ABOUT US

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Bringing the landscape back to life

Since 2007 we have been working to conserve the Wyre Forest and its variety of habitats, including its species rich wildflower meadows, traditional orchards and wood pasture.

We work in close partnership with the Guild of St George, Natural England, Forestry England, Worcestershire Wildlife Trust, The Woodland Trust, Butterfly Conservation and local landowners.

Our team of around 40 dedicated volunteers help us carry out important conservation work and care for our herd of 50 pedigree Dexter cattle that carry out an extensive conservation grazing programme.

ABOUT OUR COMMUNITY

MARGARET TUNSTALL

MARGARET TUNSTALL

Operations Manager

DEBBIE BLADES

DEBBIE BLADES

Office Manager & Company Secretary

SALLY PENDERGAST

SALLY PENDERGAST

Farm & Land Manager

KATE QUINTON

KATE QUINTON

Community and Volunteer Officer (Maternity Leave)

DAISY HAYWOOD

DAISY HAYWOOD

Volunteer & Community Development Officer

MATT COPEMAN

MATT COPEMAN

Volunteer & Community Development Officer

RICHARD CHANNING

RICHARD CHANNING

Woodyard Manager

SEE WHAT WE’RE DOING ON INSTAGRAM

wyreclt

Our firelighting and campfire cooking sessions are

Our firelighting and campfire cooking sessions are always so popular, with school and adult groups alike! We love seeing the pride in everyone’s faces when they’ve built a successful fire, with little more than a flint and steel, and some sticks found on the forest floor. There’s nothing like the promise of a roasted marshmallow to motivate groups to persevere and work together as a team!

#forestschool #campfirecooking #firelighting #wyreforest #outdooreducation #bushcraft

We’ve just topped up our little forest stall at

We’ve just topped up our little forest stall at St George’s Farm with Ruskin Land apple juice, for all those thirsty walkers enjoying one of the many beautiful paths through the Wyre Forest. Why not grab some yourself – just don’t forget to bring some cash (£2 for 330ml and £3 for 750ml bottles).

Our apple juice is made from traditional varieties of apples, picked from orchards that we help manage across the Wyre Forest. Its available to buy from @bewdleygardenkitchen and @areleyarboretumandgardens, as well as for order and local delivery (minimum orders apply). For more information, contact info@wyreclt.org.uk

#applejuice #bewdley #wyreforest #orchard #shoplocal

Today, we’re launching a fundraising campaign to

Today, we’re launching a fundraising campaign to part exchange our 50-year-old planer for two new planers and a bandsaw. The machines will make a world of difference in improving our efficiency in the workshop, and enable us to produce and sell more products, the profits from which support our education and conservation work.

We’ve already raised nearly £1,000, including a generous donation from @WildJacspirits – a Wyre Forest based distillery, who support and donate 1% of all their sales revenue back to local charities and organisations. How lucky we are to receive their support.

If you would like to donate to our fundraising campaign, please visit our Just Giving site (link in bio)

#crowdfunding #wyreforest #bewdley #woodwork #1%fortheplanet #justgiving #fundraising #conservation

Last week, we welcomed a group of progression stud

Last week, we welcomed a group of progression students from @KidderminsterCollege to Ruskin Land, and led a wildlife tracking and tree identification walk through the woods, as well as a leaf carving session in our workshop. We’re looking forward to welcoming them back for another session in the coming weeks, as well as supporting them further with their land-based studies.

#wyreforest #outdooreducation

Volunteer with Wyre Community Land Trust Today, w

Volunteer with Wyre Community Land Trust

Today, we’re launching a volunteer recruitment campaign to get more people involved in our conservation work. If you have free time to give, would like to learn new skills, keep fit and active, or simply wish to meet new people, we would like to hear from you.

Our conservation volunteers help us carry out important work needed to conserve the Wyre Forest. We meet on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, and carry out practical conservation tasks in the sites we manage in and around Bewdley. No skill or experience is necessary – you’ll get all the training you need.

If you’re interested in finding out more, and would like to have an informal chat with our Volunteer and Community Officer, contact Matt on matt@wyreclt.org.uk

#volunteer #wyreforest #conservation #bewdley

Our herd of Dexter cattle have been enjoying the s

Our herd of Dexter cattle have been enjoying the sunshine and fresh green growth of Spring the past few weeks. Our cattle carry out a programme of conservation grazing across the Wyre Forest. Conservation grazing helps to control the growth of bracken and bramble, as well as reducing the extent of tree regeneration. This produces a more open forest which supports trees to live longer. The hoof marks and dung that the cattle leave behind, along with the increased light levels within the woodland supports the growth of more diverse ground flora, lichen and fungi, as well as populations of invertebrates.

#conservationgrazing #dextercattle #wyreforest

We still have a few places left on our Wildlife Tr

We still have a few places left on our Wildlife Tracking course on Saturday 21st May, 10am-12pm. Learn about the vast array of wildlife that lives in the Wyre Forest, and how to track them, including deciphering footprints and wildlife corridors, and common bird calls and songs. This workshop will teach you new skills as well as offering you a different way to engage with the natural world.

Tickets are £20 per person, and are available to order from our website: https://buff.ly/3KmhXTX

#wildlifetracking #wyreforest #naturewalk #ruskinclub

Our conservation volunteers have been busy restori

Our conservation volunteers have been busy restoring a neglected young hedge. The hedge was planted a couple of years ago, but had become overgrown with bramble and scrub, so our volunteers came to the rescue and carefully cleared around the young plants. Hedgerows are hugely beneficial for a range of species, providing food and shelter for birds, mammals, and insects. For more information on how to plant and maintain your own wildlife hedgerow, visit: https://buff.ly/3KZorZT. #conservation #volunteers #wildlife #hedgerow #wyreforest

It’s a beautiful time of year in Ruskin Land. Co

It’s a beautiful time of year in Ruskin Land. Cowslips are lighting up our meadows with their beautiful nodding yellow flowerheads, and our orchards are filled with the sweet floral scents of the blossoming fruit trees. Come see the signs of spring for yourself this Easter, and enjoy a walk around this peaceful part of the Wyre Forest. #easterholidays #woodlandwalk #signsofspring #ruskinland #wyreforest

Its coming to the end of the term, so we wanted to

Its coming to the end of the term, so we wanted to have a quick look back on a busy few months of school visits. We’ve had the pleasure of hosting children aged 7 to 15, in wind, snow, sunshine and rain. We’ve planted trees, pretended to be squirrels, built dens, been on a Lumber Jill bootcamp, hunted for minibeasts, made bee hotels, and ran a work experience programme for aspiring conservationists. Its been great fun, and we can’t wait for lots more during the summer term. If you’d like to find out more about our education programme, contact daisy@wyreclt.org.uk #wyreforest #forestschool #learnoutdoors #nurturethroughnature

As part of our woodland management work in the Wyr

As part of our woodland management work in the Wyre Forest, we’ve extracted our next load of saw logs. These will be milled in our woodyard, and used in some of the orders that we have on our books at the moment, including benches, fences, gates and facing pieces for timber framed houses. If you’re on the lookout for local and sustainable timber for your project, then get in touch with us: info@wyreclt.org.uk. All profits support our conservation and community work in the Wyre Forest.

#wyreforest #sawmill #woodlandmanagement #sustainabletimber

Our volunteers have been helping us install a set

Our volunteers have been helping us install a set of interpretation panels in Lords Yard and Shelf Held Coppices this week, as part of our Greener Recovery Challenge Fund project with the @WoodlandTrust. The panels include information about the history of the area, the wildlife you might spot, and the management that we carry out here. The panels were designed and printed by Shropshire-based sign company, @ShelleySignsLtd, and mounted on Ruskin Land oak frames made by our very own woodwork volunteers.

#wyreforest #woodlandmanagement #volunteers

Our Wellbeing in Nature programme is coming to an

Our Wellbeing in Nature programme is coming to an end, so we wanted to speak to some of our participants to see what impact the project has had…

‘Volunteering here has encouraged me to visit the Wyre Forest more regularly and explore different areas of it.’
‘This project has built my social confidence and improved my loneliness.’
‘Whatever mood I’m in when I arrive, I always leave feeling better.’
‘My favourite part of the project was tree planting because I know its going to have a long term benefit for the wildlife and climate change.’

The project was awarded funding from Worcestershire County Council’s Covid Impact Fund @yourworcestershire, and administered by Worcestershire Community Foundation, which supports charities and voluntary organisations across the county https://buff.ly/30UKmz1

#wyreforest #wellbeinginnature #greensocialprescribing #mentalhealth #naturetherapy #conservation #volunteering

SustFest Wyre Forest 2022 starts in a month – a

SustFest Wyre Forest 2022 starts in a month – a two week festival aimed at showcasing projects, organisations and businesses that support our community in ways that make us more sustainable. They have a busy and varied programme, including several events taking place in Ruskin Land. For more information, visit their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SustFest-Wyre-Forest-105915678592748 #wyreforest #bewdley #sustainability #festival

Last week, we delivered a set of ten benches for @

Last week, we delivered a set of ten benches for @AstleyVineyard, a family business based just outside of Stourport. The benches were made by our woodwork volunteers, using oak that we sustainably harvested from the Wyre Forest. The benches are set out in Astley’s wine garden, and will be used for their busy programme of vineyard tours and events.

#supportlocal #woodwork #wyreforest #englishvineyard

We ran a Woodyard and Woodwork course at the weeke

We ran a Woodyard and Woodwork course at the weekend as part of our Ruskin Club programme. Richard, WCLT’s Woodyard Manager, gave a guided tour around our sawmill and woodyard, to give participants an insight into our sustainable forestry management and milling operation. The group then had a chance to practice some basic woodworking skills in our workshop by making their own bird boxes.

We’ve got plenty of other Ruskin Club courses coming up this year – to find out more and book your place, visit our website: https://wyreclt.org.uk/come-on-a-course/

#ruskinclub #craftcourse #sustainableforestrymanagement #woodyard #sawmill #wyreforest #bewdley

This week, we’ve been busy hosting a group of Ye

This week, we’ve been busy hosting a group of Year 10 students from The Bewdley School for their Community Action Days. The students learnt about careers in the conservation, farming and forestry sectors, and got a lot of practical experience working alongside our Volunteer and Community Development Officer. The students made deadwood habitat piles, carried out woodland condition surveys and management plans, learnt how to identify tree species, carried out maintenance work on new tree planting, and had a go at some traditional green woodworking. Hopefully we’ve inspired, and will continue to inspire younger generations to consider a career in the natural environment.

#wyreforest #workexperience #bewdley #conservationcareers

Last week, volunteers from Lambswick Woods joined

Last week, volunteers from Lambswick Woods joined us in the workshop to create a set of bat boxes to install in their woodland. Whilst they could have bought the boxes online, they decided it would be much more meaningful and enjoyable to make their own with the help of our experienced woodwork volunteers, using local and sustainably harvested Wyre Forest oak. If you have your own project you’d like our help with, get in touch: info@wyreclt.org.uk #wyreforest #woodwork #conservation #batboxes #volunteers #woodlandmanagement

As part of our Greener Recovery Challenge Fund pro

As part of our Greener Recovery Challenge Fund project with the @WoodlandTrust, we’ve been carrying out veteranisation work on some of our trees. This is in order to increase the amount of standing deadwood in our woodland, which is valuable habitat for a wide range of wildlife. Veteranisation techniques include creating artificial lightning strikes on trunks to provide crevices for bats to use; and making coronet cuts on the crowns of trees to allow water to seep into the trunk and create ideal damp deadwood habitat conditions for insects such as stag beetles.

#wyreforest #woodlandmanagement #veteranisation #deadwoodhabitat

Ruskin Club Workshop: Wildlife Tracking and Nature

Ruskin Club Workshop: Wildlife Tracking and Nature Walk – Saturday 21st May, 10am-12pm

Join Sam of @Scruff.Stuff in becoming a nature detective for the morning. Become immersed in the natural world as we notice the abundance of clues of mammal and bird life all around us. Learn how to spot woodland 'highways' left by wildlife, how to identify different types of footprints, and pick up on common bird calls and songs. This workshop will teach you new skills as well as offering you a different way to engage with the natural world.

Tickets are £20 per person, and are available to order from our website: https://wyreclt.org.uk/events/nature-walk/

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For more information about what we do or to enquire about our products events and courses, call us on

01299 488083

or email us: info@wyreclt.org.uk

St Georges Farm
Tanners Hill
Bewdley
DY12 2LS

WCLT is grateful for LEADER funding that has supported forestry machinery and new timber storage buildings.