Lots of different ways to celebrate the natural environment

The past few months have brought many different opportunities to find more interesting ways to engage children and their families in the outdoors. Now the heat and business of summer has passed with rockpooling events and local festivals the autumn lends itself to foraging in hedges and cooking up some more unusual feasts.

At Poltesco the September forage and feast walk saw locals scrabbling about on the shoreline looking dubiously at limpets and slimy seaweeds as the realisation that this was their lunch set in! An eclectic collection of hedgerow and seashore finds created a fantastic lunch cooked over the fire and was enjoyed by all. The feast included pepper dulse bread, kelp crisps and limpet surprise (the surprise being that when cooked for only a few seconds they can actually taste quite good!) along with berry tarts for dessert

Megan Adams the Wild Lizard Intern sharing her knowledge of the hedgerows. Photo by Shazzam

 

 

Cooking some delights over the fire, limpet surprise anyone? Photos by Shazzam

The onset of Halloween and half term brought about some very strange sights indeed around Poltesco. Forty children and their parents set off on a quest to collect dragon fly wings (sycamore seeds) and petrified hedgehogs (teasels) to make a potion. Along the way they met several eccentric characters including the head shrinking professor and a couple of zombies! The aim of the day was to weave more traditional Halloween activities in with children being taken along with a story and using their imaginations to see the natural environment in different ways.

Taking on the spider web challenge with Sarah Henn from Miracle Wood

There be some strange goings on down those parts at Halloween!

Looking forward to Christmas celebrations for the first time Grade Ruan School have been own at Poltesco all this week making decorations for the Tree Dressing Day. With the help of Falmouth University students the pupils from the school created some amazing decorations to cover the trees at Poltesco including a bamboo bender to house the candles made from clay.

Tree dressing, celebrated in early December, is based on many old customs from all over the world. It looks to decorate the trees in a celebration that brings the community together. On
December 12^th the school will come down together and have a celebration morning at Poltesco with songs and refreshments and give everyone a chances to admire each other’s decorations. The decorations will remain up until 4.30pm that day for people to come down for a hot chocolate and to look at the children’s handiwork.

Grade Ruan School Up to their elbows in it leaf printing

Beautifully decorated clay candles using clay dug from the Lizard, sunflower oil and rush acting as a wick

There will also be a Tree Dressing workshop running this Saturday  6^th December at Poltesco making decorations to adorn the more traditional Christmas tree and front doors.  The workshop is free but booking is essential so please call me on 01326 291174 or email Claire.scott@nationaltrust.org.uk  for more details and to book your place. 

Claire Scott Wild Lizard Education Ranger