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Our school visited Kinniside common on the 1st of July to compare the differences from two different sections of common land. The first section of common land was at Stair Knott in Wild Ennerdale. Our first visit to common land was on the 25th June where we surveyed different areas of land by using metre squares to record the different species of plants and animals that live there, when we went up to Kinniside Common we used this same method to identify the differences of species. When we went up to Kinniside Common there was a noticeable difference between the two sections of common land. The reason is that kinniside is being intensively grazed by 17 commoners. Walking back to school though we saw lots of flowers in the hedgerows and verges like the orchid above.

Wondering how we might share our sense of awe and wonder for these precious woodlands using environmentally sound materials, we may have discovered something in these sculptures by David Nash. He only uses trees already fallen in recreating something of beauty from the natural world.

Busy bees on Bramble flowers and finding homes in the bug hotel on the barn. We had to be careful not to get in their way while we added more material to it! Some Cinnabar caterpillars on a nearly demolished Ragwort in the parking area gravel.

Hermitage conserving the Chester-le-Street garden. They helped clear nettles and thistles to make way for improved habitats and new improved areas in the garden.

Starting in Spring, we have observed a gradual increase in the number of pollinators within a 10m x 10m area of semi-wild garden. Beset with obstacles such as some of us wearing of insect repellent on our first gathering, the spraying of a wild meadow recently turned into a crop field just before our timed 10 minute count on another occasion, we are becoming more nature savvy as we head into Summer.

At dusk, bats fly in and out of the trees catching insects. We talk of bats and tell our woodland stories that are populated by people, a fox and deer, a shaman and a sorcerer. Firelight flickers and draws lines as darkness descends. Some of us sleep in hammocks, others on the ground. Stars sit quietly above us. Bats chatter. Early in the morning, one of us watches them skitter around. We rekindle the fire and toast homemade bread in its heat before wandering through brambles and tall bracken, along awkward stream banks beneath immense trees, the air thick with pollen but fly free.

Living Landscapes Officer, Alex, taking everyone for a discovery walk around Wilmorton Recreation Ground in an urban area of Derby. Everyone found three different types of leaves from the surrounding trees and used their own words to describe their shape, colour and features. Alex guided everyone on how to identify trees using these features, for example, toothed and lobed leaves. Everyone had a chat about ways park managers can maintain urban parks both for public use and to conserve local species. Examples were keeping some areas of long grass for wild flowers to grow, and by creating corridors for wildlife to move from one green space to another through the urban environment.