School children from Nottingham soared 70 feet above the Forest Recreation Ground as they took to the skies in a hot air balloon as part of the parks Heritage Lottery funded project.

Following the 150th birthday of the park, a number of local schools were asked to take to the skies in a hot air balloon, a pastime that was historically a regular occurrence.

The students, who visited from four different schools, not only got to fly in the balloon, but were also given an illuminating lesson on forces and learnt about the failed attempt at a balloon flight back in 1785.

Victoria, a 10 year old student who took part in the event said “It felt like we were giants, we went up really high and buildings looked really small, it was really good but at the same time really scary”.
Eleven year old Sukhraj said: “I liked the way it rose up and you could look down. I waved to my friends, they all looked really small”.

The children went up in the air with the aid of a couple of 16 million thermal unit burners. The balloon launch was the first part of a bigger learning project taking place at the Forest which will also see children being invited to nature camps, shelter building sessions and a Forest School.

Everyone loves having a park or natural space that they can call their own. Whether it is on your doorstep or a journey away, these are cherished places holding memories and delights a plenty.

Everyone sees these places through different eyes, for some it is the wildlife, for others it is the activities, for some it is simply the scenery.

There are hundreds of green spaces across the City of Nottingham and many of them have a Friends group. Friends groups are key in many respects, they help to shape future development, they are invaluable in fundraising for new projects and they are able to drive volunteering days and to organise events and activities. The benefits to being a member of a friends group are also numerous, not least the opportunity to connect with and to meet like-minded individuals with a shared interest.

Some of the friends groups currently active across the City include; Friends of Colwick Woods, Friends of Coppice Park, Friends of the Forest, Friends of Nottingham Arboretum, Friends of University Park, Friends of Vernon Park, Friends of Wollaton Nature Reserves, Friends of Wollaton Park, Friends of Woodthorpe Park and Lenton Abbey Friends and Fun Day Association. For more details and information on any of these groups or to find a friends group near you, or even to potentially set up one yourself, please contact our parks and open spaces department using the details at the end of this newsletter. 

Highfields Park is currently in the process of setting up a dedicated Friends group and is looking for interested people to get involved. This will be an exciting new group as the park is about to enter an important developmental stage with the injection of funds from the Heritage Lottery Fund. There will be a short presentation evening with refreshments for anyone potentially interested in this venture at the D.H Lawrence pavilion on the park in the near future.

For more details about this evening or for more information about the planned friends group please contact the Highfields Park Ranger on 07908 488721 or email steven.clarke@nottinghamcity.gov.uk.

Nottingham City has over 400 hectares of natural and semi-natural open spaces including nature reserves, woodlands, river corridors and post-industrial land.

Included within this are more than 60 biological and 18 geological Local Wildlife Sites (LWSs; formerly known as Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation SINCs), 14 Local Nature Reserves (LNRs) and 3 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs).

In order to provide additional help with the management of some of these sites and to offer members of the public opportunities of volunteering, the Park Rangers and Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust City Local Group have teamed up to create a new regular conservation work party day once a month. So far this year we have held four work parties at Sandy Banks LNR, Sunrise Hill LRN and Whitemoor Nature Reserve tackling grassland and scrub management and clearing large quantities of waste from the wetland area.

The work parties are held on the first Saturday of each month, usually starting at 10am and lasting until 2pm or if weather, tasks and enthusiasm last until 4pm! If you are interested in becoming involved, please contact Martin Willis on 07970 178618 or email martin@martin-willis.net
Wildlife in the City also has a programme of walks, talks and species ID events. These include Moth trapping, peregrine watch, and wildlife walks. For more information about forthcoming events see www.wildlifeinthecity.org/events/

Developing tree walks and identification leaflets has always been a mission for our park ranger team and over the last few years several have been launched.

Two original trails received an update and a public walk this spring and included a look at a selection of the 450 plus trees at Clifton Playing Fields and a stroll to take in some of the 100 or so trees at Queen's Walk Recreation Ground.

Both the trails now have numbered tags in the trees to enable those that are interested to take a look in their own time using one of our printable tree trails.

There are currently tree trails available for download for Nottingham Arboretum, Clifton Central Park, Queen's Walk Recreation Ground, Victoria Park, Wilford Hill Cemetery and Woodthorpe Grange Park. Just visit; http://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/parkactivities#Tree      

ParkLives relaunched over the Easter holidays with over 400 participants.

May’s ParkLives activities starting next week in Nottingham parks are all themed around National Walking Month. They include Health walks, Nordic walking, nature walks and walking sports including walking basketball, walking netball and walk, jog & yoga. All the walks can be found in a booklet available from the ParkLives website.

May-June half term is also ParkLives Family Adventure Week with kayaking, archery, orienteering bug hunts and lots more!

All activities are free to attend and can be found at www.parklives.com and you can follow us on  facebook.com/parklivesnottingham or on twitter @parklivesnotts or on Instagram at parklivesnotts. If you would like some ParkLives activity going on in your local park or would like more information on how you can get involved with the project then get in touch with us at parklives@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

Nottingham Croquet Club based at Highfields Park is building on last years successful open day and training days with more for you to try.

The first is on Sunday 5th June when the club will open its lawns as part of National Croquet Day. If you've ever fancied swinging a mallet and running hoops, pop along at any time from 11am to 4 pm, watch some established players, and meet some members. The Club is half-way along University Boulevard and there is plenty of parking in the Nottingham Hockey Centre across the road.  All you'll need is flat-soled shoes (such as trainers) and waterproof clothing in case it rains. It is free of charge and further details can be found here; http://www.nottinghamcroquet.org.uk/openday
 
Two days later starting on Tuesday 7th June between 6pm and 8pm is the Learn to Play Croquet course when the clubs coaches will be teaching the basics of Association Croquet and Golf Croquet over five Tuesday evenings. This comes at a bargain price of £40 which includes temporary club membership. Further details can be found here;  http://www.nottinghamcroquet.org.uk/learntoplay

Did you know it is National Hedgehog Awareness Week! Everyone loves hedgehogs (what's not to love!) and this week is all theirs!

The week runs 1st - 7th May and is organised by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society. It takes place every year now to highlight the problems hedgehogs face and what we can all do to help them! 

But did you know - Hedgehogs have about 6000 spines and can roll up into a tight ball to protect themselves - they are mostly active at night or after rainfall - they hibernate between November and March - they can move up to 40m a minute and they can walk up to 2km overnight!

An estimated third of hedgehogs have been lost in the past 10 years and they are now considered a ‘Species of Principle Importance’. They are also natural pest controllers along with frogs and toads as they like to feast on slugs!

You can help protect them by linking your garden to your neighbours by making a small hole (5" x 5") in your fence line. You can also allow an area of your garden to be wild and put out some piles of wood to rot down naturally to attract insect prey for hedgehogs to feed on. You could try leaving out fresh water and food for them to supplement their diet (meal worms, hedgehog food, meaty cat or dog food). And even though we don't like slugs, hedgehogs love to eat them so don’t use slug pellets!

You can tell if a hedgehog is in your garden by putting out a hedgehog tunnel and checking for footprints the next day or by listening out for snuffling noises or looking out for foraging hedgehogs when it starts to get dark!

If you do see any, it's a great idea to report any sightings to the Nottinghamshire Mammals Group so records can be kept up to date. Just go to www.nottsmammals.org.uk.

May is a great time to get out and about in your favourite park or natural space. Here are some upcoming activities you might like to try!

Explore the woodlands for the spring displays of flowers and trees on a walk through Sellers Wood on Saturday 14th May at 10.30am.

Come and have a go at some urban foraging on two Wild Food Walks. The first one is at Bulwell Forest on Saturday 14th May at 1pm followed by another at Colwick Country Park on Sunday 15th May at 1pm.

There is a Family Nature Walk & Bug Hunt at Woodthorpe Grange Park on Tuesday 31st May at 1pm where you can search for bugs, beasties & butterflies.

Then it's time for a bit of Natural Art, first at Colwick Country Park on Tuesday 31st May between 1-3pm and then at Clifton Central Park on Thursday 2 June between 1-3pm. You will be using leaves, sticks, stones and even mud to make a really wild work of art!

How about a Summer Scavenger Hunt at the Forest Recreation Ground on Friday 3rd June at 11am? You'll be able to use your detective skills to work your way around the park and see how many natural items you can scavenge. Book if possible with Ranger Matt on 07508 439050 or e-mail matt.akers@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

All the events are free and operate on a 'just turn up' basis although booking for activities at the Forest Recreation Ground is helpful. For more details on any of these activities call; 0115 915 2733 or visit www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/whatson