Nature festival in full swing in Shrewsbury

The Shropshire Love Nature Festival is in full swing with organisations across the county coming together to help local people connect with nature.

Daisy Kirtley and Ruth Martin at the OsNosh Garden Club

The four weeks of events runs from July 23 to August 21 with up to 20 different organisations taking part to help Shropshire people discover ways to make changes in their lives to support positive change in the natural environment.

Festival chair Liz Knowles said that it had been inspirational to see so many organisations coming together with a common theme.

Volunteer education officer Julie Cooper demonstrates wild cooking at Fordhall Farm near Market Drayton photo: Rick Adaway

“We hope that we are achieving our aims of showing Shropshire people how to appreciate the value and beauty of nature, and the urgent need to protect and restore our natural environment,” she said.

This weekend's events include a Yummy Grubs session at Fordhall Organic Farm, Market Drayton on Saturday and a Meadow Flower Seed Collection workshop with the Marches Meadow Group at Belmore Farm on the western side of the Long Mynd.

They continue on Sunday with a Street Allotment Sunday at Belle Vue Youth Club plot in Shrewsbury and a nature and art session in the Reabrook Local Nature Reserve in Shrewsbury.

Highlights throughout next week include a children’s nature festival with eco activities in Bowring Park hosted by Wellington Town Council on Tuesday and a Birds, Glorious Birds session at The Cut Visitor Centre in Abbey Foregate, The following weekend Shropshire Wildlife Trust leads a small mammal monitoring expedition in the Reabrook nature reserve on Saturday morning and there will also be a Day in Nature event at Broadmeadow Holistic Centre in Leebotwood.

Nature lovers can find out more about bats and moths in a session at the Stiperstones National Nature Reserve on Saturday evening.

Natural gardener, Nancy Lowe will lead a workshop for 13 to 30 year olds on how to design a low maintenance garden full of food on Sunday morning in collaboration with the Shropshire Wildlife Trust.

Tom leads the way at his apple nursery photo Rick Adaway

The festival is supported by Zero Carbon Shropshire, Shropshire Wildlife Trust, Shropshire Good Food Partnership and the Lottery Heritage Fund. Further information on the festival is available at https://www.shropshirelovenaturefestival.org/ or by emailing shropshirelovenature@gmail.com. Information on Zero Carbon Shropshire is available at https://zerocarbonshropshire.org/