The Friends of Bedgebury have just

launched their new magazine which

is packed full of different activities to

get you out into the pinetum and

forest and spotting butterflies, wild-

flowers, fossils and even just rolling

down a hill! What better way is there

to give you that “feel good” factor on

a summer’s day?

Introduction by Liz Randall all means anonymously) please get in

touch with me.

Recently a member of the tree team

at Westonbirt Arboretum shared a

very moving account of how “living

with trees” has helped to give him

peace when depression takes hold. I

urge you to read this article which

can be found on the Friends of Wes-

tonbirt Website, or follow the link on

the back page.

For the next edition of the magazine I

have been asked to write an article

about “health and well-being” and

how volunteering can link into this? I

am therefore asking for your assis-

tance – has volunteering helped you

to get fit or lose weight, boosted

your confidence or improved your

emotional well-being? If you are

happy to share your experience (by

Bedgebury update by Patrick West

Inside this issue:

Wildlife blog 2

Timber by Igor Galecki 2

Tree of the month

Pinus Sylvestris

2

Wednesday Wild Crew

and Sunday Volunteers

2

Bedgebury Forest Cycle

Club Award

3

The Gruffalo 3

An ever changing land-

scape

3

Friends Magazine 4

Lunch and Learn 4

Birdsong and photog-

raphy workshops

4

Living with Trees by

Tomas Dewey

4

us if visitors fully understand the

significance of Bedgebury, and in

particular the role of the pinetum.

Anecdotally, there is a feeling that

we are not telling the story of Bedge-

bury well enough or highlighting its

importance for conservation, learn-

ing and research (a big opportunity

missed).

So over the coming year the plan is

to undertake a range of customer

interviews, surveys and mapping

exercises to find out exactly what

Understanding how people perceive

Bedgebury, what motivates them to

visit and how they use the site are

just a couple of questions that we are

struggling to fully answer. It is clear

that the majority of our customers

value their experiences and through

some very general measures such as

increasing visitor numbers, people

joining the Friends of Bedgebury and

previous site surveys we have a very

top level view of their perceptions.

However these measures cannot tell

visitors (and those who don’t visit)

think and feel about Bedgebury. The

results of these surveys should be

eye opening and will inform how we

go about telling the story of Bedge-

bury in future. Over the summer and

autumn months there will be a num-

ber of customer surveys taking place

and if you are interested in helping

with this research please get in

contact with Liz.

Bedgebury Volunteer Newsletter

February March 2017

Welcome Accolade by Mark Clixby

Bedgebury is part of the VisitEngland

Visitor Attraction Quality Scheme

who visited and assessed the site on

a very busy August Bank Holiday last

year.

We are very pleased to advise that

Bedgebury has been awarded a Visit

England ‘Welcome Accolade’.

This is all down to a tremendous

team effort by staff and volunteers

who can make all the difference

between a visitor having a good day

out and an excellent day out..

For my volunteering section of DoE I

volunteered at Bedgebury. I worked

on clearing the plants around the

visitor centre, raking in weeds and

the like to improve the scene, and

then we did, what was personally my

favourite, the cutting down of trees.

That was great fun in my opinion,

having to learn a technique to bring

down the tree properly and best of

Wednesday 26th April 09:30

Visitor centre beds

Sunday 23rd April 10:00

Plots—meet at Area Office

If there are any changes we will

email or call you.

If you need to contact us on the day

of volunteering for any reason

please call -

Wednesday 5th April 09:30

Easter holidays—no wild crew

Wednesday 12th April 09:30

Easter holidays—no wild crew

Sunday 9th April 10:00

Plots—meet at Area Office

Wednesday 19th April09:30

Visitor centre beds

Dylan (Wednesdays) 0300 067 4480

Visitor centre (Sundays) 01580

879820.

Wednesday Wild Crew and Sunday Volunteers

Tree of the Month - Pinus sylvestris Scot’s Pine

Remnants of the ancient Caledonian

pine forests still grow in the Scottish

Highlands. The Forestry Commission

manage many of these woods with

the aim to restore and expand the

native pinewoods for the benefit of a

wide range of flora and fauna, such

as bilberries, red squirrels, pine

marten and wild cat.

Scot’s Pine forms the backbone of

the conifer collection at Bedgebury

At this time of year the spring sun-

shine really highlights the flaky or-

ange bark of the Scot’s Pine rising up

towards the blue skies.

One of only three native conifers

(along with yew and juniper) the

Scot’s Pine is an important tree for

commercial forestry, its timber often

being used in joinery and building

construction.

Timber by Igor Galecki

Page 2 Bedgebury Volunteer Newsletter

“.. best of all,

when you got to

push the tree to

the ground you

could now shout

‘Timber’!”

Pinetum providing a static back-

drop all year round. The blue green

coloured needles are in pairs and

are slightly twisted. The cones

develop over a two year period

slowly turning from green to

brown. Listen out on a hot sum-

mer’s day and you can hear the

cones popping open to release

their seeds.

Wildlife blog by Mina McPhee

Calling all wildlife watchers!

The Friends of Bedgebury are looking

for wildlife enthusiasts to write

occasionally or regularly about

Bedgebury’s wildlife in an interesting

and engaging way for their web-

site. You may also choose to be a

seasonal blogger e.g. writing in the

spring and summer about the butter-

flies, insects and dragonflies. This

will be the perfect role for anyone

who visits Bedgebury regularly and

delights in the bio-diversity of the

site. Contact Mina McPhee

(mina@bedgeburypinetum.org.uk) if

all, when you got to push the tree to

the ground you could now shout

‘Timber!’

you would like more information or if

you would like to volunteer your

writing skills.

We are pleased to announce that the

recipient of this years Volunteer Group

Award for East District is the Bedgebury

Forest Cycle Club BFCC.

BFCC is an extremely passionate group

who co-ordinate—

Monthly trail builds

Coaching

Membership scheme

Organised races and rides

A website

This well deserved award was presented

Bedgebury Forest Cycle Club Volunteer Group Award

Page 3 Bedgebury Volunteer Newsletter

An Ever Changing Landscape by Anna Picken

One of the best things about volunteering in

the Pinetum is that you are always discov-

ering something new.

This January and February the Wednesday

Wild Crew have been working in Churchill's

Wood, cutting down the smaller birch and

clearing the brambles and saplings to make

space for future plantings. In doing so, we

cut back around a small pool of water

which revealed itself to be a larger pond,

fed by a fast flowing stream running

through the trees alongside the grassy

track.

I've walked this route countless times, yet

never knew this stream existed. I wonder

how many more hidden treasures are

waiting to be discovered in the Pinetum this

year?

Another discovery, on a more practical

level, is that it is possible to move a fire.

Demonstrated with great care and atten-

tion to health and safety, Julian and Fiona

forked up the bonfire which was wafting

smoke straight into our eyes, and neatly

repositioned it a few metres further down

the track.

It's cold and dreary now but I'm looking

forward to visiting Churchill's wood once

again on a summer's day with a picnic, to

see the new plantings taking shape and to

watch the dragonflies flitting around the

pond. This is just one of the many reasons

why volunteering is so worthwhile – helping

to create an ever changing landscape for

our own enjoyment and the enjoyment of

our visitors.

The Gruffalo

The new Gruffalo Spotters Trail launched

at the end of February. The trail involves

following a way-marked route around the

pinetum looking for the different charac-

ters which then come to life with the use

of an app. Watch this video to see how it

works .. or better still download the app

and have a go.

A huge THANK YOU goes to Gavin, Jo and

Derek from the labelling team who diversi-

fied their skills into sculpture painting. The

Gruffalo and Gruffalo’s child are looking

very pleased with their new coat of paint!

to them by Dan Jennings, Recreation Rang-

er, on a recent trail building day, along with

bacon sarnies and chocolate brownies!

Park Lane

Goudhurst

Kent

TN17 2SL

Phone: 0300 067 4476 / 4480

07585 402103

E-mail: liz.randall@forestry.gsi.gov.uk

Website: www.forestry.gov.uk/bedgebury

Bedgebury Pinetum and Forest

Friends Magazine

Spring Summer 2017

Enjoy the great outdoors the traditional way. Pack a picnic and

some children (or some young-at-heart adults) and head to the

Pinetum for your next big open-air adventure...

This edition is packed full of fun family activities to enjoy in glori-

ous Bedgebury and includes a complete listing of our spring and

summer events.

Click the image below to find your online copy, or pop to the Visitor

Centre from Saturday 25th March to collect a printed copy.

Living with Trees by

Tomas Dewey

Tomas Dewey, who works as an ar-

borist at Westonbirt Arboretum, has

written this article to share his jour-

ney with depression and how...

“… spending an hour or two up in the

broad spreading canopy of a beech,

walking a quiet woodland trail or

sitting between the buttress roots of

an ancient oak can give me a peace

when my depression takes hold…”

Click here to read more.

Art and Birdsong

Workshops

The Friends of Bedgebury would like

to offer volunteers a 10% discount on

their up and coming workshops -

Birdsong

Wednesdays 26th April, 10th May and

24th May 2:30—4:30pm

Learn how to identify birds by their

behaviour and song, led by local na-

ture guide and bird behaviour special-

ist Simon Ginnaw.

£36 per person for three sessions.

Smartphone photography

Friday 21st April and Saturday 22nd

April 10:00-12noon

Professional photographer, Lisa Hills,

will lead a photographic walk round

the pinetum.

£15 per adult participant.

Pop in to the Visitor Centre or call

01580 879842 to book your place.

See here for a list of future work-

shops and events.

Lunch and Learn

Please join us at one of our ’Lunch and Learn’ sessions held once a

month in the education room at the Visitor Centre.

These sessions include a short informal presentation by a member

of staff on a topic of their choice, relating to Bedgebury. Recent

topics have included the History of the Beresford Family and Na-

tive Trees. Fiona has kindly shared her list of native trees which

you can find here (or attached to this email).

The next sessions are -

Tuesday 28th March 12pm

Fiona Tooth will be talking us through a trees journey from the

nursery to the Pinetum in her talk entitled “From Seed to Spade”.

Tuesday 25th April 12pm

Kathy Jary will be introducing us to the Friends of Bedgebury

magazine.

Please bring your own lunch.