August/ September 08
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 The wet summer of 2008 meant that events at both Troopers Hill and Eastwood Farm had to be cancelled in August, however September's Bat Walk at Badock's Wood was a great success with several bats appearing.
Unfortuntately September also marked the end of the Nature in the City Project with the news that Sally Oldfield was moving to a new post in Islington, where her boyfriend lives. I'm sure you will join with us in wishing her the very best for the future.
As can be seen from these pages the Nature in the City Project was highly successful, it has introduced hundreds of people to Bristol's nature reserves, designated three new LNRs and helped to raise the profile of all the sites. Sally also worked with many, many school children, some of whom came from the most deprived parts of Bristol - all her events were notable for the number of smiling faces. Sally also helped to raise funds for and to organise many capital projects that improved access and interpretation at the reserves.
Sally worked especially hard during her last week in Bristol to complete an application for a new project which she hopes will allow her excellent work to continue. While everyone involved hopes that this application is successful it is disappointing that Bristol City Council have been unable to find the funds to make Sally's post of Local Nature Reserves Officer permanent.
A few Nature in the City events that Sally organised before she left, such as the Avon Valley Walk and Troopers Hill Fungi Foray continued in October and November.
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June/July 08
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 Summer flowers were the highlight for walks at all of the reserves during June & July. There were also two very different events that proved how successful the Nature in the City project is at getting people to appreciate the wildlife and history around them.
Silai for Skills visited Eastwood Farm and then produced textiles inspired by what they had seen; the results were shown at their Big Knit. Meanwhile St Aidans Scouts were learning about the history and wildlife of Troopers Hill leading up to the first ever traditional Trooping the Hill.
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Apr/May 08
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 The Spring/Summer edition of the Nature in the City Newsltter is now available here.
Events for the Spring included Tree Gazing at Eastwood Farm, a Herbal Walk at Narroways and a Forest Festival at Badock's Wood. The celebration of the declaration of Badocks Wood as an LNR had to be postponed due to a police search, but it did take place on 20th May.
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Feb/Mar08
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 The highlight for February was the official opening of Manor Woods Valley as a Local Nature Reserve by the The Lord Mayor of Bristol and Lord of the Manor of Bishopsworth.
There will be a celebration of the offical declaration at Badock's Wood LNR on Thursday 24th April; while Eastwood Farm LNR will celebrate at a summer fair on Sunday 31st August. Sally's success in seeing through these delclarations was acknowledged by the award of the 'order of the MVCG'.
The Nature in the City events programme continued with a Geology Walk at Troopers Hill; a Bird Bonanza at Narroways; Birds & Beasties at the Northern Slopes and an Early Bird Walk at Eastwood Farm. The next Nature in the City Newsletter will be out soon and details all wildlife events in Bristol can be found on the Bristol City Council Events Page.
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Dec07/Jan08
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 The good news for January was the official declaration of the Local Nature Reserves at Badock's Wood, Eastwood Farm and Manor Woods Valley. The official notice that was printed in the Evening Post on Tuesday 15 January can be seen here. It has taken a long time to get these declarations through the various legal processes but thanks to Sally's continuing efforts this has now been achieved and Bristol now officially has seven Local Nature Reserves.
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Oct/Nov 07
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 Autumn events at the various sites included Fungi Forays and Owl Prowls. Photos of the Fungi Foray led by Justin Smith on Troopers Hill can be found here.
Planning for next year's events is now well under way; one of the early highlights will be 'Birds & Beasties' on the Northern Slopes Sat 16th Feb 12pm to 4pm. Details of this and other events are available in the second Nature in the City Newsletter.
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Aug/Sept 07
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 Highlights for the late summer included Bats on the Bommie, Aer-bat-ics on Troopers Hill and a guided walk along the Avon Valley with three Local Nature Reserves and one of the oldest plane trees in Bristol.
As well as these public events Sally has also worked with many local groups and organisations to help spread the the word about Bristol's wonderful Local Nature Reserves. Two Walking for Health Groups joined September's Through the Seasons Walk and Sally was also on hand for a walk in August with the Bedminster and Southville
Group also on Troopers Hill.
The first year of the Nature in the City Project has been a huge success. The second Newsletter will be out soon with lots more news and information.
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June/July 07
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 There were events at all six of the Nature in the City sites during June.
The second 'Through the Seasons' walk at Troopers Hill was blessed with some sunshine and despite one of the wettest Junes on record all the events missed the worst of the rain. Wildflower walks at Narroways and Manor Woods were followed by Pondemania at Eastwood Farm which was a chance to make use of the new pond-dipping platform in the 'bomb pond' which had been funded by YANSEC. Later in the month Ian McGuire led a Raptor Ramble around the Northern Slopes and introduced us to his Barn owl, you can learn more about owl conservation on Ian's website at www.wildowl.net. The month ended with Meadow Magic at Badocks Wood.
 July was a quieter month, one unusual event was a 'Flowery Folklore and Poetic Plants' walk at Eastwood Farm where Julian introduced us to some of the plants on the reserve and also read us some related poetry, this is an event that will be well worth repeating.
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Apr/May07
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 April saw the launch of the first edition of the Nature in the City Newsletter with an introduction to all the sites.
Springtime events included Dawn Chorus walks at Badock's Wood and Narroways in April. May found us tree gazing with Tony Titchen at Troopers Hill and learning about the History of Herbs on the Northern Slopes.
There are lots more great events planned, so see the Newsletter for details of Nature in the City Events for the rest of the year.
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Feb/Mar07
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 The year's events got off to a great start with the first 'Through the Seasons' walk at Troopers Hill. This was followed by a very well attended walk at Narroways led by Eileen Stonebridge and looking in particular at the geology of the area.
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Dec06/Jan07
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A full page article in the Evening Post on Fri 5th January gave some good publicity, with photos of Badocks Wood, Troopers Hill and Narroways. If anyone is worried that Sally's appearance seems to have drastically changed, then you can can be reassured - it was just the EP using the wrong half of the photograph.
The plans for this year's events are now coming together and Sally has been on a Newsletter writing course, so we are looking forward to something special when the first Nature in the City Newsletter appears.
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November 2006
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 The focus for Nature in the City events for this month moved to Badocks Wood where an Owl Prowl and a Fungi Foray were both fully booked. Sally was also busy meeting with other groups to put together an exciting range of events for next year. Look out for the Nature in the City Newsletter in February.
Click here to see photos taken at the Fungi Foray at Badocks Wood. The autumn colours looked fantastic in the sunshine.
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October 2006
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 The official launch of Nature in the City took place at Eastwood Farm on Friday 27th October at the unveiling of their new interpretation board funded by YANSEC (Yanley and North Somerset Environment Company). The unveiling was followed by a Tree Gazing Walk led by Tony Titchen. Click here to see photos of the day.
Image of the new sign Press release for this event.
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September 2006
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This month marks the start of Nature in the City. Over the next two years the Project aims to run 60 events to increase involvement and raise awarness of these wonderful sites. There will also be projects involving schools and young people. The project will have its own website, but in the meantime keep up to date here or through the regular Newsletters.
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