Category Archives: Events

Events, Orchard

WASSAIL BOURNE COMMUNITY ORCHARD 2023

The Friends of Bourne Wood, in conjunction with Bourne Borderers Morris, held their sixth Wassail in the community orchard in Bourne on Saturday.  A Wassail is a traditional custom to celebrate the apple harvest of last year, to reawaken the trees, and to encourage them to bear fruit this year.  It had been a beautiful sunny day, and the evening went really cold, with a sharp frost, but we had a brazier to keep people warm. There was a very good crowd of around 200 who made their way down to the orchard gate, to join in this delightful celebration.  Everyone was welcomed to the event by the Borderers and Friends of Bourne Wood, and offered a taste of either mulled cider or apple juice and some homemade cake, before Bourne Borderers commenced the proceedings with a traditional Morris dance.  More dancing followed before everyone sung the ‘Apple Tree Wassail’.

Large crowd gathered at Wassail
There was a very good crowd of around 200 who made their way down to the orchard gate, to join in this delightful celebration.

The gathering then proceeded into the orchard, led by Alianna, the Wassail Queen, and the Borderers.   The trees in the orchard had been decorated with lots of fairy lights and looked lovely in the dusk, with the path down also lit with tealights.  The trees were blessed with cider, and toast was placed in the branches for the robins, the guardians of the orchard, by anyone wishing to take part, while the musicians continued to play.   The trees were wassailed, with the customary poem, followed by lots of noise, with everyone present banging pots and pans, and cheering!

Wassail Queen in the orchard
The trees in the orchard had been decorated with lots of fairy lights and looked lovely in the dusk!

Once back on the hard-standing the Borderers danced again, and all joined in the ‘Here we come a wassailing’.  The evening ended with a traditional Mummers play – performed by the Borderers.

The Friends would like to thank everyone for supporting this event, and especially Bourne Borderers for their help and support, and all those who provided cakes and helped out on the day.  The Friends of Bourne Wood are always looking for new members, and Bourne Borderers would welcome anyone wishing to join them in their dancing – which they practice on a Wednesday at Edenham Village Hall.

Photographs by Steve Goddard

 

Events, Orchard

Wassail Bourne Community Orchard 2022

The Friends of Bourne Wood, in conjunction with Bourne Borderers Morris, held their fifth Wassail in the community orchard in Bourne on Saturday.  A Wassail is a traditional custom to celebrate the apple harvest of last year, to reawaken the trees, and to encourage them to bear fruit this year.  The weather forecast was not favourable, but by the time the event was due to start at 4pm the skies had cleared and it remained dry.  A good crowd of around 80 had gathered to join in the celebration – a delightful way to enliven a dull and damp January day.  Everyone was welcomed to the event, andoffered a taste of either mulled cider or apple juice and some homemade cake, before Bourne Borderers commenced the proceedings with a traditional Morris dance.  More dancing followed before everyone sung the ‘Apple Tree Wassail’.

The gathering then proceeded into the orchard, led by Zoe, the Wassail Queen, and the Borderers.   The trees in the orchard had been decorated with lots of fairy lights and looked lovelyin the dusk, with the path down also lit with tealights.  The trees were blessed with cider, and toast was placed in the branches for the robins, the guardians of the orchard, by anyone wishing to take part, while the musicians continued to play.   The trees were wassailed, with the customary poem, followed by lots of noise, with everyone present banging pots and pans, and cheering!

entrance lights
The trees in the orchard had been decorated with lots of fairy lights and looked lovelyin the dusk, with the path down also lit with tealights.

Once back on the hard-standing the Borderers danced again, and all joined in the ‘Here we come a wassailing’.  The evening ended with a traditional Mummers play – performed by the Borderers.

The Friends would like to thank everyone for supporting this event, and especially Bourne Borderers for their help and support, and all those who provided cakes and helped out on the day.  The Friends of Bourne Wood are always looking for new members, and Bourne Borderers would welcome anyone wishing to join them in their dancing – which they practice on a Wednesday at Edenham Village Hall.

Photographs by Steve Goddard

Events, Orchard

Apple Day 2021

It was a gloriously sunny day for the Friends of Bourne Wood Apple Day, held in the community orchard, off Beech Avenue on Sunday 10th October.

people at apple day
It was a gloriously sunny day for the Friends of Bourne Wood Apple Day,

Of course, the main draw of the day was the apple stall, with lots of varieties of apples on show and to take away for a donation.  Most of our trees have done very well this year, with some pears available too.

sunset apples for sale
Sunset eating apples for sale.

Carrying on the fruit theme, we had an orchard quiz for adults complied by our outgoing chairman, which was quite difficult, but we did have a winner, Chantel and Issac, won a copy of Richard Jefferson’s – ‘Jewels Beyond the Plough’ book.  People could also guess the weight of the bag of apples, and there was an orchard scavenger hunt for children, and a guess my name competition to win a knitted Town Crier, which was won by Susan Halsall.

A few more copies of Richard’s book were available, along with the Bourne Wood booklet and we had an information table about the group and orchard, where people could the group if they wished.

As always, tea and coffee and homemade cake were very popular with the steady stream of visitors, and those attending could sit in the sun and listen to Vaughan Roberts playing his fiddle while enjoying their refreshments.

Last but not least we had a plant stall for some locally grown plants – both the plant stall and apple stall remain in the orchard when open for the time being.

Thank you to all our wonderful volunteers who worked so hard to make the day a success.

Photographs by Steve Goddard

 

Events, Flora

Fruits Of The Forest Foray 2021

A group of around 16 joined Willie McLaughlin, Wildlife Ranger, for a walk on a gloriously sunny afternoon on Sunday.  Willie had very kindly stepped in to lead the walk as Richard had already left for Cumbria.  The aim was to look for Fruits of the Wood – but as Willie reminded us it has been a dry year so berries and nuts are not so numerous as they might be.

Group People in Wood
Willie reminded us it has been a dry year so berries and nuts are not so numerous as they might be.

So, the group enjoyed the walk looking at plants and trees that could be used for a variety of things.  We started off with the glorious Beech Tree, the mast is not edible to humans but enjoyed by squirrels – however apparently the new young leaves can be used to flavour your gin!

We moved onto a more well-known fruit – the sloe – yes – sloe gin – but the flowers of the blackthorn also have medicinal purposes, as do the next couple of plants we stopped to look at – Hawthorn and Meadowsweet.

Sloes
The well-known fruit – the sloe – yes – sloe gin!

However, black bryony having wonderfully red berries is poisonous to humans but much liked by birds!  The next-door Rosehips are full of vitamin C and can be made into a syrup to ward off colds.

Trees as well as providing shade and firewood, can also be used for making instruments and furniture.  We have some wild service trees in the wood and the berries of these can be made into jellies once bletted.

Our thanks go to Willie for an informative walk – making us think about Fruits in a different way!

Photographs by Steve Goddard

Events, Orchard

Wassail Bourne Community Orchard 2020

The Friends of Bourne Wood, in conjunction with Bourne Borderers Morris, held their fourth Wassail in the community orchard in Bourne on Saturday.   A Wassail is a traditional custom to celebrate the apple harvest of last year, to reawaken the trees, and to encourage them to bear fruit this year.  The weather was very kind this year, and although windy was not particularly cold.  By  4.30pm a decent crowd of around 100 had gathered to join in the celebration – a delightful way to enliven a dull January day.  Everyone was welcomed to the event, and then Bourne Borderers commenced the proceedings with a traditional Morris dance.  Those attending were then offered a taste of either mulled cider or apple juice and some homemade cake, before everyone sung the ‘Apple Tree Wassail’.

The gathering then proceeded into the orchard, led by the Wassail Queen, aided admirably by the Wassail princess.   The trees in the orchard had been decorated with lots of fairy lights and looked lovely in the dusk, with the path down also lit.  The trees were blessed with cider, and toast was placed in the branches for the robins, the guardians of the orchard, by anyone wishing to take part, while the musicians continued to play.   The trees were wassailed, with the customary poem, followed by lots of noise, with everyone present banging pots and pans, and cheering!

Once back on the hard-standing the Borderers danced again, and all joined in the ‘Here we come a wassailing’.  The evening ended with the Mummers play – performed by the Borderers, and some final pieces of cake and a warm drink.

The Friends would like to thank everyone for supporting this event, and especially Bourne Borderers for their help and support, and all those who provided cakes and helped out on the day.

Events

Friends of Bourne Wood Photography Competition 2019

The Friends were pleased to announce the winners of the photography competition at the Apple Day on October 6th.

The winner was Steve Goddard, with a photo of the patterns of wood in a harvested tree, second prize went to Martin Barnatt, for a view from the woods over a stile, and third prize to Jason Richardson, for his photo of dog roses.

1st-place
1st Place: “Patterns of Wood in a Harvested Tree” by Steve Goddard.

We had around 40 entries which provided a good display on the day, with photos ranging from flowers of the wood, to fauna of the wood, and views of trees, the ponds and frosty scenes.

2nd-place
2nd Place: “View from the Woods over a Stile” by Martin Barnatt.
3rd-place
3rd Place: “Dog Roses” by Jason Richardson.

Thank you to all those who entered and to Sarah Lambert, a local botanist and photographer for judging the competition.

Events, Orchard

Apple Day 2019

Our Apple Day was thoroughly enjoyed by those who came, and despite the weather forecast we had very little rain during the event – even if it was very wet underfoot!  We borrowed the apple press from Stamford Community Orchard Group and made our own apple juice.  Great fun was had by all crushing the apples and then pressing them into a delicious healthy juice – which people could take home.

apple press
Great fun was had by all crushing the apples and then pressing them into a delicious healthy juice.

There were plenty of delicious cakes from the homemade cake stall, with teas and coffees to wash them down.

Children had craft activities to try, and a quiz around the orchard, answering apple related questions.  Children and adults could make applejacks out of apples to hang in the trees to ward off evil spirits, and we finally had a winner for our guess the name of the scarecrow – who was called Buck.  There was also a craft stall, a second hand book-stall, and a plant stall. The Bourne Wood booklet was also available.

We had the results of our photographic competition with the entries and winners on display.  The first and second prizes were handed out to Steve Goddard and Martin Barnatt (received on his behalf by his wife), and the third prize winner, Jason Richardson was not there.

a selection of apples and pears
The Friends had picked some fruit from the orchard, both to show people the different types of apples and pears, but also so people could take some away with them for a small donation.

The Friends had picked some fruit from the orchard, both to show people the different types of apples and pears, but also so people could take some away with them for a small donation.  There will be more punnets available for the next few weeks during opening hours in the orchard, on a Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 6pm.

A huge ‘Thank You’ goes to  all our volunteers who helped set up and look after the stalls on the day.

Photographs by Jayne Blackbourn

Events, Flora

Fruits of the Forest Walk 2019

On a very pleasant sunny afternoon around 30 people gathered for a walk to look for the different fruits and nuts present in Bourne Wood.

people looking at woodland fruit
Around 30 people gathered for a walk to look for the different fruits and nuts present in Bourne Wood.

Bourne Wood has a great diversity of trees and shrubs and we were hoping to see a range of fruits and nuts or seeds on the walk.

Despite it not being one of the better years (at least in Bourne Wood) for the crop of fruits and nuts, we did manage to see a good range of different types.

Blackberries, hips (dog and field rose), haws (common hawthorn) and sloes (blackthorn) were generally widespread. The fruits of these common shrubs are very familiar to many people. Sloes are used to make sloe gin and sloe jelly but, according to Richard, eaten raw they have the disconcerting effect of drying out ones mouth!

sloe berries
Sloes are used to make sloe gin and sloe jelly but, according to Richard, eaten raw they have the disconcerting effect of drying out ones mouth!

Other berries we encountered included dogwood, the familiar elderberry and black bryony – the only British member of the yam family! We found honeysuckle but unfortunately no fruits were in evidence. The leaves of this species are the food plant for the caterpillar of the rather rare white admiral butterfly that is on the wing in the Wood in July.

ripe black bryony
The berries of the woody climber, black bryony. Beware the berries are poisonous!

Although we found a few acorns from English oak, hazel nuts and beech mast proved elusive. Clearly despite there being a large beech tree near the car park this was not a year of plenty (a mast year) and no masts were found. The lack of hazel nuts is probably down to the severe depredations of hazelnuts by grey squirrels, small rodents and jays.

Finally Richard was able to locate a wild service tree with its rather unappetising-looking brown berries. The leaf of this species forms the logo of the Friends of Bourne Wood and its fascinating ecology and cultural uses are set out here: http://www.friendsofbournewoods.org.uk/wild-service-tree/

Photographs Steve Goddard

 

Events, Fauna

Bug Hunt July 2019

Around 40 adults and children joined entomologist Dr Keith Porter for this popular event run by the Friends of Bourne Wood.

The weather was mostly warm but cloudy but nonetheless a wide range of insects and spiders were found by the group using various collecting equipment including nets.

people on bug hunt
Some of the 40 adults and children who joined entomologist Dr Keith Porter for this popular event run by the Friends of Bourne Wood.

One of the more exciting observations was that of a purple emperor butterfly flying around the top of an oak tree, although not everyone in the group spotted it! This large colourful butterfly appears to have only colonised Bourne Wood in the last few years and the caterpillars feed on goat willow or sallow. Other butterflies seen included large numbers of ringlet butterflies plus large skipper, gatekeeper, comma, meadow brown, silver-washed fritillary and a few people had a brief glimpse of a white admiral.

IMAG0056
As its name suggests, the Large Skipper is bigger than the similar-looking Small Skipper! It can be seen in summer, resting on the long grass of grasslands, woodlands, verges and sand dunes.

Of other insects, numerous common soldier beetles were in evidence – these orangy-red beetles feed on nectar, pollen and aphids and were particularly numerous on the flowers of hogweed. A range of different species of true bugs were also found, including the woundwort shield bug, the larvae of which feed on hedge woundwort and white dead nettle. The colourful 7-spot and 24 spot ladybird were also discovered.

IMG_0034
The common red soldier beetle is also known as the ‘bloodsucker’ for its striking red appearance, but it is harmless. It is a beneficial garden insect as the adults eat aphids, and the larvae eat other pests.

A number of different species of spiders were collected but Keith explained that he wasn’t an expert and that there are numerous species in Britain (around 650 species) and identification is a very specialist job!

Some very long-legged spider-like creatures with a rounded compact bodies were collected in the nets. Although resembling spiders they were in fact harvestmen – a group distantly related to spiders that feed on insects but unlike spiders, do not spin webs.

Thanks are due to Keith for an interesting and informative afternoon.

Photographs Pauline Knox, Richard Jefferson, and Sarah Roberts