As the weather changes we have been making the most of the sunny (if a little cold) days and fitting in our final site visits, practical conservation and guided walks. We are still sorting out mountains of data – thank you to everyone who helped us collect this – we look forward to sharing our findings soon.
A fabulous Ice Age Pond near Bredwardine. Photo copyright Will Watson.
Thank you celebrations
Thank you to all our volunteers who have worked so hard throughout 2021. We have managed to visit 40 sites and do full records and complete 3 sets of water testing on 20 sites. People have provided photographs, done walking surveys and patiently sifted through online apps and maps to help bring all our information together. We have also had volunteers help with the practical conservation of some of our sites – they are looking a lot more open now and will hopefully spring back to life next year. We are thrilled with everything that you have helped us achieve and really couldn’t have done it without you all – THANK YOU.
To say thank you and keep everyone up to date with the work of the project, we are holding a drop-in day at Birches Farm, near Kington, (HR5 3EY) on Friday 10th December from 10.30am – 3.30pm. All of the project staff will be there, along with some of our displays from the museum, information on sites and the preliminary results of the water testing, plus plenty of cakes and chat. There will also be a chance to try out our “Ice Age Pond” app outside (if the weather is kind). This is a drop-in session, so just pop in and say “Hello” we would love to see you.
Winter Volunteer Training
We will be running some online training events and talks during the cold, dark and probably wet days of January and February. These are open to everyone and will be through zoom again. The sessions are in preparation for going back out and surveying in March – although they would be of interest to anyone who likes ponds and ice age landscapes. If there is a particular subject that you would like us to cover, then please let Beth know (e.andrews@worc.ac.uk) and we will see if we can find someone to help.
End of Project Conference
Just a quick reminder of our end of project conference on Wednesday 2nd March. We will be presenting our findings and sharing our success. We couldn’t have done this project without our fabulous volunteers, landowners and pond champions and hope that lots of you will be able to join us – virtually or in person. More details will be available nearer the time, but please do save the date.
Find out more:
To keep up to date with our project, please follow us on instagram (@earth_heritage_trust @herefordshirewildlifetrust ) twitter (@buildingstones @HerefordshireWT) or visit our project blog to see updates and newsletters: https://www.herefordshirewt.org/iceageponds/newsletters-blogs.
From all of the Ice Age Ponds project team, we wish all our volunteers and supporters a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We look forward to seeing you all again in 2022.
