Local lads muck-in to improve access at Penrose

On Wednesday this week a group of Helston Community College students arrived at Penrose with a mission; ....to continue their fantastic work upgrading the pathways, to allow access particularly for Motorbility Scooters, pushchairs and prams.

The boys, who were supervised and led by officers from RNAS Culdrose, Lt Neil Laing and Firefighter Mark Skinner, were members of the Phoenix Project, a partnership between Helston College, Culdrose and the National Trust, which enables students to learn the value of contributing to the community.

This week the boys were continuing the work to dig out and lay a wheelchair grade path, to allow users to reach parts of Penrose that were previously inaccesssible.

                                                                                                

Karen Harvey, Student Support Officer with the college, was really pleased with the progress made by the boys.    " They have come on in leaps and bounds since they started working with the Trust so its a project that benefits us all".

The boys will continue working on the path after Christmas and will also be working to restore a pond and build a bench.

Nick.

                                                                     

conservation capers on the cober

For some weeks now, walkers along a

popular stretch of the river cober at

penrose have had to 'mind the gap'.

This is because several sections of the river bank footpath have badly eroded, creating large holes that pose a problem for walkers, cyclists, wheelchair and pushchair users.

To overcome this problem a hardy team of volunteers and staff, braved the drizzle and armed only with bowsaws, billhooks and packets of biscuits they constructed living willow fences, designed to prevent unplanned swimming lessons and to look beautiful.

In time, it is hoped that the planted willow posts will take root and stabilise the riverbank.

Nick

Working with our Ambassador Businesses

For the past year or so we've been working with a couple of local activity providers to offer more for our visitors to enjoy on the Lizard. We are pleased to announce that we are going to continue working closely with Lizard Adventure and the Dan Joel Surf School in 2012 as our Ambassador Businesses. 

Being an Ambassador Business means we work together to provide exciting joint events and educational experiences as well as the thrill of trying something new and exciting as we encourage more people to love the outdoors like we do. We aim to teach people through our ambassador businesses about the coast and countryside and the work we do to keep it so special. We also try and raise awareness of conservation issues and subjects like beach litter through local community events and working with school groups. 


JP from Lizard Adventure says:


"Firstly, let me just say that it is a privilege to be an ambassador business for the National Trust.


The values for Lizard Adventure are such that we aim for a long term sustainable future with sustainable growth though delivery of a high quality guided experiences.  This can only be done through working with the National Trust who share similar values.


When we meet and greet our clients we inform them of this relationship.  It adds value to their experience as they understand that they are able to enjoy their guided experience more easily in areas that they may not normally have access to.  They also smile when they get told that part of what they pay us goes back to the National Trust in order to support preservation and maintenance of these special places."


Dan Joel says: 

"I am extremely excited to now be working with the National Trust in a professional capacity with the running of my Surf School business. 2012 will be the second year of working together to allow the general public to experience the thrills of surfing in a safe, relaxed and friendly environment to the beautiful backdrop of Poldhu beach. To be working at such a wonderful location, and indroducing the sport which I am so passionate about to people means a lot to me and I struggle to think of a more satisfying vocation. 


Having been a National Trust surf ambassador for several years, I am very aware of the excellent work the National Trust does to help preserve and protect the coastline which we hold so dear. Our beautiful cliffs and beaches are integral to the sport of surfing and with help from the Trust we can leave our precious coastline in a fit state for future generations to inherit. "

Layla

www.lizardadventure.co.uk

www.danjoelsurf.com

Little nippers get muddy at Degibna woods

Degibna Woods at Penrose echoed to the sounds of 25 little voices as the youngest members of Nansloe Academy (aged 4 and 5 years old) explored on Friday morning.

With a remit to ‘get muddy and enjoy it’ from Teacher Steve Osborne, the youngsters really made the most of their morning, splashing in the stream, wading through the mud and finishing it all off with a welcome cup of hot chocolate.



Even with a full curriculum Steve maintains that it is important for the children to have free time to explore at their own pace and without a prescribed outcome to the activity.

The school will be continuing to use Penrose for its activities with more classes getting outdoors to explore and broaden their curriculum in future.


                  Nick

Volunteers take it one step at a time

The Trust’s Lizard volunteers were up at Penrose this week working to replace an old flight of steps that link    the car park to the estate.

Greg, Paul, Pete and Rob showed their carpentry credentials and the rotten old steps were replaced in no time at all with a perfect flight, that wouldn’t look out of place in Penrose House itself!

 

The replacement of these steps is just part of the improvement to the infrastructure to the estate that will take place over the coming years. The footpath signs and information boards will also be rationalised and updated.

               

 

 

There will be more joint working days between Lizard and Penrose teams in future, making the most of the team’s skills and offering the chance to work across a wider range of projects and settings.

If you are interested in joining us for volunteer work, then give us a call on 01326 561407 and we’d be delighted to get you involved.

Nick

Frightful Times at Poltesco

Half-term proved busy at Poltesco. Kids of all ages were to be found solving an egg thief mystery, dissecting owl pellets and/or getting covered in glue!

For 3 days we played host to the BBC Live 'n' Deadly Detectives Trail, organised jointly with Natural England. This involved searching out 7 clues, to solve the mystery of who or what had eaten a clutch of eggs. 100 kids took the challenge over the 3 days, earning themselves a badge and a passcode for the BBC's online Live 'n' Deadly game. Also on offer was the chance to make clay animal paw prints, and to dissect owl pellets. Thanks to Claire from NE and her vol team for their work in making these days a great success.

On friday, later in half-term week, 10 families joined us in the sunshine in the yard for a scary mask and halloween lantern workshop. For the lanterns, a frame is first made out of elm and dogwood shoots harvested from the valley, held together with tape.



Wouldn't like to meet him on a dark night!



Things then get messy, as the frame is covered in several layers of wet strength tissue paper soaked in dilute PVA glue. Finally add some decoration and colour if desired, or sandwich some leaves between the layers. Then the biggest challenge. Try to get it home without dripping all over the car!  Rachel

Pond dippers make a splash!

We joined forces with Cornwall Neighbourhoods 4 Change (CN4C) in the half term for peek at the wildlife in Loe Pool. The participants found a variety of pond life including water shrimps, mayfly larvae and water snails. One of the more exciting discoveries was a common darter dragonfly, easily recognisable by its bright red body.

Karen Llewellyn from CN4C said: “It was a fantastic day, with the children and parents really getting involved. Cornwall Neighbourhoods 4 Change (CN4C) and the National Trust are developing a great working partnership and if the Pond Dipping is anything to go by there will be plenty of fun wildlife events in the future for everyone to enjoy.” We also teamed up with Trudy Russell from the Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) who is encouraging more people to explore nature. Trudy supplied microscopes for everyone to get a closer look at the slimy creatures we uncovered in the pool.

Keep checking the blog to hear more about upcoming activities. Access to the pond dipping site by kind permission of the Trustees of Penrose Estate.