Wild Workshops

The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust is launching all new ‘Wild Workshops’.  These workshops are an opportunity for all you nature enthusiasts to fine tune and hone those wildlife surveying and monitoring skills.  Whether a mere amateur or wishing to brush up on your biodiversity skills, a series of day-long training sessions will be led by local experts.

September

Saturday 4th September: 10.00am - 03.00 pm 
THE HISTORY OF TREES  - Charge £15 -  Further details attached
This informal workshop offers you a basic introduction to trees and their history.  We start with an indoor session to equip you with some essential information about British woodlands their history, their age, the myths surrounding them and the wildlife that lives in and relies on them.  We then go out into the majestic setting of Hetchell Wood for an informative guided walk, during which we will look at examples of the different kinds of British  native trees and learn how to differentiate them one from another.  

  • Meet at  Thorner Parish Centre, St Peter’s Church, Thorner with Scarcroft, Leeds                                          
  • Booking essential: phone 01904 659570 or e-mail: info@ywt.org.uk             


Saturday 25th September: 10:00am to 3:00pm
USING LIVESTOCK FOR WILDLIFE CONSERVATION - Charge £15 – Further details attached
If you have always thought you would like a go at looking after livestock, then this workshop is for you.  This fun and informal workshop is being run as part of the Magnesian Limestone project, where we are looking for volunteers to get involved in looking after livestock on sites that we manage.  The workshop aims to introduce many of the basics of pastoral farming and their use in managing grasslands to increase bio-diversity.  The day will be spent getting to grips with subjects like : assessing the site, choosing appropriate breeds and keeping healthy livestock.  On the day there will be plenty of opportunity to get your hands dirty and have a go at some of the techniques involved in rearing livestock. On this wonderful Magnesian Limestone grassland you will learn techniques for surveying grassland and will learn to identify the typical wildflowers of this habitat. The session will cover management practices on this habitat (including livestock grazing) and consider habitat creation on an area recently acquired by the Trust.

  • Meet: Brockadale Nature Reserve, Little Smeaton.  Grid Ref.  SE 513174
  • Booking essential: phone 01904 659570 or e-mail: info@ywt.org.uk             


Saturday 25th September: 10:00am to 3:00pm
A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO SPIDERS - Charge £15 – Further details attached
This workshop takes place at the Biology Department of the University of York and is led by Dr Geoff Oxford, a long term member of Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and Fellow of the University of York.   After a short presentation on spiders and their kin and how to sample them  we will head outdoors with sweep-nets, pooters and other device to examine the different habitats favoured by spiders and to collect materials for later identification.  After lunch we return to the Biology Department to examine and identify our catches with the aid of microscopes.  Finally there will be a short presentation about some of the fascinating aspects of spiders’ lives.

  • Meet: Biology Department, University of York
  • Booking essential: phone 01904 659570 or e-mail: info@ywt.org.uk      

 



The History of Trees


Spiders