Ruislip Woods Open Day 2007

2007 was the tenth anniversary of the declaration of Ruislip Woods as a National Nature Reserve and the creation of Ruislip Woods Trust. In celebration, the London Borough of Hillingdon joined forces with RWT to put on our biggest Open Day to date.

However on Sunday 13th May 2007 the weather chose to be very unkind to us; it was cold and rained continuously. The refreshment provisions were quickly rethought, abandoning cold drinks and ice cream and buying extra tea, coffee and milk.

Fortunately a hardy bunch of visitors refused to be put off by the rain. We did not get the thousands we had hoped for, but we did get a very resilient 600 who came and stayed for several hours. This select bunch were firstly treated to an exciting display of lumber jacking. The Axe Men who had come from Devon demonstrated their precision manual techniques by having a race to fell a ‘tree’ in double quick time and invited members of the audience to try out their skills with the saws.

The Morris Dancers from Rickmansworth started their show outside but had to retreat into one of the tents whilst the rain beat down and thunder rolled. The audience crowded in as well resulting in a very cosy atmosphere! The Green Man was an stiking individual, totally green with hedgerow for hair who told stories and sang songs with environmental morals. He was so compelling that some children waited several hours to see his second performance, which again had to take place in the tent infront of a capacity audience.

Two of the three planned guided walks still took place with guides and walkers donning their wet weather gear and setting forth to enjoy the woods despite the weather.

But the Birds of Prey were another big success, especially with the children, some of whom volunteered to stand whilst the birds circled around them and landed on their arms.
They brought a hawk, a falcon and several other species, all beautiful specimens.

One whole tent was devoted to Green Displays organised by the Council to demonstrate how we could all adapt our houses to be more environmentally friendly. The free energy saving lightbulbs and toilet “hippos” were a predictable success but there were also children’s games and a chance to contribute to an artisitic sculpture made from rubbish (luckily it was waterproof!)

Other exibits included Craft demonstrations, such as basket making and a charcoal burner as well as a very noisy and impressive wood miser. Displays were arranged by Natural England, RSPB, Ramblers Association, Hillingdon’s Green Spaces team, Ruislip Woods Trust, London Wildlife Trust, Friends of Colne Valley Park, Inland Waterways Association, and the Natural History Societies of Hillingdon and Ruislip. If you had wondered around these displays you would have had the opportunity to touch a lizard, make a corn dolly or learn how to compost your kitchen waste amongst many other things.

Click here to see the report in the Hillingdon Times, including more photos.
http://www.hillingdontimes.co.uk/search/display.var.1405380.0.going_green_in_the_woods.php