Past Events

OCTOBER events

Friday 27th Feed the Birds Day

Participants made bird feeders from natural and recycled materials in celebration of the RSPBs 'Feed the birds day'.

Tuesday 24th Seed Gathering

Seeds were gathered and trees potted at Seven Acres. A large piece of natural art from autumn leaves was created which now hangs in the new Environmental Resource Centre.

Wednesday 11th Wildflower Sowing

Staff and volunteers brightened up some of the less cheerful areas of Seven Acres. Come back in spring and check it out!

National Moth Night Saturday 23rd September

South Lancashire Bat Group officer Mike Fisher lead a walk through Seven Acres looking at the site's resident bat populations. Loads of bats were active and all of the visitors had a chance to locate bats using a bat detector. Local moth enthusiast Martin Prescott talked about the Moths that live on the site.

Love Your Environment Fun day Sunday 17th September

An afternoon of fun events at was held at Seven Acres! Face painting, falconry and much more. The event was organised by Environmental Services for East Bolton Regeneration and supported by Lancashire Wildlife Trust.

Lantern Parade with Waggon Road Youth Club

In early 2006, The Friends of Seven Acres and Lancashire Wildlife Trust worked with Waggon Road Youth Club on a large arts project that finished with a magical lantern parade around Seven Acres. We had four workshops with youngsters at the youth club in the run up to the event and made some wacky and wonderful lanterns. The youngsters also made floating river-boats using glue and brown paper which were floated down Bradshaw Brook on the evening with candles inside them - a spectacle that those who attended will not forget in a hurry!

Over 200 people attended on the evening and had a wonderful time. Gordon McLellan, or Creeping Toad, told some mythical folklore stories to all the youngsters on the evening before we set the river-boats loose on the Brook. The evening was capped off with some lovely hot soup!

Heritage Walk - Tuesday 13th December 2005

An extremely interesting and enjoyable event which went down a treat with a group of over 20 local adults. Local historian and Friends of Seven Acres group member, Sara Vernon, led the walk with staff from the Trust. The walk discussed a wide range of historical topics but gave a detailed insight to the past industrial activity which once dominated the area - made even more fascinating by the amount of features that can still be seen on the site today. Due to the interest created by the walk and the demand for more we will be having three heritage walks in 2006, all which will be led by Sara Vernon. For dates and details of these and all our events, see the events page.

Making Bird Feeders - Friday 28th October 2005

To celebrate the RSPBs Feed the Birds Day we had an afternoon of fun making bird feeders at Seven Acres. In all, we had about 15 people attend, most of whom were very excited youngsters who loved getting absolutely filthy with some of the fillings, especially peanut butter!
Before and after making the feeders we all played some games and everybody had a great time. As well as taking one of their feeders home the youngsters also hung a peanut butter filled pine cone in a section of woodland on Seven Acres - much to the approval of our feathered friends!

Wildlife Walk - Thursday 18th August 2005

On an absolutely glorious afternoon in mid-August we had an action-packed wildlife walk around Seven Acres. On the walk we had a hunt for butterflies, dragonflies and loads of beastie's living in our ponds and brook. Some of those who attended were able to net some of our resident butterflies for a closer look. The walk was also blessed with the opportunity to have a look at a litter of field voles which we stumbled upon - something the youngsters really enjoyed!
To cap the walk off we found lots of newts in one of the ponds and then spent half an hour in Bradshaw Brook with our nets catching all sorts of weird and wonderful beastie's! A very enjoyable walk that we will be hosting again in 2006 - lets hope the weather is as good!

Insect Safari 8th June 2005
Led by Don Stenhouse from Bolton Museum. All manner of crawling and flying creatures were picked up in the sweep nets.

Organised as part of International Women's Week, the 'Womens Wildlife Walk' took place in 7 Acres on the 11th of March. The rain held off and as well as enjoying the wildlife (including frogs, lesser celandines and herons), the history of the valley was vividly brought to life by Sara Vernon. We talked about how people used the landscape in the past and identified old industries and buildings. Evidence for old river crossing points were discussed as the group strolled through the park. Further walks are planned for the summer months.

Sunday February 27 - Hedge-laying Contest. This annual event in memory of Dr. John Leather, organised by the Bolton Conservation Volunteers, took place at 7 Acres this year. Several metres of hedge were laid by competitors just north of the wooden bridge on the western side of the valley. Now we need to wait and watch it develop - although there has been a lot of interest from the small bird population already.