Whalley Abbey

It's been a while since I posted anything here - I've mostly been busy on other projects, and also seemed to spend last year revisiting places I've already written about. I'll try to do better this year! Here are a few shots I took today of a sunny and frosty Whalley Abbey:

Click here for more on Whalley Abbey.

Longridge Field Day 2011 Photos

We've got a field and we're gonna use it

Another well supported and enjoyable Field Day this year - here are a few shots of the floats and my mob in fancy dress...

Chris - Penguin

Hol - Flower

The kids ready for action

2 to School Preschool Royal Wedding

Organised chaos at the Civic Hall

St Wilfrid's Alien Invasion

ATC Bomber Command - last seen over Ribchester

Longridge Town FC go with a netball football theme

Church Brigades National Band

Bright and Beautiful - Church Brigades/Longridge CE School

Superheroes of Barnacre Road Primary

Christ Church Adult Disability & Arts

Royal Wedding, Chipping Style

Brave choice - our Rob as a rabbit

The Queen and Entourage

Longridge Field Day 2011 Programme

Update: I've now posted some pictures of Longridge Field Day 2011.

This is a quick plug for Longridge Field Day - it seems to come around quicker each year!  Longridge Field Day 2011 will be held on Saturday 11 June, with the main events running from noon until 6pm, and the Fun Fair continuing until 9pm. It was great fun and well run (and policed) last year, so wasn't marred by the drunken rioting which has occasionally taken the shine off previous events. Hopefully it will be just as family-friendly this time.

Here's the running order, lifted straight from the official Longridge Field Day programme:

10:30 Judging of Decorated Houses/Shops by the Mayor

12:00 Parade assembles at Civic Hall

12:30 Parade moves off led by Vintage/Classic Cars and Bikes

 3:30 Punch and Judy

 3:30 Judging of the Vintage/Classic Cars and Gold Wing Bikes

 3:30 Scarecrow Competition Judging

Events in the Main Arena

 1:45 Crowning of the Field Day Queen, Lydia Richardson

 2:00 Fancy Dress Judging

 2:30 Longridge Gym Club Display

 3:00 Janet Sutcliffe School of Dancing Display

 3:30 Brigade Band

 3:45 Brian's Owl Display

 4:00 Football and Tug-of-War Semi Finals

 4:45 Football and Tug-of-War Final

 5:00 Field Day Raffle Draw

Keep your fingers crossed for some sunshine & I'll see you there.

Brockholes, Lancashire's newest nature reserve

Brockholes Nature Reserve

Brockholes is a brand new nature reserve owned and operated by the Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside. Brockholes is easy to get to, lying just beside Junction 31 of the M6 near Preston. The reserve offers a range of habitats for wildlife including lakes and pools formed by flooding former gravel pits, an area of marshland, and is flanked by a section of the River Ribble and ancient woodland.

In the visitors centre

Canada Geese with goslings

Help! Chris on the climbing wall.

Great for wildlife and visitors alike, the Wildlife Trust has made efforts to ensure the resort has something for everyone, and families with children are well catered for. The impressive floating visitors village offers an information centre featuring interactive exhibits, a large and reasonably priced cafe/restaurant, farm and gift shops, decent toilets, and conference facilities. The modern buildings have been created using sustainable materials, and I think they look great in the environment, whilst bringing in funds to support the ongoing development and maintenance of the reserve.

Common Orchid

Meg enjoys making a crafty bee.

Damselfly

Unusual exhibit

There are walking trails of various lengths around the reserve - we just walked a short way today, up one side of Meadow Lake and back along the Ribble. The kids gave the nice playground a resounding "thumbs up", and also joined in with the indoor craft activities running this weekend. They also enjoyed an outdoor climbing wall which was visiting.

Heron Sculpture in Brockholes Visitors Centre

Holly Climbing

Kids are welcome at Brockholes

Divers from North West Model Shipwrights exhibition

Small(?) Red Damselfly

Rob and Chris enjoy the tyre swing

Rob, Chris and Holly on the giant swing

Another climber in trouble (Rob)

Rob on the tyre swing

Gravel Chute

Young Ornithologist (Rosie)

Wooden Tractor

Small White Butterfly

Boarding the floating visitors village

Although it is early days for Brockholes, and development is still underway around parts of the reserve, I'm really impressed with what has been achieved so far, and was encouraged by the unsolicited positive responses from the kids, who were genuinely enthusiastic about the wildlife we saw. We'll definitely be back regularly over the coming years, especially as the free entry and reasonable sliding-scale car park charges make it feasible to drop in for a couple of hours without breaking the bank (by contrast the Wildfowl Trust reserve at Martin Mere charges our family of seven enough admission that we only go every couple of years). I look forward to seeing Brockholes develop, and will post periodic updates here on Lost in Bowland.

Find out more at the Brockholes website.