Event calendar
St Margaret’s Nature Day
May 23 @ 7:00 am – 10:00 pm
St Margaret’s Allotments and St Margaret’s Churchyard present our first ever NATURE DAY.
With early morning bird-ringing and late evening bat presentation and bat walk
Pay as you feel admission
Accompanied children welcome
Click here to view/download the programme.
How to find us
Follow signs to the Common Plot from the main entrance to the allotments on Margery Lane (DH1 4QJ). The churchyard can be accessed on foot, through a gap in the hedge bordering Grape Lane.
St Margaret’s Centre will be open from 11am to
3pm offering:
- presentations (see below),
- nature-related craft items from the Old School Crafts for sale,
- serve-yourself tea and coffee with a donation box,
- toilet facilities,
Programme
7-9am Bird ringing demonstration
Begin the day in the magic of early morning in St Margaret’s Churchyard with a demonstration of bird-ringing (an important method for studying the movements and behaviour of birds). Come to the Welcome Table, Common Plot, to be directed to the demonstration.
11am – 3pm Wildlife activities (Common plot)
Make your own BUG HOTEL
Take apart OWL PELLETS to see what the birds have eaten
Meet the allotment MINIBEASTS
See how a WORMERY works
Cheer on the SNAIL RACING
Learn about the work of the DURHAM WILDLIFE TRUST
Get bargains from the PLANT STALL
Meet local POND LIFE
Visit the DURHAM WILDLIFE TRUST INFORMATION TABLE, learn about their work to restore wildlife and nature from the Tees to the Tyne. Join the Trust and help to save the North East’s most special places from destruction.
Presentations
St Margaret’s Centre, first floor.
Adults and accompanied children welcome
11:15am
David Rollason and Holly Groke, MICROSCOPIC POND LIFE (hunters and prey of the microcosmos), illustrated with photographs taken through the microscope. Nature really close up!
12 noon
Pam Jose, COMPOSTING
Come and hear about how to get the best out of composting, and how important it is for ecology and biodiversity.
12:45pm
Jodie Morgan, GARDENING WITH BATS – expert guidance on how to enhance the attractiveness of gardens and allotments to bats, and the fascination of living alongside them.
1:30pm
Val Standen, BUTTERFLY FOOD PLANTS – what we need to grow and encourage so that we can have and enjoy the magic of butterfly life.
2:15pm
Rakesh Gaddaparthi, THE IMPORTANCE OF ALLOTMENTS FOR BIODIVERSITY.
Exploring and researching
Meet at the Welcome table, Common plot. Adults and accompanied children welcome. SPACES LIMITED PLEASE SIGN FOR A PLACE AS SOON AS YOU ARRIVE
11:20am
Take part in a BIOBLITZ to capture, identify and record the insects in St Margaret’s Churchyard. Real citizen science. Led by Ruth Chambers, Val Standen, and Jonathan Wallace.
12 :30pm
MONITORING NEST BOXES with Tony Gibson; a tour of the nestboxes on the allotments and in the churchyard, with the chance to see baby birds close up.
2pm
ALLOTMENT PONDS – MAKING THEM, MAINTAINING THEM, THE PLANTS AND ANIMALS WHICH LIVE IN THEM. A fascinating tour of the ponds on the allotments led by Alan Rose.
9pm
BATS ON THE ALLOTMENTS AND IN THE CHURCHYARD.
Meet at the Welcome Table, Common Plot. Finish the day with a talk by Clare Rawcliffe (Durham Bat Group), followed by a tour of the allotments and the churchyard to see and identify bats as night falls. Have a go with a high frequency bat detector to ‘hear’ their calls.