Our annual review (2009) is ready. Unfortunately it is 8 pages long and we haven't managed to upload it but electronic copies can be obtained by emailing forestschool@beccott.com

Thirteen teenagers from around Somerset enjoyed a night sleeping out in hammocks this last weekend, thanks to a grant from Somerset County Council. They did a night walk and learnt survival techniques from Duncan Macleod- Rhodes from Wild Connections. Look out for photos in the gallery and also some gripping accounts from the young people themselves.. (at least they promised they would write something!)

We are terribly saddened by the news of Midge Hopkinson's death last Friday 25th September after a brave battle against cancer. Midge did a massive amount for the Girl Guides and was thrilled that we were doing forest school on her doorstep. She was also supportive of our group on a practical level; our kettle and many of our pots and pans have been re-cycled on through her from the guides. We were so pleased that she agreed to be on our committee. We hoped that she would re-gain enough strength to sit around our lower camp fire one day and this was another reason to soldier on with our improved access because this does make it a possible for people with limited mobility to visit the wood. On a personal level I will miss calling in on her and discussing camp fire recipes and how good it is for children to get out into the woods and be a bit wild.

We had a successful Open Day at Hallr Wood on Saturday 19th September, kindly supported by an SCC Aggregates Levy grant. It was advertised in the Charlton's Community News and all parish councillors and also our new local councillor Jimmy Zouche were invited. We were particulary pleased to see Tony Cooper who administers the Aggregates Levy fund.  More than 60 visitors attended and we thank them all for their interest.

There were opportunities to try out our spring pole lathe and shave horses, weave on a peg loom and spin on a spinning wheel. Lynda was busy spinning dog hair - at last a useful purpose has been identified for all that dog hair .... Some of the children made clay animal heads and many people  enjoyed the trail around the wood, not to mention the delicious home made cakes and teas. The afternoon cullminated in some lovely singing from some of the Avalonian Free State Choir.

Do look at the gallery for some photos of this event. 

Sessions for families with young children will soon resume in Charlton Mackrell and begin in Drayton with help from a Grass Roots Grant. We are very pleased as we have missed the lovely Wednesday afternoon sessions with mums, dads, grannies and young children.

Please look at the calendar for dates.

We will be able to repair our storm damaged craft shelter area and improve parking at Hallr Wood, thanks to another grant from SCC Aggregates Levy who have supported our summer playschemes for the last two years.

We are ideally placed to offer interesting courses for this age group; bushcraft and bow making, conservation skills and woodland crafts. We are so pleased to hear that Somerset County Council's Youth grants will help us offer subsidized courses and we are now busy planning a programme for 2009-10.

Do get in touch if you are interested and within this age group or work with a group that is.   

Held back by lack of technical skill, our gallery has been empty until recently. We are soon going to have lots of albums in this gallery which will give viewers a better idea of the range of activities our group is involved in. Have a look at what we've done so far in our Gallery

Please see our attached annual review from Januarry 2009