Features from Wildlife magazine Wildlife articles 2008 -- Spring 2008 -- ::Severn Barrage ::The Variety of life ::A year at Willsbridge ::Willsbridge comes of age ::Reaching out - Willsbridge ::Round the reserves Wildlife articles 2007 -- Autumn 2007 -- ::Thinking BIG ::Watery webs:the pond network ::Wildlife in the landscape ::Variety of life ::How to be a climate friend ::Seasonal stroll - Walborough ::Round the reserves -- Summer 2007 -- ::The Folly Farm appeal ::Weston Big Wood-biodiversity at its best ::The variety of life ::How to capture a butterfly ::How to get to know an orchid ::Seasonal stroll - WestonBigWood ::Reserves update -- Spring 2007 -- ::Folly Farm - a very special place ::Making a difference at Folly Farm ::How find the magic at Folly Farm ::Seasonal stroll at Folly Farm ::Magic spots at Folly Farm ::Batscapes ::Climate challenge ::Variety of Life - the Ponways project ::Round the reserves Wildlife articles 2006 -- Autumn 2006 -- ::The Severn Estuary ::Bird Watch results ::How to identify garden birds ::Making space for wildlife ::How does your garden grow? ::Round the reserves -- Summer 2006 -- ::Going for green ::Stand up and be counted ::Happy birthday NSLMP ::Holi day - a riot of spring colour ::Avon's species-rich grassland ::How to photograph dragonflies ::The Big Switch ::Round the reserves -- Spring 2006 -- ::How to identify winter water birds ::Make 2006 the year you... ::Invasive invasion ::Sowing the seeds: Willsbridge Mill ::Round the reserves Wildlife articles 2005 -- Autumn 2005 -- ::Indentify common funghi ::Build a hedgehog hideaway ::Big Bird Watch ::Champions for wildlife ::Round the reserves ::Seeds of the futre: Willsbridge Mill -- Summer 2005 -- ::Restoring Folly Farm ::How to become bee-friendly ::How to identify the butterflies of spring ::Save our seas ::The variety of life: hedgerows ::Round the reserves ::25 Ways to make a difference -- Spring 2005 -- ::The variety of life: water voles ::The Avon Biodiversity Action Plan ::How to take really good wildlife photos ::How to help your garden grow ::Round the reserves ::Seasonal strolls: Browns Folly ::Sowing the seeds: for wildlife for people ::Sowing the seeds: looking back

Wonderful Willsbridge

Willsbridge Mill comes of age

Willsbridge Mill, the Trust’s first centre for environmental learning, celebrated its 21st birthday in 2007. This special anniversary provides an opportunity to reflect on a pioneering flagship education project which set the standards that Folly Farm will further develop in 2008.

Educating for the future
In a world becoming increasingly ‘virtual’ and removed from the reality of the passing seasons and natural rhythm of life, here at Willsbridge Mill we are involved in the business of engaging children with their outside environment and provoking wonder and excitement in their surroundings. Having awakened this interest we aim to nurture care and responsibility for our wildlife and countryside.

Willsbridge Mill Education Centre comprises an impressively restored 19th Century corn mill and long barn which stands in a 22 acre nature reserve surrounded by housing estates midway between Bristol and Bath. There is an amazing array of wildlife habitats – wood, pond, meadow, scrub and quarries, all within easy reach of the centre and located alongside the fast flowing Siston Brook which runs through Willsbridge Valley. There is also a demonstration wild waste garden showing gardening for wildlife using items often just thrown away, like old sinks, baths and washing machine drums. This green oasis on the urban fringe teems with wildlife, including dippers, kingfishers, badgers and bats.

The nature reserve offers unrestricted and full access at all times. Wheelchairs can easily access the garden and immediate woodland edge and teaching pond areas. Most of our environmental education work is with visiting school groups although we do have a programme of outreach activities for community groups like cubs and brownies and holiday play schemes.

Children usually spend a day at the centre with hands-on activities that involve active learning in some of the different habitats. The most popular include pond dipping, stream quality survey, river study, woodland workshops, minibeast hunts and wildlife games. The programmes have been developed to ensure there are links with many areas of the curriculum especially in science, geography, english, maths
and art, but always in a relevant and meaningful context.

At lunchtime the children enter the Lunchbox Challenge which involves them looking at the waste left after their packed lunch and reusing and recycling what they can. The waste destined for landfill is then weighed and an average weight per person is calculated. Letters from children afterwards show they enjoy this and it makes them think about their responsibility to our world. One of our aims is to encourage our visiting children to think about sustainable living and to want to live more lightly on this planet.

Special events for the general public are staged throughout the year and family activities are offered in the main school holiday periods. Pond dipping is a perennial favourite and nets can be hired in the school holidays. And for a Birthday Party with a difference we provide tailor-made events at the Mill, including den building and mini-beast hunts. All these activities are designed to help foster a deep love and commitment to our world – for the future of our planet lies in our children’s hands.

Further information: for details about Environmental Education at Willsbridge Mill, please contact Alison Logan on 0117 932 6885
Email: alisonlogan@avonwildlifetrust.org.uk

How to get to Willsbridge: Take the A431 Bristol to Bath road, turning into Long Beach Road. Car park on left.
Buses from Bristol to Long Beach Road or Willsbridge Hill.

Memories of the Mill

Early inspiration
“My name is Sarah van der Meer and I am the new Volunteering Officer at Avon Wildlife Trust! I have always known I wanted to work with wildlife ever since my mum took me on visits to Willsbridge Mill when I was younger, in the late 1980s and early 1990s. My mum would take my cousins and me to the Mill in the summer holidays. I remember that was the first time I ever saw a dragonfly. It was blue and green and whizzed along overhead as we walked along by the stream. I was amazed at the size and speed at which it flew as it chased after other insects. Whilst there we also hired nets and did pond dipping with the help of some lovely lady volunteers who helped us identify what we had caught. All other trips paled into insignificance that summer, as I loved the fact I could get my hands dirty and explore the wildlife there.

After studying for a Zoology Degree I noticed the vacancy for voluntary Conservation Assistants and applied. I got the position and volunteered for two years, helping run the Wildlife Action Group on tasks around the reserves, doing monitoring and surveys. I met some great people and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I then applied for the vacant role of Volunteering Officer and was invited for an interview and I was so pleased when I was phoned to say I had the job I was sso thrilled I jumped around for joy in the middle of a busy café! Working for the Trust is enabling me to fulfil my dream of working to conserve wildlife – and it’s given me an excuse to go to Willsbridge Mill again and look at the dragonflies that inspired me so much as a child!”

Class of 1937
On a recent visit to Willsbridge Mill, Brian Colston, a retired GP from Birmingham shared his fond memories of a school trip to the Mill made almost 70 years ago. His enlightened science teacher broke with what was then a tradition of exclusively classroom-based learning by taking his students on a series of visits to local businesses. These memories, far more than the classroom lessons, have stayed with him all his life.
‘Willsbridge was quite different in those days’, he recalled

‘I remember the dust, dirt and noise. The track was rough to the entrance, and there was constant noise of the water as the rumbling 8 horsepower wheel turned and generated the energy need to drive the machinery. I remember the gantry, used to lift the sacks of flour for storage on the top floor, whilst the millstones turned endlessly on the middle floor. Health and Safety would have had a field day – no guards to the belts, and flourdust laden atmosphere with no masks. It is a delight to see that school visits have grown in a different way for children today and to see the Mill enjoying a new lease of life.’