 Summer wild sessions for children
It’s never too soon to start planning for your children’s summer holidays - and there are many ways to keep them entertained at Dinton Pastures Country Park near Hurst.
Wild Days Holiday Club
The Wild Days Holiday Club at Dinton Pastures is specially designed for those aged eight to 13, providing ample opportunities for them to keep fit and make new friends.
It takes place every morning and afternoon this summer, with two different activities in each session. Youngsters can enjoy a range of water sports and land activities, such as stand-up paddle boarding, kayaking, raft building, climbing, archery and more. You may book your children for a whole day with lunch provided.
Each session costs £30. You can save 10 per cent when you make bookings for two or more children together or book five consecutive days.
Book now before places are sold out.
Sailing Weeks
Dinton Pastures is running courses this summer to help children and teens aged eight to 17 to work towards the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) Youth Sailing Scheme or RYA National Sailing Scheme.
Junior Sailing Weeks, designed for age eight to 16, offer a full RYA Junior Sailing Program from Stages 1 to 4 including advanced modules. Teen Sailing Weeks focus on sailing for teenagers, helping them to work through Level 1 and Level 2 of the RYA National Sailing Scheme.
Places for Junior Sailing Weeks and Teen Sailing Weeks can now be reserved online.
 Meadow grazing in country parks
We have started the annual meadow management of the green spaces in our country parks. For wildlife improvement and meadow diversity, we mix up different techniques including grazing, cutting or removing hay. Different regimes are also adopted, where grazing and hay cutting are carried out in alternate years.
Rare breeds such as Highland cattle, English Longhorns and Soay sheep, all raised by small farmers in the UK, are used for grazing. It usually lasts for six months and finishes in October.
Next time when you visit our country parks, enjoy the beautiful scene of meadow grazing. Remember to keep your dogs on leads or find another way round the herd so that they will not react to your presence.
 Join Nordic Walking at Cantley Park
If you are over 60 and want to get outdoors, improve your health and meet new people, you can take part in Nordic walking sessions every Thursday.
These are run by SHINE and start at 10am at Cantley Park in Wokingham, with participants asked to walk between six and eight kilometres.
Sessions last about one hour and are open to all abilities. They are based on improving core muscle, balance, stamina, and physical and social wellbeing.
SHINE offers a wide selection of events, including Tai Chi, yoga, Pilates and seated exercise.
You must be a member to book a class. Please fill out the SHINE membership and consent form and email it to the team. You can then complete your registration through the SHINE booking system.
You can also find out more by calling 0118 974 3728 or by emailing SHINE.
 Enjoy rich variety of wildlife at Charvil
Summer is here! Why not pay a visit to Charvil Country Park and Charvil Meadows and learn more about the different wildlife species that live there?
The two public green spaces have been designated as Local Wildlife Sites by the Thames Valley Environmental Records Centre for their rich variety of wild animals – and we’re about to install information boards telling you more about them.
You can easily find several rare and sometimes colourful bee and wasp species in the reserve. Otters can be seen in the artificial burrow that we have installed. In the lake to the south of the sites, there are grey herons breeding on the wooded island.
If you come back in winter, you’ll be able to spot gadwall and smew, two nationally important types of wildfowl, along with several wetland bird species including bitterns.
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