http://www.trap-grounds.org.uk Fri, 13 Jan 2012 23:01:11 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Welcome on behalf of the Glow Worms and Water Voles of the Trap Grounds. Here you can discover what makes this patch of wilderness in suburban north Oxford so special, and why we campaigned all the way to the House of Lords to register it as a Town Green. Click on ... http://www.trap-grounds.org.uk/welcome/ On Saturday 21st January a team from Oxford Conservation Volunteers will be working from 10 am to 4 pm, finishing the construction of the bird hide, creating refuges for reptiles and amphibians, trimming over-grown trees, and clearing brambles. We would welcome extra help, so please come along at any time ... http://www.trap-grounds.org.uk/work-parties-in-the-new-year/ We have hired a tree surgeon to do some chain-saw work on the unsafe willows on the north bank of the big pond on Saturday 15th October. We shall need help to drag logs out of the water (an opportunity to try out the waders that we've recently invested in) and to ... http://www.trap-grounds.org.uk/work-parties-in-october-and-november/ Children aged 8-11 from Phil & Jim School are enjoying a programme of activities on the Trap Grounds and Port Meadow on Friday afternoons, led by teacher Ms Rachel Woods. If you would like to help occasionally, between 3.15 pm and 4.45 pm, please contact the Secretary of the Friends ... http://www.trap-grounds.org.uk/after-school-environment-club-2/ On Saturday 8th October Oxford Conservation Volunteers will be helping us to construct a bird hide in the woodland and clear more brambles from the meadow. Come and join us any time from 10 am to 4 pm. Tools and hot drinks will be provided. Please wear gardening gloves and stout ... http://www.trap-grounds.org.uk/work-parties-on-8th-and-15th-october/ If you can spare an hour between 2 pm and 4 pm on Saturday 30 July, please help us to pull up invasive plants of Goldenrod on the wild-flower meadow. No tools required - this is light and easy work - but please wear gardening gloves and stout footwear; also a ... http://www.trap-grounds.org.uk/work-party-saturday-30-july-2011/ Today (24 June 2011) saw the inaugural meeting of the After-School Environment Club at the primary school of St Philip & St James (on the southern boundary of the Trap Grounds). The club is led by teacher Ms Rachel Woods, who is keen to introduce children to the wildlife and habitats of the ... http://www.trap-grounds.org.uk/after-school-environment-club/ A small minority of local residents are campaigning for the City Council to create an entrance into the woodland from the end of Navigation Way. The Friends of the Trap Grounds are opposed to the proposal for the following reasons. The Trap Grounds is a very small and vulnerable site. The ... http://www.trap-grounds.org.uk/new-threat-to-the-trap-grounds/ Join us on Sunday 1st May at 7 am on the canal bridge in Aristotle Lane for a one-hour guided walk around the Trap Grounds, led by a local bird-enthusiast. All welcome (but please no dogs on this occasion). http://www.trap-grounds.org.uk/may-morning-bird-song-walk-2/ Our Annual General Meeting will be held on Tuesday 29th March at 7.45 pm in St Margaret's Institute, Polstead Road, north Oxford. A short business meeting will be followed by refreshments and an illustrated talk by Rumi Mohideen about the Return of Otters to the Oxford Canal. Members and non-members ... http://www.trap-grounds.org.uk/annual-general-meeting-2011/ As part of the annual Oxford SpringClean weekend, we are planning a Big Rubbish Blitz on the Trap Grounds on Saturday 5th March. Volunteers will be welcome to join us any time between 10 and 4 pm. It has taken us nearly ten years to clean up this former rubbish ... http://www.trap-grounds.org.uk/rubbish-blitz-and-bramble-blitz/ The boardwalk is complete! Leading south from Frog Lane, alongside the stream and across the swamp, it is 120 metres long and made of environment-friendly recycled plastic boards which are vandal-proof, non-slip, and rot-resistant. The plastic planks are not only more durable than wood: they are also more flexible, enabling ... http://www.trap-grounds.org.uk/the-boardwalk-good-news/ An illustrated, interactive talk at St Margaret’s Institute in Polstead Road at 8 pm, followed by an expedition to the Trap Grounds at 9.30 pm. Children (aged 7+) welcome. Admission free, but donations to the work of the Oxfordshire Bat Group would be welcomed. If going on the guided walk,  please bring ... http://www.trap-grounds.org.uk/friday-9th-july-bats-and-glow-worms/ Sunday 27 June: Oxford Green Spaces Sponsored Circular Walk: 10.00 am – 4.00 pm. A nine-mile walk created by the Oxford City branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, with help from the Ramblers, to highlight the threats to some of the city’s much-loved green spaces. The walk will stretch from the Trap Grounds, which achieved ... http://www.trap-grounds.org.uk/summer-2010/ Saturday 1st May 2010: join us at 7 am on the canal bridge at Aristotle Lane for a guided walk round the Trap Grounds, led by a local bird-enthusiast. All welcome (but please no dogs on this occasion). http://www.trap-grounds.org.uk/may-morning-bird-song-walk/ Snowdrops are flowering on the bank of the stream, hazel catkins are waving in the wind in the woodland, and we have planned a busy programme of activities for the Spring: Boardwalk for wheelchairs alongside the stream:  the contractor has started work and hopes to complete the installation by Easter. Rubbish ... http://www.trap-grounds.org.uk/spring-2010/ We have been awarded £15,000 by the Trust for Oxfordshire's Environment and £5,000 by the national Lottery Awards For All scheme towards the total cost (£22,500) of a walkway (made of recycled materials) alongside the stream. The main objective is to improve access for wheelchairs, but families with buggies will also benefit, ... http://www.trap-grounds.org.uk/funding-for-the-boardwalk/ The never-ending war on brambles will continue on Saturday 14 November, with the help of a team from Oxford Conservation Volunteers. They will be working on site from 10 am to 4 pm. We'd be very pleased to welcome local supporters for an hour or two during that time. As well as up-rooting ... http://www.trap-grounds.org.uk/bramble-blitz-saturday-14-november/ Martin Townsend, BSc, FRES, Consultant Ecologist and County Moth Recorder, will be trapping and identifying moths on the Trap Grounds on Saturday 19 September, starting at 7.30 pm. Many beautiful and interesting specimens have been recorded on the TG, including the Emperor Moth ... Drinker Moth ... Cream Wave ... ... http://www.trap-grounds.org.uk/national-moth-night-saturday-19-september-2009/ Come and visit our information stall at the Waterways Community Event (alongside the canal at the far end of Frenchay Road), any time from 11 am to 2 pm. Join us at 2 pm at the information stall for a guided walk round the Trap Grounds. All welcome. No need ... http://www.trap-grounds.org.uk/waterways-community-event-12-september-2009/ A team from Oxford Conservation Volunteers have helped us to fix 11 bat boxes in the willow trees alongside the Trap Grounds stream, overlooking the reedbed and the pond. We are grateful to the Walton Manor branch of the Women's Institute for kindly contributing the cost of the boxes, which were made ... http://www.trap-grounds.org.uk/bat-boxes/ Canadian Golden Rod has invaded the meadow and is suppressing the growth of wildflowers. The good news is that Golden Rod is easy to up-root at this time of the year. Can you spare an hour (or two) to help us on Sunday 19 July, any time between 10 am ... http://www.trap-grounds.org.uk/conservation-work-party-sunday-19-july-2009/ Come to the Trap Grounds woodland to see artwork made of wood and willow by environmental artist David Gosling and the children of St Philip and St James Primary School. A giant moth, a unicorn, an owl, and a mysterious egg are among the creatures that await you in the glade. Join us ... http://www.trap-grounds.org.uk/woodland-art-display-8-16-may/ Come along at any time between 11 am and 5 pm to watch the environmental artist David Gosling at work in the Trap Grounds wood. David and other artists will be on hand to help visitors to make their own objects out of willow and other natural materials, inspired by the sights ... http://www.trap-grounds.org.uk/st-philip-and-st-james/ The war on invasive brambles continues today, 10 am to 12.30 pm. Our efforts last year were rewarded by the re-appearance of Bee Orchids, Pyramidal Orchids, and wild Marjoram - not to mention 20 glow worms. Please help us to extend the wildflower meadow. Meet us on the Frenchay Road canal bridge ... http://www.trap-grounds.org.uk/bramble-blitzes/ We need all the help we can get! Please meet us on the Frenchay Road canal bridge just before 10 am, or come and find us later on. Wear boots and protective gloves, and bring a wheelbarrow if you can. (We can provide gloves if necessary.) Children aged 8+ are welcome to ... http://www.trap-grounds.org.uk/litter-blitz/ Annual General Meeting of The Friends Of The Trap Grounds, 7.30 pm at St Margaret's Institute, Polstead Road. A short business meeting will be followed by refreshments and an illustrated talk by Alan Allport about the wildlife of the Trap Grounds. All welcome. Come and hear about our achievements during ... http://www.trap-grounds.org.uk/annual-general-meeting/