Our next event: 6th Nov.
Wild About Bats!
Bats get quite bad press at Halloween but come along to this talk and discover that far from being scary, they're actually fascinating little creatures!
It's because they play such a vital part in our ecosystem that they are protected in law, but they still face lots of challenges, such as loss of habitat, roost disturbance and light pollution.
From the common pipistrelle (about the size of a 2p coin!) to the larger noctule bat, learn how to identify the bats we can see in The Wychwoods and find out how to encourage them in your garden.
Oxfordshire Bat Group will be bringing some rescued bats with them so you'll have the rare opportunity to see some bats close up!
June 2027!
Open Gardens Day
for Wildlife Friendly Gardens
We've moved this brand new event to June 2027 so we can make it really special!
We’re looking for gardens, big or small, which welcome wildlife. How about yours?
Anything from wild areas to pollinator friendly wildflowers, hedgehog holes, wildlife ponds (big or tiny), bird feeders, nesting boxes, bug hotels, bat boxes and lots more…
We’d like to include a wide range of gardens to inspire everyone, so even if your garden is small it may be just what we’re looking for!
We’ll be looking at gardens in June 2026 so email us and we'll send one of our friendly garden experts to come and have a chat with you.
We're limited to Ascott, Milton and Shipton villages for now but we may expand in the future!
Our past talks and events:
October 2025
Pollinators In Peril
Alex showed us that bees, butterflies and moths really are in CRISIS! 2024 saw a 60% reduction in insects over the last 20 years! This is not good news as pollinators are responsible for every third mouthful of food we eat!
These are some things we can ALL do to help:
- Stop using pesticides and weedkillers.
- Plant a wide range of native wildflowers and leave some wild areas for pollinators.
- Hedgerows are important as corridors for pollinators.
- Provide bee hotels (Air Bee’n’Bee?) and allow nesting spaces in walls for masonry bees.
- No Mow May - why undo all the good work by mowing in June? Maybe just consider leaving a smaller unmown area all year round.
- Become a Citizen Scientist! Take part in the Big Butterfly Count next July. We’ll remind you nearer the time!
September 2025
Six Inches Of Soil
The screening of this documentary film at FarmED was a complete sell-out with well over 100 people! We enjoyed delicious pizza made with locally grown ingredients and watched this thought-provoking film about 'regenerative farming'. This sits somewhere inbetween industrial agriculture and organic farming, working to improve the soil naturally so fewer fertilisers, pesticides and antibiotics (in the case of meat), are needed.
Obviously this produces more healthy and nutritious food than most supermarket suppliers. It's also much better for wildlife! On top of this, healthy soil stores more carbon and holds more water which can help to prevent flooding.
So let's try to support our local food producers where we can and buy seasonal food that's been recently harvested, with fewer food miles and less packaging! Good for climate change, good for sustainability, good for wildlife, good for the local community and fantastic for your health!
June 2025
Willow weave a Swift!
Andy Goodwin of Willow Coppice came along to teach a group of us how to weave a swift from willow. Fortunately he was very patient and we had a fabulous afternoon/evening in a garden, helped along by a few glasses of rose!
Look out for it again next year!
June 2025
Wild About Swifts
by Edward Mayer
We had well over 100 people at Edward Mayer's fascinating talk about swifts - we almost ran out of chairs! Informative, inspiring and peppered with entertaining swift anecdotes, we learned so much about these truly amazing birds.
If you'd like more information about putting up a swift box or about swift calls to attract swifts to your boxes (yes - they really do work!), do contact us.
May 2025
A Dawn Chorus Walk
led by Robin Parsons
and Rebecca Ward
The dawn chorus is truly spectacular at this time of year so we were really pleased to team up with Bruern Farms for this very special event - a dawn chorus walk in Foxholes Nature Reserve followed by breakfast at the Bruern Farms Cafe.
Look out for it again next year!
April 2025
'A Hedgehog Whodunnit'
by Tom Moorhouse
Based around Tom's book, 'Ghosts in the Hedgerow - a Hedgehog Whodunnit', this talk took the unlikely format of a murder mystery. But who could possibly have it in for the beloved hedgehog? The suspects were rounded up for investigation - Mr Clarkson the chauffeur, Tommy Brock the badger, Major Geddoff the landowner and Mrs Nymbies the local parishioner. Spoiler alert - it was probably all of them acting together!
This was a funny but nevertheless serious look at the myriad of threats facing hedgehogs and, most importantly, what we can all do with very little effort to encourage them back into our gardens.
Tom's book is a really good read if you want to delve deeper - lots of information and very entertaining!
February 2025
Wildlife Friendly Gardening
by Rhiannon Young
Wildlife has the same needs as we do: water, food and shelter. In this talk Rhiannon shared tips and ideas as to how we can incorporate these into our own gardens to turn them into vibrant habitats for all sorts of wildlife ... and still have a beautiful garden. It's a great way to protect and connect with nature!
November 2024
Stargazing in The Wychwoods
by Tony Lewis
A fascinating talk about what we can see in our amazing night skies and how important it is to protect them from light pollution.
Sadly the weather gods were against us and we couldn't go outside but amateur astronomers from CNAAG set up their telescopes at the back of the hall for us which was really interesting.
We'll have another go soon!
October 2024
Wild about Wildflowers
by Ian Wilkinson
Ian talked to us about his experiences growing wildflowers at nearby FarmEd and explained the importance of sowing wildflowers for pollinators and insects, wildlife generally and soil health. With the huge area covered by gardens in the UK we have the perfect opportunity to go some way to replacing the wildflower meadows that have been lost to intensive agriculture since the 1930's.
Ian also very kindly supplied some wildflower seed for us to take home and get planting!
September 2024
Hedgehogs - in need of our help!
by Stephen Powles
This talk covered what we can all do in our own back gardens to help this threatened animal, from putting out water and food, to avoiding potential threats such as poisoning, strimming, burning and drowning - it's a dangerous life being a hedgehog!
But the number one most important thing we can do is 'Get Connected'! We need to connect our gardens with our neighbours so that hedgehogs are free to roam the large distances they need to forage for food and to breed.
We learned about nearby Kirtlington's Hedgehog Highway which has received national press coverage! Let's do the same in The Wychwoods!