In June and July we met up a couple of times in Longrun Meadow, a newly developed green area in the North of Taunton. It's a lovely area accessible from town through French Weir Park. The Willow Cathedral is also well worth a "visit".
In June we had a couple of picnics at The Spinney in Kingston St Mary, where the children enjoyed playing in the stream, climbing in the trees and swinging on a tree swing.
We also had a couple of walks in Langford Heathfield, a Somerset Wildlife Trust nature reserve near Wellington. We all enjoyed meeting the mini Shetlands ponies which are kept there in the summer to graze a small area of the reserve. It's a beautiful reserve with wildflower meadows, boarded walks as well as woods with multiple paths where it's surprisingly easy to become lost!
In July we took part in the Big Butterfly Count, a survey organised by Butterfly Conservation
We decided to meet up at Thurlbear Quarrylands, one of the best sites in the area to see a good variety of butterflies. With our copies of the butterfly charts we were able to identify a few species: gatekeeper, meadow brown, ringlet, large skipper, peacock, marbled white, large white, red admiral, silver-washed fritillary ... The children also enjoyed looking for bugs and buildings dens under some trees.
Since the end of the winter, our group has met in various places in and around Taunton.
In March we went to plant some trees on a Forest School site near Langport. The young trees were donated by Monkton Elm Garden Centre. Here's an extract from an article you can find here: "Taunton Home Education Group has been awarded 50 young trees to help teach its students about nature. Group Co-ordinator, Bryony Medhurst explained: "Taunton Home Education Group is a non-profit organisation made up of parents wishing to educate their children alternatively. "We have a focus on nature and forest skills in our curriculum and believe giving our pupils a hands-on experience when it comes to the outdoors is highly beneficial. "We are extremely grateful for Monkton Elm Garden & Pet Centre’s sapling donation and will be planting them at Wilder Woods Forest School, a voluntary run community group which aims to increase involvement in forestry and conservation activities for all ages."
We've also been on several walks in Fyne Court, a beautiful National Trust property with woods, streams and meadows.
The children have enjoyed running free, climbing trees, paddling in the stream, searching for beetles, collecting leaves and picking blackberries.
In Swell Wood (RSPB nature reserve), we all enjoyed spotting the herons and egrets nesting high up in the trees, and had nice walks in the bluebell woods.
In the Willows and Wetlands visitor Centre the children loved playing in the living willow wigwams, visiting the museum, and we all enjoyed a walk around the moors.
