Interest area: Environment

A Sense of Green at Incredible Edible

Join Heart of Glass for an action-packed family -friendly Saturday at Court Hey Park’s community allotment to launch an autumn programme, celebrating our community’s love and appreciation of local green spaces.

The day includes a range of activities from a creative celebration of local bird species and hands-on art and embroidery workshops to facilitated discussions about the climate crisis. They invite you to listen, watch, create and reflect on the wild spaces right on our doorstep. See below for more information and how to book onto individual workshops.

Environmental Justice Questions: Workshop
10.30am – 12.30pm and 2.30pm – 3.30pm, Booking required

Environmental Justice Questions, organised and edited by Harun Morrison, is a compilation of questions for discussion and debate. Harun has invited a range of people including activists, writers, artworkers, theorists, architects, chefs, natural historians and horticulturalists to propose a question relating to environmental justice that can stimulate conversation. The workshop will involve a series of small-group discussions around chosen questions followed by a larger group discussion. Suitable for ages 16+.

Benjamina Albanese: Let’s Make Rubbish Art
11am – 4pm, Drop-in

Part show-and-tell, part artistic play area, Benjamina invites you to make ‘rubbish art’ from a range of materials she has accumulated over years of zero-waste living. Having lived without a general waste bin since 2018, the St Helens-based artist will use the session to challenge what we think of as ‘waste’, our role as waste producers, the waste we produce, and how that ‘waste’ might be reused.

Avian Amble with Paul Harfleet
12.30pm, Booking required

A special sharing / celebration event at Court Hey Park, where attendees of Paul Harfleet’s Birds Can Fly workshops are invited to share their bird-inspired creations, and have their portraits taken to add to an exhibition of ‘gently referenced’ ornithological looks. There’s a prize for best dressed, and a free lunch too. Meet us at the park café in your best feathers if you’d like to join the walk, or come along to watch! Birds Can Fly uses art, illustration and design to educate and inspire bird lovers and promote creativity, kindness and acceptance, encouraging an inclusive community of ornithologists and naturalists. Sign up to be part of the Birds Can Fly workshops here.

Lunch

Enjoy a delicious  homemade lunch on Heart of Glass! From 1pm – 3pm grab some free food and  take a tour round an exhibition of work by artist John Maguire and volunteers from Incredible Edible, exploring how we can help to look after our precious ‘green lungs’ (parks, gardens and fields). Meanwhile,writer and social advocate Bernadette McBride will be sharing poems from creative writing workshops with local group Cut Glass Writers.

Mythology, Ecology, Embroidery with Becca Rauer
2.30pm – 4.30pm, Booking required

Folklore, mythology and storytelling have been used for centuries to influence behaviour and instil morals in children and adults. Many of these powerful stories include environmental conservation messages that continue to influence policy today. Becca’s embroidery workshop will explore how folklore can help shape attitudes towards green spaces, inviting you to share stories and knowledge to inspire original embroidered artworks. Becca invites sewers and crafters of all experience and levels to take part in this session and will be on hand to offer tips and share skills with those less confident.

Here’s the link to their full programme – people can book onto individual workshops via Eventbrite: https://www.heartofglass.org.uk/project-and-events/events/a-sense-of-green-at-incredible-edible

Autumn Herbs for Health

Would you like to know how to use herbs to support your wellbeing but don’t know where to start?

In this beginners workshop, you will be introduced to a variety of herbs and shown how to use them to make teas, oxymels, oil infusions and balms. An opportunity to indulge in herbalism to discover and connect to the plants growing around us.

The workshop will include:

– how to dry & store herbs

– how to make herbal tea infusions

– how to make a herbal oxymel (using our own Hamilton Honey)

– herbal cake & tea break

– how to prepare an oil infusion

– how to make a soothing balm (using organic beeswax from our hives)

All materials will be provided but please wear clothing suitable for the outdoors as they will try to spend some time in the garden (and can’t guarantee sun unfortunately!).

Please note – they will be using honey and beeswax from their sustainably managed bee hives located on site in our community garden.

If you would prefer not to use honey / bees wax, please get in touch ahead of the class and they can organise alternative products for you to use.

John Maguire: Parklife

Take part in one or all four of these creative workshops that will culminate in a micro exhibition at Incredible Edible Knowsley on Saturday 16h September.

Each ‘walk-shop’ will explore the importance of the local environment and promote climate awareness through shared reading (of traditional folk tales), drawing, writing, meditation and discussion. You are invited to join in and identify together how we can help to look after our precious ‘green lungs’ (parks, gardens and fields).

This workshop is for adults, but feel free to bring the family along! Workshops are held in Court Hey Park, Tuesday 25th July, Tuesday 15th August, Tuesday 29th August, Tuesday 12th September. 12 till 4pm.

John Maguire has been commissioned by Heart of Glass as part of Prototype Projects 2023. Part of A Sense of Green.

Liverpool Botanic Gardens – What...

Join the discussion at The Athenaeum for an important evening raising the importance of the Liverpool Botanic Collection which is now at risk.

There are growing concerns about the safety and long-term future of the Liverpool Botanic Collection currently at Croxteth Hall. It was nearly closed for good in 2014 and is now in the spotlight again.

The Athenaeum’s connection to the botanical collection dates back to its inception by William Roscoe. Roscoe was a founding member of the Athenaeum in 1797 and about half of the subscribers to the Botanical Gardens were also members of the Athenaeum.

The level of concern has been brought to the attention of the Library Advisory Committee, and as part of our outreach into the community we are holding an event at the Athenaeum to raise awareness of this amazing collection and the importance of its history and heritage. It dates from 1803 when William Roscoe set it up and was the first of its kind in the UK.

Speakers for the evening are Raoul Curtis-Machin, Director of Horticulture at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, he will give a wider viewpoint of the importance of botanic gardens. Steve Lyus, local botanical historian, will review the long history of the Liverpool Botanic Garden. Stephen Guy will give a short talk on the West Derby Society and Friends of Croxteth Hall.

Bird Rave

Created by Live Art Artist Miss High Leg Kick, Bird Rave is a celebration of classic rave music, the ‘freedom to dance’ days of early UK rave culture, extraordinary Birds and the choreography of nature.

This is a project that families can take part in by downloading the digital activity pack. The pack contains activities that will take you all outdoors, help you to create costume pieces, have you learning some classic dance moves and most importantly making some incredible memories, making this a rave experience that the whole family will absolutely love.

Produced and Supported by Wonder Arts (Formerly Citadel Arts) and Heart of Glass.

Get Outdoors

Did you know that early rave tracks used bird songs as part of the music? This is the perfect time of year to venture outside and hear all of the different birds. They’re tweeting their hearts out!

What can you hear?

Maybe you’ll hear a Robin, who has a song like trickling water. Or a Great Tit and their cheerful little song. Or perhaps you’ll hear the “koooo koooo ker kooo” of the Wood Pigeon. In your ‘at home’ activity pack you’ll find a sheet to help you identify all of the different birds and the special songs they sing. All you have to do is stand still and listen.

Listen to the Bird Rave!

Get Creative

Use the ‘how to’ guide in your activity pack to create your very own costume head pieces. Using just a cap, some tissue paper, pom poms and pipe cleaners, you could be raving in your very own own bird plumage that’s fit for any Bird Rave.

Get Dancing

Watch and learn from the masters of the Bird Rave. Watch the short Bird Rave dance videos and use the dance move chart in your activity pack to learn some classic dance moves like ‘The Running Man’, ‘Screwing in the Lightbulb’ and ‘Big Fish, Little Fish, Cardboard Box’.

Get Your Family Bird Rave Started

Complete the short form here to access the digital activity pack.

8 Week Sheep to Skein Course

Sheep to Skein 8 Week Course.

This Sheep to Skein Weekly Workshop is an initial 8 week course running from Monday 9th January, 1:30pm – 3:30pm where you will be taken through the whole process from preparing fleece to spinning it and using it in a woven project.

What’s covered on the course?

Each session lasts two hours and over the 8 weeks we will cover the following elements:

Sheep fibre and how different breeds can be used in different ways
How to wash a fleece
How to card using hand carders and a drum carder
How to spin on a wheel
Different ways of plying yarn
How to warp up a rigid heddle loom
How to weave using your handspun yarn
They will work at your pace so there is no pressure and you can take your time mastering each part. After the 8 weeks you can carry on on a rolling weekly basis.

This room is situated in the Baltic Triangle, right by the Baltic Market. There is parking outside the venue. They will provide refreshments and biscuits. There is a lovely cafe on site too providing veggie and vegan options.

The course costs £190 paid in full but can be split into 3 payments via the website

If you miss a week there is no refund available. A week can be missed for holidays etc by mutual agreement

Sudley Summer Bug Safari

Get hunting with for bugs and beasties and discover the incredible world that grows all around us. Experts from World Museum will visit Sudley House for a Sudley Summer Bug Safari.

Use their special spotters guide trail to hunt out your own incredible insects or join their experts for a  Bug Hunting masterclass! Storytelling and crafts will be taking place inside the house from 11am. Please be aware that some of these events will take place outside.

They recommend that you wear old clothes and sturdy footwear for exploring their outside spaces. Children must be supervised at all times.

For more information visit https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/

Intro to Beekeeping: Honey Harvesting ...

This workshop will take you step by step through the honey extraction process on the working hives in the Make Hamilton community garden

The bees at Make Hamilton have been working hard over the summer months, gathering nectar and pollen and building up stores of honey in their hives. The honey will be harvested at the end of summer, and this workshop gives you the opportunity to experience the harvesting first-hand.

The workshop is split into two parts. First, they will introduce you to how a hive works, and how the bees store their honey. They will talk through the cycle of honey production, and the life of a colony through a typical year. They’ll pull on beekeeping veils and head outside where you’ll have the chance to look inside a hive to see the bees working on their honeycomb.

In the second part of the workshop we will return indoors to experience the process of extracting honey by spinning honeycomb frames. You will handle honeycombs, and experience the smells and stickiness that go with that! You’ll get to use the extractor, and watch the honey being spun out of the frames then collected for bottling.

The session is very interactive, and will respond to the questions and interests of participants. The session is led by John, who has kept bees for many years, and is the resident beekeeper at Make.

All equipment/ protective bee suits will be provided, but please come wearing long sleeved tops, full length trousers and closed shoes (i.e. no sandals).

Face Lab 

Drop in for a day of investigation, challenges and discovery.

The Liverpool John Moores University’s Face Lab team will be sharing their incredible work, including the facial reconstruction of Leasowe Man, the oldest surviving skeleton from Merseyside, found on the Wirral shore in 1864.

Suitable for all ages

Festival of Archaeology

Celebrate Merseyside’s heritage at Lunt Meadows Nature Reserve this July

This July, Lancashire Wildlife Trust are joining organisations and community groups across the country to take part in the Festival of Archaeology, by hosting a series of free public events at Lunt Meadows Nature Reserve in Sefton, at the end of the M57.

The UK’s annual Festival of Archaeology runs from 16th July – 31st July 2022. This year’s theme is ‘Journeys’ and visitors are invited to spend time on the nature reserve, journeying through time to discover Sefton’s Stone Age heritage, while also exploring the wildlife of a nature reserve in the present.

Lunt Meadows is a haven for wildlife and doubles as a flood storage reservoir. It is owned by the Environment Agency and managed by the Lancashire Wildlife Trust. In 2012, archaeologists from National Museums Liverpool began excavating the site and discovered evidence of several Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) settlements in the nature reserve, giving a glimpse into the lives of our hunter-gatherer ancestors from 9000 years ago.

Ten years on, over 8000 artefacts have been unearthed in the excavations, with still more to discover. These discoveries have inspired a National Lottery Heritage Fund project at Lunt. The Mesolithic Modern Life Project aims to enrich the visitor experience at Lunt Meadows while also improving the site for wildlife. It is a partnership project between LWT, National Museums Liverpool, Soroptimist International Crosby and the University of Chester, Department of History and Archaeology.

Over the course of the 16th – 31st July, the Lunt team are holding a mixture of Stone Age, wellbeing, and wildlife-themed events. The festival kicks off with a drop-in day on Stone Age Skills at Lunt Meadows on Saturday 16th and Tuesday 19th July.

Archaeologists from the University of Chester will be giving talks on life at Lunt in the Mesolithic period, and volunteers will be on hand to show people how to make everyday Mesolithic items such as fishing nets and nettle string. For those interested in wildlife, Lunt Meadows will be running guided walks, with a focus on medicinal plants and their folklore on Friday 22nd July and a general wildlife walk on Monday 25th July. These walks are a great opportunity to learn about how the nature reserve operates, while picking up facts and stories about the wildlife it attracts. 

People who wish to try something different to a walk are encouraged to attend Tai Chi for beginners’ classes on Thursday 21st and Thursday 28th July. Tai Chi is a gentle martial art that has many links to improved physical and mental health and that takes inspiration from the natural world, so it is fitting to practise this exercise in the setting of a nature reserve.

The festival will finish with the public being invited to get involved in the search for more artefacts at Lunt, by helping to pan bags of excavated Stone Age soil collected from the settlements on Wednesday 27th and Sunday 31st July. Under the expert guidance of the Museum of Liverpool’s Curator of Prehistoric Archaeology and trained volunteers, people can drop by and find small stone tools and burnt material that has lain undiscovered in this soil for over 9000 years.

Cheryl Ashton, Project Manager at Lunt Meadows says, “Lunt Meadows is a real asset to the local area. It’s a place where people can relax, exercise, and watch wildlife, and it is also an ideal place to learn about our natural and prehistoric heritage. There are many themes woven together at Lunt Meadows, and these varied events go to show all the different ways people can engage with the nature reserve. 

“This will be the third time we’ve got the public involved in searching for artefacts from the stone age dig, and the first time since before the pandemic that we have been able to invite people to learn to make items the way our prehistoric ancestors did. It is a very humbling feeling to know that you are learning a skill that is thousands of years old. It connects you with the past and the people from that time in a unique way.”

Tickets and times to all these events and more can be booked through the Lancashire Wildlife Trust website, www.lancswt.org.uk/events.

For more information about Lunt Meadows, including access and car park opening times, visit: www.lancswt.org.uk/nature-reserves/lunt-meadows.