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Troopers Hill Local Nature Reserve

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Following on from our first two successful years; the Friends of Troopers Hill have another exciting programme of events for 2006.

Our events aim to promote awarness and interest in the Local Nature Reserve and its varied flora and fauna.

Click here or Scroll down the page for descriptions and photographs of past events.

Events at Troopers Hill are organised in conjunction with Bristol Parks and Sally Oldfield, our Local Nature Reserves Officer, as part of the Bristol Wildspace Project.

Click here for details of events at other Local Nature Reserves.

Sun 3rd September    Avon Valley Walk 10.30am - 3.30pm

This walk is organised in conjunction with the Bristol Living Rivers Project and The Friends of Eastwood Farm. The route starts at Conham car park at 10.30 am includes Dundridge Park, Troopers Hill (you can join here between 11.15 and 11.45) and a trip on the ferry for a picnic lunch followed by a walk at Eastwood Farm (at 2pm). For full details click here or phone Susan on 0117 947 5037.
Don't worry if it's wet - Beeses have kindly said we can have our picnic in their Tea Rooms if it is raining!

Tues 5th September    Quiz Night and Raffle

Sorry, this event has been postponed.

If you had been planning to come along please or call Susan on 0117 947 5037 so we can let you know when we have a revised date.

Sat 14th October    Kite Flying Event

Details to be confirmed - watch this space!

Wednesday 13th December 7.15pm    AGM and Slide Show

This will be in our usual meeting venue at Wesley Memorial Church Hall, Bryants Hill - Click here for map.

The slide show will be a light-hearted review of the year and include some video clips produced by Bristol Video Solutions. There will also be plenty of opportunity to let us have your views and to help us plan for next year. We keep the AGM formalities as short as we can so don't let that put you off, it will be a very enjoyable evening.

Past Events

In order to give you an impression of some of the events we have organised in the past, details are given below, together with links to photographs.
The photos will open in a separate window, they are 100 to 250 KB and therefore might take some time to download.

Up to 2006 Planned Events
If you have any ideas for future events please contact Friends of Troopers Hill at .
 


Event


Photos

Sat 12th August - Family Fun Picnic 2006

A breezy afternoon on Troopers Hill saw around 30 children of all ages walking from the chimney to a gazebo hidden in the trees where they were entertained with a very special story. On the way they had collected as many different colours as they could to stick on some paw prints they had been given. The story, which featured Troopers Hill and one of the animals that lives here, was performed by International Storyteller Cassandra with enthusiastic participation from her audience.

Afterwards everyone returned to the top of the hill to see the launch of the balloons for our second annual balloon race. There is a prize for the balloon that travels the furthest; we will let you know the winner here. Unfortunately the wind meant that the hot air balloons from Ashton Court were unable to fly so we were again denied the chance to see them from the hill, perhaps we shall be lucky next year.

This was a very sucessful event, many thanks to everyone who made it happen. Also a special thank you to the dog owners who took notice of our signs and kept their dogs on leads or under close control in the area where the event was in progress.

Photos
1 to 12

Tues 1st August - Purple Prowl

Local botanist Libby Houston led a group of 40 on a very enjoyable tour of our hill to tell us about the grasses and other species that thrive in this unique environment. Troopers Hill is covered with glorious purple heather at this time of year, but there are many other plant species that live on the acid soil (created by the underlying pennant sandstone) and are seen nowhere else in Bristol. Libby also indroduced us to another resident of our hill, a spider that lives in the crevices on the chimney (beware they can bite!).

All gather
round:
1, 2

Looking for
spiders:
3

Views from
the hill:
4, 5

Sat 1st July 2006 - Music on the Hill

We were very pleased to join forces with Arts at St Aidans to host our biggest event to date - a summer evening of music on Troopers Hill, provided by the Bristol East Band.

We were blessed with ideal weather and around a hundred people joined us on the hill to have a picnic and drinks and enjoy the wonderful outlook over Bristol from the top of the Hill while listening to the sound of this superb brass band.

For us the day had started early with an interview on Radio Bristol at 7.45am. The morning's work party was followed by an afternoon putting up gazebos and getting ready for the band. In return for £6 donations we were offering numbered armbands for entry in a prize draw with the first prize of a hot air balloon flight kindly donated by Somerfield. Over 50 were sold which enabled us to cover the costs of the event. This was a highly successful day that everyone seemed to really enjoy and that achieved our aims to raise awarness of the Nature Reserve and to encouage people to visit who hadn't been there before. Thanks to everyone involved for their time and effort, both on the day and in the weeks and months beforehand.

Set up and ready:
1

Chairs introduction:
2

The band in the sun:
3


The crowd:
4, 5

Friday 26th May 2006 - Moth Evening

Following last June's successful event we were pleased to welcome the Bristol and District Moth Group back to Troopers Hill to carry out another survey.

It was much colder than last year but we were fortunate to have a dry evening after a very wet week. The moth group were pleased to have cloud cover - last year the lights on the moth traps were competing with a very bright moon. A small but enthusiastic group gathered round the light traps and were rewarded with a close up view of many different species.

As well as moths a cockchafer beetle was caught. Particpants were also treated to a close-up view of a Striped Hawk Moth, caught by one of the moth experts the previous evening at Leigh Woods. These moths are very rarely seen, only turning up in the Avon area about once a decade, the last one in Avon was seen in 1996 and before that in 1985. A full report and list of species found can be seen on our moths and invertebrates page.

Around the light-traps:
1, 2

Cockchafer Beetle:
3

Striped Hawk Moth:
4

Sunday 7th May 2006 - Dawn Chorus Walk

For the third year running our dawn chorus walk was blessed early morning sunshine. Another good turnout included many people who had not visited the hill before.

Local bird expert John Tully again entertained us with descriptions of the birds we could hear and see. As well wrens, chiffchaffs, blackbirds, wood pigeons, great tits and many other of the more common birds we also heard a white throat which is rare so near to the centre of Bristol.

We were also joined by Lorna Shaw who is carrying out a PhD study into house sparrows to try and learn more about why their numbers are declining. It was therefore especially pleasing to see a flock of house sparrows in the gully. As part of her study Lorna has a questionnaire which aims to record the characteristics of houses and gardens in Bristol and to relate this to data on house sparrow numbers. You can find and online version of the questionnaire here and Lorna would be grateful for your input.

This is last of a series of events under the heading Birds in Bristol which have been organised by the Bristol Wildspace Project and community groups at three of Bristol’s Local Nature Reserves.

Photos
1 to 5

Friday 14th April 2006 - Good Friday Service

Once again the Friends of Troopers Hill were pleased to be able to join this open air service on Troopers Hill which is organised each year by local churches.

 

Sat 18th March 2006 - Troopers Hill Exhibition

This was held on a very cold March afternoon, at Wesley Memorial Church Hall, Bryants Hill.

The exhibition showed the information we have collected about Troopers Hill, its industrial past and the unique wildlife of the present. We were also able to show details of our latest grant award. Although the attendance was disapointing, those who did come along seemed to be genuinley interested and we hope learned something new about the area.

 

Sat 18th February 2006 - Bird Bonanza

This event attracted over 60 people of all ages to Troopers Hill on a wonderful sunny afternoon. Held in National Nest Box Week, making bird boxes was the main focus of the afternoon. 34 boxes were made, most were designed for blue tits or great tits while a few had larger openings for robins. 10 of the boxes were donated to the Friends of Troopers Hill and were put up in the woodland areas on the reserve and in Crews Hole Woodland. We will be able to see if they have attracted any residents when we walk through the woods on the Dawn Chorus Walk on the 7th May.

There were also many other fun events for children, including making bird masks, hand birds, and bird mobiles. Once the bird boxes were complete we also made some bird feeders. You can see a video of the event on our Video Project Page.

A special thank you to Susan for all the work she put in planning the event. Also to everyone who helped at the event and joined in cutting out masks and preparing other items on the previous Tuesday evening. Funding for this event was provided by Bristol Parks. National Nest Box Week is organised by The British Trust for Ornithology.

Overall view:
1, 2, 3

Birdbox making:
1, 2

Birdbox feeders:
1, 2

Crafts:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Putting up boxes
Tit box: 1, 2
Robin box

Sat 21 Jan 2006 - Hedge Planting at Greendown

A very sucessful day, full details are on our Work Parties Page.

Click here for photographs.

Sat 22 Oct 2005 - Fungal Foray

This event was inspired by the discovery of lots of different fungi last autumn (see link on our Hill Wildlife page for photographs).

We had a good turn out with 27 people joining Justin Smith for a walk through Crews Hole Woodland and on the Hill to see what fungi we could find. There were several children who came along and they proved to be experts at finding fungi of all sorts and sizes which Justin was then able to identify and describe. There was great fasination in Justin's descriptions of the different poisons in fungi and how much was needed to kill you! Justin also explained the way different fungi interact with the environment, some helping trees to survive while others can kill host trees.

As well as leading the walk Justin was carrying out a fungi survey; the results, including the full list of the 39 species found, can be downloaded here as a pdf file. Amongst the finds was the appropriately named Trooping Crumble Cap and many acid soil restricted species which are scarce locally as Troopers Hill is one of very few sites in the area which can support them.

Foray photos:
1, 2, 3
4, 5, 6

Sat 17 Sept 2005 - History Exhibition

Our friends at the Bristol East Allotment Association allowed us to use their Pavilion in Nicholas Lane to display the information that we have collected on the history of the area. The event was well attended despite the fact that we had only produced limited publicity and had failed to mention it in our Newsletter - sorry. We asked people to bring along any old photographs that they had and were fortunate to be allowed to copy three photographs taken from the Tar Works in 1953. We were also very generously donated a copy of the book produced in 1953 giving the history of the Tar Works.

Click here to see the 1953 photographs.

Sat 20 Aug 2005 - Wildways Walk

The Friends of Troopers Hill hosted the final walk in a series of exchange visits between groups at Local Nature Reserves in Bristol, BANES and South Glos. This was a very enjoyable walk on a sunny Saturday morning with representatives from Badocks Wood and Manor Woods Valley. Members of the Friends of Troopers Hill who came along were also persuaded by Susan and Rob to take litter pickers with them and collected 4 bags of litter.

Walk photos:
1, 2, 3, 4

Sat 13 Aug 2005 - Family Fun Picnic 2005

We again held this event to coincide with the Balloon Fiesta at Ashton Court. Unfortunately the weather did not behave!
We chose the only evening of the weekend when the Fiesta balloons didn't fly and the only afternoon of rain for in several days. It was very wet as we put up the gazebos prompting our Chair to give a 'drowned rat' award to those who helped us set up. Despite the weather thought we still had fun...

Storytelling
We were very lucky to have international storyteller Cassandra along to entertain everyone, and although we were not able to do everything we planned; the rain did stop long enough for us to hear a story about fire with dragons, wolves, herons and squirrels. Cassandra got us all to join in to keep us warm on what became a cold evening.

Balloon Race
For the first of what we hope will be an anual balloon race we launched over 50 helium filled balloons from the top of the hill after the storytelling.
The balloon Race was won by George Melksham. His balloon travelled approximately 113 miles and was picked up in Hampton, Middlesex by Oliver Martin who won the returnee's prize - a WH Smith's voucher for £10. George kindly donated his prize of a remote controlled blimp to 6 year old Beatrice of Bishopston, whose balloon ticket was also returned from the same area and had only travelled one and a half miles less. Both prizes in the balloon race were very kindly sponsored by Bristol Video Solutions so that all the profits were able to go to the Friends of Troopers Hill's funds.

Next year, bigger and better!

Sunday evening
We didn't organise an event for the Sunday, but the fantastic weather brought lots of people on to the hill to watch the Fiesta - look at the photos to see what a wonderful place Troopers Hill is to see the balloons when the sun shines. Let's hope for weather like this for the Family Fun Picnic 2006.

Storytelling photos:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Sales stand

Balloons away

How far?

Sunday photos:
1, 2, 3

Wed 22 June 2005

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Troopers Hill being declared a Local Nature Reserve, some of the Friends of Troopers Hill followed the advice in our Newsletter and went for a walk on the hill.

We were also fortunate to be invited to visit a 18th century bathhouse that that is hidden in woodland on private land in Crews Hole. To finish the evening we toasted the LNR's first ten years with Champagne and enjoyed some excellent fish and chips from our local Fish & Chip shop, Farrows.

A toast

More please

Bathhouse

Bathhouse roof

Over there!

Sat 18 June 2005 - Evening Moth Hunt

The Friends of Troopers Hill were joined by the Bristol and District Moth Group to discover some of the hill's most secretive nocturnal wildlife. Light traps were set to attract moths and over ninety different species were recorded. The Moth Group's report on the evening with the full list is available on our moths and invertebrates page.

The event was very well attended with lots of local children staying up late. As well as moths, we also saw some bats and were able to pick up bats' echolocation using bat detectors.

The last photo shows a spectacular Elephant Hawk Moth that came into the trap just after midnight. All the moths were released unharmed.

4 photos of of the gathering around the light trap:

1, 2, 3, 4

Bristol and District Moth Group

Hawk Moth

Mon 30 May 2005
Flowering Plants – Uses Past and Present

Helen of the Friends of Troopers Hill took us on a very informative walk over the Local Nature Reserve, identifying flowering plants, describing how people used them in the past and what they might be used for today.
This was a very enjoyable morning, which showed just how much more aware people used to be of the plants growing around them and of their potential benefits. Many thanks to Helen.

Photos:

1, 2, 3, 4

Sun 08 May 2005 - Dawn Chorus Walk

This year's walk, again led by local bird expert John Tully, really was at dawn! 24 people gathered at 5.30am for a walk through Crews Hole woodland and then on to the hill. Sally had organised another beautiful and calm sunny morning, a range of birdsong and a flypast by six herons, probably on route to feed their young at the Eastwood Farm LNR heronry.

Photos:

1, 2, 3

Fri 25 Mar 2005 - Good Friday Service

The Friends of Troopers Hill attended this year's Good Friday Service on the hill. We were able to show off the gazebo and tablecloth that had been produced as part of the School Project organised by Sally Oldfield with Year 3 pupils at Air Balloon Hill Junior School.

Page with 6 photos

Sun 10 Oct 2004 - Guided Walk

This walk was part of Bristol Festival of Nature and introduced 15 people from all over the Bristol area to Troopers Hill and the surrounding area. Our walk leader Rob described something of the history of the area and the work of the Friends in managing the hill.

 

Fri 13 Aug 2004 - Family Fun Picnic

This was a very enjoyable afternoon, despite the fact that the weather was not too kind to us. We had hoped to end the event by watching the balloons fly from Ashton Court, the wind was in the right direction but unfortunately too strong for balloon flying.
The rain early in the afternoon stopped just in time for the story telling and then held off until we were packing up. Our story teller led a group of up to 20 children round the hill on a walk of discovery that was enjoyed by all. Our display stand also attracted interest from those who had come on to the hill in the hope of seeing balloons and we signed up our 100th household to our mailing list.

Gathering under grey skies:

1, 2, 3

A walking story:

4, 5, 6, 7

Wed 04 Aug 2004
Guided Walk for Bristol Museums and Art Gallery

This event was sponsored by Bristol Magpies (Museums & Art Gallery Participation, Information & Enjoyment Society) and introduced over 30 people from all over the Bristol area to the joys of spending a summer's evening exploring Troopers Hill. The event also included a fly-past by a hot air balloon.

Insects in the net

Flowers in Sally's Glade

Balloon fly past

Purple shade of heath

Thur 29 July 2004 - History Talk

The Industrial History of Troopers Hill & Crew’s Hole - a talk by Joan Day.
Joan Day is a well known local historian, author and expert on the 18th century brass industry. This was a very informative evening, Joan showed lots of photos of the local area from her collection and amazed us with tales of Swedish Industrial spies visiting Crews Hole in the 1700s.

 

Sat 12 Jun 2004 - Butterflies, Bugs and Beasties Walk

Rupert Higgins of Wessex Ecological Consultancy led a gang of enthusiastic young nature lovers on an exploration of Troopers Hill and its unique insect population.

Photos:

1, 2, 3, 4

Sat 24 April 2004 - Dawn Chorus Walk

A 7am start for this walk led by local bird expert John Tully. John had also entertained us with a talk about the birds we were likely to hear on the preceeding Thursday. There was a good turnout on a sunny morning for a very enjoyable and entertaining couple of hours that we hope to repeat next year.

Photos:

1, 2, 3, 4

Wed 25 Feb 2004 - History Meeting

This was an informal evening for people to share their knowledge and learn more about the history of Troopers Hill and the surrounding area. The evening attracted an excellent turn-out and was great fun. It demonstated the great interest in the history of the area amongst local residents.

 

Sat 04 Oct 2003 - Litter Pick

Following a further meeting on 10th September, this litter pick was the first practical work to be carried out on the hill by what had now become known as the Friends of Troopers Hill. Further meetings on 16th October and 2nd December confirmed the election of the committee and the adoption of the constitution. The success of the litter pick led to the instigation of the regular 1st Saturday of the month work parties that are described on our work party page.

Photos:

1, 2, 3

Tue 22 July 2003 - Nature Walk

An evening walk led by Rupert Higgins. This walk was organised by Sally Oldfield, Bristol's Local Nature Reserve Officer, to inform local people about the importance of the hill to wildlife and to encourage the formation of a community group to assist in the hill's management. There was an excellent turn-out. The walk followed an initial meeting to guage interest in setting up a group which had been held on 5th June.

Photos:

1, 2, 3

Up to 2006 Planned Events

Friends of Troopers Hill
Website produced by the Friends of Troopers Hill

www.troopers-hill.org.uk