THIS year’s Light Up Poole festival, from Thursday 21st to Saturday 23rd February will give a colourful and exciting new look to the Quay and the Old Town as international light artists premiere their installations. This year’s festival includes four world premieres, a European premiere and several newly commissioned works that place Poole firmly in…
THE National Trust’s Kingston Lacy estate near Wimborne is famous for one of the best snowdrop displays in Dorset. The snowdrop walk stretches through the 40-acre garden for 1.5 miles and is at its best throughout early February. One of the best displays of snowdrops can be seen between the sleeping tree ferns in the…
FROM beavers to bug hunts, Dorset Wildlife Trust has a range of interesting activities in February, an invitation to get out in the fresh air, even if it is cold! For more information on DWT in general and on volunteering opportunities and working parties, visit www.dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk Saturday 9th – Brownsea members day, 11am-3pm, an exclusive…
THE ancient tradition of wassailing the apple trees is celebrated at the National Trust’s Barrington Court near Ilminster on Saturday 12th January. This age-old custom encourages a good harvest in the autumn: songs are sung to bless the trees and plenty of noise is made to shoo away bad spirits. The Barrington Court event will…
THE winter programme of Dorset Wildlife Trust events is inevitably smaller than the rest of the year, but there are some interesting talks coming up and boat trips round Poole Harbour and to Brownsea Island. For information on DWT activities, and volunteering projects, work parties, etc, visit www.dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk Wednesday 16th January – It shouldn’t happen…
A QUARTET of cheetah cubs has ventured outside for the first time at Longleat Safari Park. The litter, born to mum Wilma and dad Carl, is the largest number of cubs ever raised at Longleat, and one of the biggest litters successfully reared in the UK in recent years. The quartet, which were born in…
A LITTLE late, but here are the Dorset Wildlife Trust events for the rest of November – for more details and for volunteering opportunities, visit www.dorsetwildifetrust.org.uk Saturday 17th – Lino printmaking workshop, Kingcombe Centre, with Hugh Dunford-Wood, 9.45am-4pm, one-day practical, fun approach to lino printing, covering the fundamentals of lino printing, from drawing and carving…
THE South West Wiltshire MP Dr Andrew Murrison is one of 508 MPs who are planting trees as part of the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy, a network of forest conservation initiatives to mark Her Majesty’s lifetime of service to the Commonwealth. Dr Murrison has planted silverbirch and rowan trees in Biss Meadows Country Park in Trowbridge….
A NEW walk around Yeovil town centre marks the centenary of the First World War Armistice. South Somerset District Council’s is offering free guided walks of less than a mile around points of interest relating to the Great War. The walks at 11am on Thursday 8th, Saturday 10th and Thursday 15th November, will be led…
THE beaches at Lyme Regis and Weymouth will be the Dorset venues for Danny Boyle’s Pages of the Sea arts project which is part of the 14-18 NOW cultural programme to mark the centenary of Armistice Day. On 11th November, members of the public are invited to gather on beaches across the UK for an…