Please find below some information about our events in September. As always, more information can be found on our website www.earthtrust.org.uk.  All events take place at the Earth Trust, Little Wittenham, OX14 4QZ unless otherwise stated.

Discover and Play – Friday 2^nd September, 10am-12pm

Forest School for the under-5s. Join the Earth Trust for a morning of play and discovery in our woodlands. Forest School offers hands on learning experiences in a natural environment. £4 suggested donation per child, accompanying adult(s) free. No need to book.

Scything for Improvers – Sunday 4^th September, 9.30am-4pm

Scything is the traditional way to tackle long grass and tall weeds. Develop your technique during this one-day workshop with Clive Leeke. £50; booking essential: 01865 407792.

Fantastic Foraging – Sunday 4^th September, 10am-2pm

This month’s Sunday drop-in is all about foraging for food. Find out what’s growing around the Earth Trust Centre and learn what yummy things you can cook with it. £4 suggested donation per child, accompanying adult(s) free. No need to book.

Wetland Wildlife Walk – Sunday 25^th September, 9.30am-11am

Enjoy a guided walk around Thrupp Lake (OX10 3NG) with local ecologist Ben Carpenter and find out about some of the wetland wildlife that lives there. £5 adult, £2 child; booking essential: 01865 407792.

Foraging Walk – Sunday 25^th September, 11am-3pm

Discover the autumn bounty around the Earth Trust Centre and nature reserve and use what you find to create something delicious. £15; booking essential: 01865 407792.

All events listed below take place at the Earth Trust, Little Wittenham, OX14 4QZ unless otherwise stated. More information is available by visiting our website www.earthtrust.org.uk

Sling Walk – Monday 1^st August, 10am-11.30am

Bring your baby for a ramble around our nature reserve. A great opportunity for you both to get our in the fresh air and enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of the countryside with other local parents. £4 suggested donation per child, accompanying adult(s) free. No need to book.

Wildlife Wednesday at Mowbray Fields – Wednesday 3^rd August, 2pm-4pm

Our roving Wildlife Wednesday visits a different Earth Trust community nature reserve during each school holiday. This summer, come out and play at Mowbray Fields, Didcot (OX11 8SS); learn about local wildlife and have lots of outdoor fun! £2 suggested donation per child, accompanying adult(s) free; no need to book.

Clumps Club – Thursday 4^th and Friday 5^th August, 9am-5pm

School holiday club for 12-14yr olds. Join us on Thursday for a Survival and Bushcraft adventure and/or be a Wildlife Warden for the day on Friday. £30 per child per day; booking essential: 01865 407792.

Pond Dipping – Sunday 7^th August, 10am-2pm

Join us to discover what’s living in our pond during this month’s Earth Trust Sunday Drop-in. Use a net to get a closer look and then be inspired to create a clay creature. £4 suggested donation per child, accompanying adult(s) free. No need to book.

Woodland Adventure – Wednesday 10^th August, 10am-12pm

An expedition for 5-8 year olds. Use your detective skills to discover the Earth Trust’s woodland, where we’ll explore, build and play. £4 suggested donation per child, accompanying adult(s) free. No need to book.

Discover and Play – Friday 12^th August, 10am-12pm

Forest School for the under-5s. Join the Earth Trust for a morning of play and discovery in our woodlands. Forest School offers hands on learning experiences in a natural environment. £4 suggested donation per child, accompanying adult(s) free. No need to book.

Meteor Shower Walk – Friday 12^th August, 9pm-11pm

Enjoy a starlit walk on the Wittenham Clumps before settling down to watch the Perseid meteor shower. Bring a flask of hot chocolate! Suitable for adults and older children. £5 adult, £2 child; booking essential: 01865 407792.

Sling Walk – Monday 15^th August, 10am-11.30am

Bring your baby for a ramble around our nature reserve. A great opportunity for you both to get our in the fresh air and enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of the countryside with other local parents. £4 suggested donation per child, accompanying adult(s) free. No need to book.

Wildlife Wednesday at Wallingford Castle Meadows – Wednesday 17^th August, 2pm-4pm

Our roving Wildlife Wednesday visits a different Earth Trust community nature reserve during each school holiday. This summer, come out and play at Wallingford Castle Meadows (OX10 8DL); learn about local wildlife and have lots of outdoor fun! £2 suggested donation per child, accompanying adult(s) free; no need to book.

Woodland Adventure – Wednesday 24^th August, 10am-12pm

An expedition for 5-8 year olds. Use your detective skills to discover the Earth Trust’s woodland, where we’ll explore, build and play. £4 suggested donation per child, accompanying adult(s) free. No need to book.

Family Bushcraft – Friday 26^th August, 10am-4pm

Bring the whole family and go wild in the great outdoors! Explore the woods, make shelters and learn how to light a fire and use a knife safely. £20 adult, £15 child; booking essential: 01865 407792.

 

 

Moth Night – Saturday 2^nd July, 9pm-11pm

Join us in the Earth Trust arboretum for an evening of moth trapping with Marc Botham. Suitable for adults and older children; younger children will enjoy tomorrow’s Marvellous Moths drop-in session. £5 adult, £2 child; booking essential: 01865 407792.

Marvellous Moths – Sunday 3^rd July, 10am-2pm

Drop in to the Earth Trust Centre and find out all about marvellous, magnificent moths! We’ll be taking a look at what was caught in the live moth traps the night before. £4 suggested donation per child, accompanying adult(s) free. No need to book.

Botanical Illustration – Sunday 10^th July, 10am-4pm

Learn some invaluable tips and techniques from RHS Gold Award winning botanical illustrator Romilly Swann. For beginners/intermediates. £30; booking essential: 01865 407792.

Discover and Play – Friday 22^nd July, 10am-12pm

Forest School for the under-5s. Join the Earth Trust for a morning of play and discovery in our woodlands. Forest School offers hands on learning experiences in a natural environment. £4 suggested donation per child, accompanying adult(s) free. No need to book.

Clumps Club – Monday 25^th – Friday 29^th July, 9am-5pm

Wild adventures for 7-11yr olds! A different activity each day (see website for details), including wild survival and nature detectives; join us for one or all five. Look out for Clumps Club for 12-14yr olds coming up in August. £30 per child per day, book all 5 and get 1 day FREE; booking essential: 01865 407792.

Summer Fruit Tree Pruning – Sunday 31^st July, 10am-4pm

Learn how to maximise your fruit crop with expert Andy Howard. Includes theoretical and practical application in the Earth Trust’s orchard. £30; booking essential: 01865 407792.

Natural Dyeing – Sunday 10^th July, 10am-4pm

Join us at the Earth Trust Centre to discover the wide range of plants that can produce dye and learn how to extract and fix colour. £30; booking essential: 01865 407792.

 

All events take place at the Earth Trust, Little Wittenham, OX14 4QZ unless otherwise stated. Summer Holiday activities continue in August, full details are online.

Plenty more Summer Holiday activities coming up in August, please see our website for details: www.earthtrust.org.uk/whatson.

Lucy Benyon

All events take place at the Earth Trust, Little Wittenham, OX14 4QZ unless otherwise stated.

Public Exhibition: Improving visitor facilities at the Earth Trust Centre

Wednesday 1^st June – Tuesday 7^th June, times vary

Would you like to find out about plans to improve visitor facilities here at the Earth Trust Centre? Drop in to this informal exhibition (rescheduled from April); please check website for opening times and further information.

Woodland Adventure – Wednesday 1^st June, 10am-12pm

An expedition for 5-8 year olds. Use your detective skills to discover the Earth Trust’s woodland, where we’ll explore, build and play. £4 suggested donation per child, accompanying adult(s) free. No need to book.

Wildlife Wednesday at Thrupp Lake – Wednesday 1^st June, 2pm-4pm

Our roving Wildlife Wednesdays visit a different Earth Trust community nature reserve during each school holiday. This half term, come out and play at Thrupp Lake (OX14 3NG); learn about local wildlife and have lots of outdoor fun! £2 suggested donation per child, accompanying adult(s) free; no need to book.

Sling Walk – Thursday 2^nd June, 10am-11.30am

Bring your baby for a ramble around our nature reserve. A great opportunity for you both to get our in the fresh air and enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of the countryside with other local parents. £4 suggested donation per child, accompanying adult(s) free. No need to book.

Discover and Play – Friday 3^rd June, 10am-12pm

Forest School for the under-5s. Join the Earth Trust for a morning of play and discovery in our woodlands. Forest School offers hands on learning experiences in a natural environment. £4 suggested donation per child, accompanying adult(s) free. No need to book.

Summer Birds at Thrupp Lake – Sunday 5^th June, 10am-12pm

Local expert Ben Carpenter leads a morning stroll around the lake (OX14 3NG). Discover more about the birds you can see there over the summer. £5 adult, £2 child, booking essential: 01865 407792.

Summer Picnic – Sunday 5^th June, 11am-4pm

Love local food at the Earth Trust summer festival! Bring your own picnic, or pick up some tasty local treats, and join in some traditional summer games. £5 adult, £2 child, £12 family.

Basket Weaving – Wednesday 15^th June, 6pm-8pm

Make a simple Catalan style basket out of willow with local weaver Christine Brewster. Suitable for beginners and those with some experience; bring secateurs if you have them. £25; booking essential: 01865 407792.

Archaeology Night – Thursday 30^th June, 6pm-9pm

Hear all about the University of Oxford’s latest research projects in the area. Free (donations welcome) but please book: 01865 407792.

As always, more information can be found on our website www.earthtrust.org.uk.

Lucy Benyon

Communications Officer

Earth Trust, Little Wittenham, Oxfordshire, OX14 4QZ

Direct Line: 01865 409406

Office No.: 01865 407792

lucy.benyon@earthtrust.org.uk

All events take place at the Earth Trust, Little Wittenham, OX14 4QZ unless otherwise stated.

Brilliant Bees – Sunday 1^st May, 10am-2pm

This month’s Sunday Drop-in is all about bees! Bees are pollinators which means they’re really important for growing all sorts of food. Give them a helping hand by making a bee hotel or diner to take home for your garden and bee inspired to create some wild art. £4 suggested donation per child, accompanying adult(s) free.

Dawn Chorus Walk – Sunday 8^th May, 4.30am-6.30am

Set your alarm clock and join us to listen to the birds celebrating the season on the Wittenham Clumps. Learn more about identifying birdsong with Ben Carpenter. £5 adult, £2 child; booking essential: 01865 407792.

Bats at Wallingford Castle Meadows – Sunday 8^th May, 8.15pm-10p

Local expert Dominic Lamb will lead a walk at dusk to find out more about the wonderful winged mammals, including how to recognise different species using a bat detector. £5 adult, £2 child; booking essential: 01865 407792.

Sensory Walk – Sunday 15^th May, 2pm-4pm

Escape the stresses and strains of everyday life and immerse yourself in a hands-on nature sensory experience, including identifying birdsong, silent walking and photography, and blindfolded tasting. With Stuart ‘The Wildman’ Mabbott and photographer William Mankelow. Bring your own camera. £12; booking essential: 01865 407792.

As always, more information can be found on our website www.earthtrust.org.uk.

Cornerstone’s summer season is now in full swing.  Here’s a taster of what’s coming up this month.

Cake making gets messy in Curious, on Sunday 22 May.  Perfectly timed at just 25 minutes long it’s the ideal introduction to theatre for under-threes; journeying into a playfully imaginative world of very few words, where kitchen meets garden, where dirt is good and where messiness mischievously conjures the perfect birthday surprise.   At the end of each performance ,(choose between 10am, 11.30am and 2pm), childen are invited onto the stage to create their own recipes by digging in moist, soft soil.  This makes the entire event around 45 minutes long.

Comedy strictly for the grown-ups on Saturday 21 May from Richard Herring.  Happy Now? explores what really makes you ‘happy’.  Richard is famed for his concept-led, one person live stand up shows and in this twelfth solo show he examines whether we can ever hope to be, or are meant to be, truly content.

Shakespeare Untold, on Sunday 29 May, is an amusing and clever re-telling of two Shakespeare classics. Suitable for ages 5 and up this family-friendly double bill comes from London’s world-renowned venue, Shakespeare’s Globe.  Romeo Untold retells the story of star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet, through the eyes of the Capulet Ball’s party planner.  While Titus Untold retells Shakespeare’s goriest tragedy, Titus Andronicus, as seen from the kitchen of Tituts’s pie maker.

Unmissable father and daughter folk duo Eliza and Martin Carthy unite for a special evening of music from their new CD ‘Elephant’ on Friday 13 May.  Legendary ballad singer and guitarist Martin has influenced generations of artists including Bob Dylan and Paul Simon.  Eliza has been nominated twice for the Mercury Music Prize and is a multiple award-winner at the BBC Radio Two Folk Awards.

Cornerstone’s annual Open Exhibition this year is on the theme of Pattern.   Running from Tuesday 24 May to Sunday 26 June this exhibition will offer an exciting opportunity to see individual creative interpretations by artists from all ages and backgrounds.  As part of the exhibitiion there will be an artist networking evening on Tuesday 24 May from 6-8pm, which is open to both exhibiting and non-exhibiting artists.  The exhibition is part of Oxfordshire Art Weeks.

Full details of Cornerstone’s summer programme can be found on the website at https://www.cornerstone-arts.org/, where online booking is also available.  Tickets can be purchased in person from the Box Office or by calling 01235 515144.  Closed Monday, open Tuesday to Saturday from 10am-6pm and Sunday from 11am-4pm.

Royal Mail are putting their prices up on Tuesday 29^th March, 1p on both 1^st & 2nd class stamps, we have plenty in stock, if you want to save a few pennies. The cost for Europe is going up 5p, to £1.05, while the price for “rest of the world” zones 1 & 2, stays the same. Parcels are going up by 5p, so not too bad really!

We will have “Shakespeare” stamps on sale soon, not very exciting, and some “Notable Britons” too, also not very memorable, and not very notable either! Think the stamp designers need to try harder!

We will be closed on Good Friday & Easter Monday, open on Easter Saturday, 9.30 -12 noon, allowances & benefits paid on the Thursday (if your usual pay day is Friday or Monday”) I am home for Easter, so “key meter” customers can get an emergency top up if needed, 07825 154842.

Blewbury Post Office

All events take place at the Earth Trust, Little Wittenham, OX14 4QZ unless otherwise stated. As always, more information can be found on our website www.earthtrust.org.uk.

Discover and Play

Friday 1^st April, 10am-12pm

Forest School for the under-5s. Join the Earth Trust for a morning of play and discovery in the our woodlands. Forest School offers hands on learning experiences in a natural environment. £4 suggested donation per child, accompanying adult(s) free. No need to book.

Nettles – Nasty or Nice?

Sunday 3^rd April, 10am-12pm

Stinging nettles may pack a bit of a punch, but did you know they’re used by both people and wildlife? Join us at the Earth Trust Centre and get inspired by our delicious nettle recipes, and discover which other species like eating them too. £4 suggested donation per child, accompanying adult(s) free. Drop in.

Clumps Club

Monday 4^th & Tuesday 5^th April, 9am-5pm

Wild adventures for 8-12yr olds! Different outdoor activities each day, please check web for details. £30 per child per day; booking essential: 01865 407792.

Wildlife Wednesday at Wallingford Castle Meadows

Wednesday 6^th April, 2pm-4pm

Our roving Wildlife Wednesdays visit a different Earth Trust community nature reserve during each school holiday. This half term, come and join us at Wallingford Castle Meadows (OX10 8DL) to learn about local wildlife and have lots of outdoor fun! £2 suggested donation per child, accompanying adult(s) free; no need to book.

Family Bushcraft

Friday 8^th April, 10am-4pm

Bring the whole family and go wild in the great outdoors! Explore the woods, make shelters, learn how to make a fire and use a knife safely. We’ll cook on the fire but bring a packed lunch too. £20 adult, £15 child; booking essential: 01865 407792.

How to Grow Greens

Saturday 9^th April, 10am-3pm

Join The Little Salad Company to learn about growing your own salad leaves. The workshop will provide all you need to get started on growing in the upcoming season, from sowing seeds, dealing with pests and getting the most from your crops. For amateurs and more experienced growers. £20; booking essential: 01865 407792.

Wildlife Photography Walk

Sunday 10^th April, 8am-10am

Local photographer Andy Hough will provide top tips on capturing beautiful images of wildlife during this walk around the nature reserve. Bring your own camera. £20; booking essential: 01865 407792.

Lighting the Queen’s Birthday Beacon

Thursday 21^st April, 5.30pm-6.30pm

Join us on top of the Wittenham Clumps to light a celebratory beacon to mark the Queen’s 90^th Birthday. Exact time of lighting TBC, please check the Earth Trust website for details.

Newts, Frogs and Toads

Friday 22^nd April, 7.45pm-9.30pm

Come and find out all about the amphibians that live in the ponds in Little Wittenham Wood. Ben Carpenter will lead a guided walk filled with fascinating facts, then we’ll use nets and torches to get a closer look. £5 adult, £2 child, free for Earth Trust Friends; booking essential: 01865 407792.

Public Exhibition: Improving visitor facilities at the Earth Trust Centre

Thursday 28^th April – Sunday 1^st May, times vary

Would you like to find out about plans to improve visitor facilities at the Earth Trust Centre? Drop in to this informal exhibition; check website for opening times and further information.

Lucy Benyon

Communications Officer

Earth Trust, Little Wittenham, Oxfordshire, OX14 4QZ

Direct Line: 01865 409406

Office No.: 01865 407792

lucy.benyon@earthtrust.org.uk

The Easter school holidays will be in full swing at the beginning of April and Cornerstone has a wonderfully varied and fun selection of activities and workshops to keep children and families busy and engaged. On Friday 8 April, for example, there’s an exciting opportunity for 7 to 13 year olds to work hands-on with iPads, iMacs and Apps to create and animate wild and wonderful creatures in Animation: Amazon Adventure!  Please see our website (details below) for information about all the holiday activities available.

Jill Tomlinson’s best-selling children’s classic, The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark, comes to Cornerstone on Sunday 17 April.  Perfect for children and families, and adapted for the stage by Blunderbus, the story of Plop the baby barn owl is brought to life with an irresistible blend of music, puppetry and storytelling.

Theatre strictly for the grown-ups in Harold Pinter’s first major work, The Birthday Party on Saturday 30 April.  Set in a shabby boarding house in an English seaside town an impromptu and seemingly innocent birthday party abruptly turns into a deadly game of cat and mouse, with horrifying repercussions.  Presented by London Classic Theatre and directed by Michael Cabot.

On a lighter note, how about some comedy to get you giggling?  Rory McGrath‘s Bridge Over Troubled Lager went down a storm at Cornerstone in September 2014.  He returns, and looks back at his career, on Friday 22 April – brace yourselves for adult themes!  Gyles Brandreth’s Word Power offers his finely tuned treatise on how to find the right words to get the right results on Saturday 2 April.  Award-winning writer and performer Rob Auton’s The Water Show is a comedy/theatre/talking show about water, suitable for anyone who’s seen, heard, touched, used or drunk water!  Don’t miss him on Friday 29 April. 

N.B. Our summer season brochure will be available from Tuesday 15 March, with members’ booking opening that day.  Full details of the summer programme will be available on the website on Tuesday 29 March, when tickets will also go on sale to the general public.    

Full details of our spring programme can be found on our website at http://www.cornerstone-arts.org,

where online booking is available.  Bookings can also be made through the Box Office by telephone on 01235 515144 or in person.  Opening hours: Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 6pm and Sunday from 11am to 4pm.  Cornerstone is closed on Monday.