of events or the way they can share their experiences and knowledge will be different too. By all means try your hand at everything, but some people are naturally just better at some things – but it can take a while to figure out what!

Visit their website for ideas and inspiration – and maybe I could be reading your story or admiring your photos on their website soon!

You might be paying to park on gravel or grass – but you are saving the view!

Have you ever stopped and thought about where the money from that Pay & Display machine actually goes? 

Well, have you considered that it is those few coins you push in the meter that are bringing you to that car park in the first place!

Without the ease of that carpark – would you really be visiting that place at all?  If there was no parking in that cute village – would you even go there?  I mean, if parking was banned around Longleat, Stonehenge, The Eden Project, the Lake District, Legoland and Hadrian’s Wall – would you go and visit them?

If your favourite restaurant, gastropub or countryside tavern had no parking – would they be your favourite anymore?

The Penny Drops!
The land that car parks are on always costs somebody money.  Whether it is the cost of maintenance, the cost of renting it off a landlord, or even the cost of not selling it – there is money involved with leaving land ‘spare’ just for cars.

Many businesses and companies think that it is worth the cost in terms of the customers it attracts – and they will usually offer ‘free’ parking to customers.  They will however factor in the cost of that parking into your bill somehow – but you don’t mind paying it in exchange for great food and great service!

photo credit: James Byrum

Others without food or the chance to actually come face to face with their customers sometimes charge for the parking itself.  The great service is however a bit more difficult for some to see.

Countryside Parking:
When you turn up to a car park in the countryside to walk your dogs, spend time outside with your family, visit that castle, earthworks or river, or just admire the view – you are stepping into that service without even noticing.

Someone has had to create that car park – and then maintain it.  Someone else probably makes sure that there is an up-to-date information sign for you to read, a leaflet or 2 about wildlife and landmarks, some seating and possibly some signage to make your stop here more pleasant.

Yet another person might be in charge of installing and maintaining toilets on the site, creating a bus link to the site and even finding/hiring an ice cream van or hot food stall on site in the summer. 

Another team of staff or volunteers may well be engaged in fixing fencing, marking parking bays and bicycle racks, fixing potholes amongst other things.  They may also arrange for bins on site – both rubbish and dog poop – and even for picking up dropped litter in and around the car park and disposing of it elsewhere.

Now can you see the service?
So if you turn up at a place you want to visit and you easily find a well marked parking space which isn’t filled with empty food wrappers and dog poo – the view is just as you expected with information and clean toilets close by – and there isn’t a burnt-out car in sight – why are you complaining about paying £2 to park there?

You wanted to visit this site didn’t you?  And you expect it to be as beautiful as it was last time?  So why are you not happy to pay somebody for keeping it that way?

Sometimes, people assume that all councils just charge for car parks to ‘make more money out of us’ – but if you look closely at parking signs – most of them go directly into funding the site you pay at – like all National Trust car parks (however if you are an NT member your parking is free anyway).

So before you grumble about spending a few coins to be somewhere you want to be (I mean it is just like paying an entrance fee to visit a museum or castle, etc except it is outdoors) – think about these 2 things:

1) The fact that you actually wanted to come here to this exact carpark of your own accord because it offers something special or something different, and;

2) The fact that there are plenty of free carparks and laybys across the country and plenty of other bits of quite similar-looking fields you could go for a walk across instead!

Your choice!

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Visit a delightful little site at the foot of the South Downs with a historic water mill and stream.

This reserve is actually the SWT’s HQ as well, and is crammed full of old buildings and great habitats for you and your kids to explore.

Education groups are run here for schools and adults alike – with training courses run for countryside management and habitat surveys as well as general interest evenings and wildlife tours

Habitat Features:
The site is approximately 40 acres in size and is at the base of the chalk South Downs near Henfield.

It is mainly wetland pastures and grassland meadows, with a small area of dense bluebell woodland, a more open and coppice woodland and a variety of historic small waterways that used to power the mill itself (which is no longer in use).

The reserve is famous for its nightingales and has a huge number of newts living in its main dipping pond.  There are plenty of damselflies and dragon flies in the spring, as well as nesting kestrels and owls – and many overhead swallows and swifts!

The Reserve:
A walk around the reserve could take around 2 hours if you were just strolling with the family, but if you loved wildlife watching or photography, then you could easily be there double that time.

Woods Mill Sign Post

Entering the reserve is over the main water feed to the old mill where you can start seeing the insect life in flight – and you enter the main school group outdoor education areas (raised gardens, picnic tables, insect houses and main reception) -  but turning first left for a coutryside walk.

The main route is all weather and suitable for pushchairs and wheelchairs and there are plenty of seats dotted along the way too.

This first path gives you a waterside walk where you will hear the famous nightingales singing in spring (good luck seeing one!) and brings you up to the reed beds.  Following on to the left is a grassland field where there are raptor nest boxes on the far side.

From here you can head out further along the raised waterway for long views over some wetland pastures and to connect with some wider footpaths and hiking trails outside of the reserve itself.  However, heading across the pastures you can walk alongside a small bluebell woodland – filled with stitchwort and other spring flowers – before heading into the coppice woodlands.

Expect to see common vetch, lords and ladies and cuckoo flower as you follow the woodland trails.  Log benches and willow sculptures can be found here – as well as some moss-covered ‘ruins’ throughout.  Thought to be from a demolished folly here many years ago – they certainly intrigue visitors as they lay where they were dumped all those years ago!

Overgrown Stone Ruins

The ponds are found here too, with larger ornamental ponds and a smaller dipping pond closer to the road.  Expect to see newt after newt rising to the surface here in spring – taking a gulp of air before heading back down to the murky depths! 

There is limited parking on site – but I always find a space!  Maybe check for training sessions at the site – which will usually attract more drivers as there is no train station close by and only a handful of buses pass by – and avoid those days!

Reserve Details:
Here is a general summary of the site for the visitor as in Spring 2010.

Cost:      The reserve is free to visit.
Hours:    The reserve is open all hours – apart from 2 weeks at Christmas.
Carpark: There is a carpark for about 50 cars max.
Travel:     There is a bus stop outside the reserve – but no train station near by
Shop:      There is no shop on site – villages 5 minutes drive each way.
Eating:    There is no cafe or restaurant on site.
Toilets:   In carpark – open until 5pm each day.
Dogs:      No dogs allowed in reserve.
Kids:       Families are welcome and there is plenty for young children to do.
Other:     There is no playpark, cycling or horseriding on the reserve.

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The UK’s National Trust are offering 2 full days of free fun close to you!

This massive charity are hoping that they can offer everyone a great day out in one of their properties – and help everyone experience some goo old natural fun!

There are 100′s of properties available for you to explore, and they are all quite different.  Some take up whole valleys, others have a secret garden, yet more have aviaries, lakes, streams, caves and orchards! 

There is absolutely no shortage of habitats, architecture, famous faces and great history – so take a browse on their website and see what would suit your family day out.

Closest To You:
Obviously the most ‘green’ adventure would be to visit the properties closest to your home. 

Whether it a a huge world famous property or a tiny chapel, you can always make a great day out.  Many smaller properties still have nice gardens and landscapes and wildlife too.

And the smaller properties could take only an hour or two to investigate, so you could possibly fit 2 properties into the same day out.

The larger properties, of course, can entertain you for the whole day.  I have visited properties myself that I didn’t get all the way around as I was having so much fun on the way around!

Lawned areas are perfect for a picnic – so don’t forget to take some tasty morsels and a refreshing drink!

Getting Your Moneys Worth:
Of course, if you want to really take advantage of the National Trust’s generous offer, then you may well want to find the most expensive property and save even more money for the family.

Obviously, that’s what quite a lot of other people are probably thinking too, so you may well find yourself surrounded by 100′s of other people and children.

In terms of a green adventure – this might not be so rewarding.  A walk through the woods in these places won’t really be as fun as a quieter location as there will just be too many other people having a great day out and probably screaming, shouting and laughing!

Wildlife in the woods and around the lakes might be a bit harder to find too as they will just go elsewhere for some peace and quiet themselves!  However, the trees, plants and rivers aren’t going anywhere – so there is still some fun to be had!

A Specific Favourite:
There are plenty of properties that have a particular theme, from a photography museum, tame deer, huge portrait collections or even the home of a famous historical figure.

And many people have ‘been meaning to get to….’ somewhere for as long as they can remember.

Others have seen a property used as a film set for a recent movie or documentary and want to walk through the film sets and see all the related literature on site.

Possibly, your children are studying a particular topic at school or college and it would just be great to get them some ‘hand’s on’ experience of: how they lived, what they wore and ancient crafts of whatever period is on the curriculum!

Anyway, whatever reason you use to take advantage of this great weekend – go to the National Trust website, choose your favourite property and get your voucher printed out!

The RGS are hosting a fantastic EcoFair on the 5th and 6th of December in London.

They are bringing together some fantastic international eco friendly companies and charities to fill your day with excitement and fill your bags with great goodies!

Stalls include some of the old favourites like the RSPB selling wildlife gifts, memberships and information for your gardens and great days out and the CO-OP will be promoting their eco friendly and fair trade clothing ranges.

There are also products available from around the world, with alpaca clothing from Peru, ethical accessories from Nepal, hand-made silks from Cambodia and Luxury fabrics from India.

There are also creations from the UK, including recycled household goods, hand-made bespoke jewelry, fair trade organic babywear and luxurious oils and soaps.

There is also a free puppet show being performed at the show just after lunch time – called the Forest of Fables, and is performed using Japanese style puppets (made from recycled materials) to African music depicting well known Greek fables!

In addition, there is even a puppet making session beforehand – so your children can make their own recycled pupet like those from the show and learn how the show is put together – including a sneak preview at some of the songs – and they get to keep their puppet!

The whole show is free entry to all – with free fairtrade wine for all RGS members and guests – see the RGS website for more details……..