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The paddling pool at California Country Park is now closed for the season. It will reopen next Summer.
Paddling pool is closed
 Storytime returns to Dinton Pastures
The free Storytime sessions are returning to Dinton Pastures Country Park! Mark these dates in your calendar (all Tuesdays, 11am to 11.30am):
Parents and children will be able to enjoy stories shared by our library services team, and have fun activities together during these sessions.
No booking is needed. Just turn up with your children on the day and have a great Storytime!
 Half term holiday club open for booking
It's never too soon to get prepared for the October half term!
You can now book your children in the Wild Days holiday club at Dinton Pastures Country Park from 23 to 28 October (Monday to Friday).
Designed for ages eight to 13, the popular holiday club will offer two different land or water sports in three-hour sessions in the morning or afternoon. Activities on offer include fencing, indoor climbing, archery, raft building, kayaking, canoeing and more.
Each half-day session costs £32 per person. Booking is made online.
Join a sailing club during term time
We are now offering a junior sailing club for those aged eight to 12 on Saturdays.
This regular club gives young sailors a chance to practice and keep up their skills during term time. Participants have to complete stage one of the Royal Yachting Association's Youth Sailing Scheme.
Each session costs £22, and you can get a discount for booking six consecutive Saturdays.
To find out more and reserve a place, visit the Dinton Activity Centre website.
 New bird hide to give better views and accessibility
We're glad to announce that we've received funding to replace one of the bird hides at Lavell's Lake Local Nature Reserve.
The £30,000 grant was awarded by the SUEZ Communities Fund, which supports community and environmental improvement projects in England and Scotland.
The existing bird hide to be replaced was built over 25 years ago, and has come to the end of its life. As it is on ground level, there is often flooding during wet winter months.
The new hide will have improved accessibility for wheelchair users. Also, it'll be 1.2 metres above the ground so it will greatly reduce the chance of flooding and offer a better view over the lake and surrounding reedbed habitats for bird watching.
We'll start building the new hide next month and expect to complete it before Christmas, just in time for welcoming bitterns returning to the lake for winter.
Other birds we can see from the hide include sand martins, warblers (like sedge), waders (like little ringed plover) and ducks like shoveler.
 Don't miss out on the Dinton SUPathlon
There's still time to join Dinton SUPathlon on 24 September (Sunday).
The event combines 1km of stand-up paddleboarding and a 5km run around Dinton Pastures Country Park. The best thing is you can take part as an individual or a team of two, each doing one part of it.
Minimum age to enter is 15, and you need to have previous experience in stand-up paddleboarding.
Visit the Barnes Fitness website for more information.
 Celebrate Loddon Rivers Week
Loddon Rivers Week will be back next week (18 to 24 September)!
Led by South East Rivers Trust, it's an annual event to improve the health of the River Loddon.
This year's focus is to put 75 tonnes of gravel into riverbeds to create habitats for fish and other wildlife in and around the Loddon. You can get involved by taking part in their 'gravel seeding’ and other public events.
The River Loddon starts in Basingstoke and stretches across Hampshire, Surrey and Berkshire before it runs into the Thames just west of Wargrave. The habitats in the upper reaches of the Loddon are hugely valuable for biodiversity and home to brown trout, water voles and otters.
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