A wild education

From making natural dyes to learning how to identify wildflowers and fungi, the children of Marshwood Primary School in Dorset enjoy educational activities amongst the trees of Harmshay.

This patch of woodland, which neighbours Babers Farm, was bought by the CRT in 2021 thanks to a grant from the Government’s Countryside Stewardship scheme.

The local primary school uses the woodland for its forest school sessions. Shelley Strawbridge, a teacher and qualified Forest School Leader at Marshwood Primary, tells us what activities the children, aged 4 to 11, have been enjoying in the woods recently:

“Years Five and Six had a really wild day in the summer. They spent the whole school day in the forest and we cooked our own lunch over the fire, such as bread, wild garlic butter, pizza and popcorn.

“The children also learnt how to identify wildflowers including orchids.

“We made water filters using plastic bottles and natural resources such as charcoal, soil, stone and grass to filter muddy water from the stream. It worked really well.

“This autumn, we have carved our very own fungi mushrooms out of wood and the children have learnt to identify different species of fungi.

“We also picked blackberries and made our own natural dye. We used acorns and elastic bands to make ties on material and then dyed it in the blackberry dye. They came out beautifully.”

What amazing activities. We look forward to hearing what the children get involved in during this new school year.

PUBLISHED: 9th November 2023

How you can help

We can’t do it without you. If you want to help us protect local wildlife you can support the CRT in any number of ways, from joining as a CRT Friend to volunteering on one of our farms and attending our events. You can also sign-up to our monthly newsletter 'CRT News' for regular updates from our farms, straight to your inbox.

Read more about the wildlife and conservation initiatives on our farms here Wildlife Blog

Latest

Wildlife Boxes Helping Dormice Thrive

Thanks to generous donations from the public, we've made 20 wildlife boxes for dormice for several of our Countryside Regeneration Trust properties.
Bluebell Walk at Margaret Wood

Enjoy a beautiful walk at Margaret Wood, marvelling at the fabulous bluebells. Stay for a tea, cake and chat afterwards with our amazing team of volunteers.
Meet the Trotters... Bere Marsh Farm’s two new boars Del Boy and Rodders!

Two new residents have made their home at Bere Marsh Farm in Dorset and are already squealing with excitement and busy rootling around.
Withie beds provide new habitats for wildlife

Thanks to money raised in our Twelve Gifts of Christmas campaign, we were thrilled to buy new withies to plant in our osier beds at Bere Marsh Farm. These willows will help provide important habitat for wildlife.

Wildlife Boxes Helping Dormice Thrive

Thanks to generous donations from the public, we've made 20 wildlife boxes for dormice for several of our Countryside Regeneration Trust properties.
Withie beds provide new habitats for wildlife

Thanks to money raised in our Twelve Gifts of Christmas campaign, we were thrilled to buy new withies to plant in our osier beds at Bere Marsh Farm. These willows will help provide important habitat for wildlife.
Exploring Bere Marsh Farm

Jenny Ashdown plays a key conservation role at Bere Marsh Farm. Here she talks us through the key areas of the farm and explains the important habitat each section provides and how our land is managed for the benefit of wildlife.
New tenant at Pierrepont Farm

The Countryside Regeneration Trust (CRT) is delighted to announce that the new tenant farmer at Pierrepont Farm in Surrey is Kayleigh Robb, an energetic and determined individual with a love of farming and the natural world.
How the rain affects farming

We asked two of the Countryside Regeneration Trust’s farmers, how the exceptionally wet start to the year was affecting their livelihoods.
Farewell to farmer Mike

It is the end of an era at the Countryside Regeneration Trust’s (CRT) Pierrepont Farm with farmer Mike Clear finishing his tenancy on March 31st, 2024. Mike and his family moved onto the farm in 2006 and have seen a lot of change at the Surrey dairy farm during the last 18-years.
The right equipment for the job

Thanks to kind donations, we have been able to buy new tools for our fantastic volunteers at Green Farm and Bere Marsh Farm.
Food for Red List birds this winter

We've been supplementary feeding farmland birds at Lark Rise farm this winter, thanks to money donated to our Twelve Gifts of Christmas campaign. This provides vital support for Red List species such as yellowhammers, linnets and reed buntings.
10 British reptile facts

Discover an array of fascinating facts about the UK's six reptile species, many of which we know are living on the Countryside Regeneration Trust's land.
Springing into life

Nature is a great lifter of spirits, and never more so than at this time of year when we’re all straining to spot the signs that the worst of winter chills, endless rain and battering storms are behind us.

School trips on the farm
Volunteer with the CRT

Would you like to help wildlife and do your bit to create a landscape bursting with life? To enjoy quiet time connecting with nature to benefit your wellbeing, or to get stuck into exciting conservation projects with a friendly team? To learn new skills or develop existing ones? Whatever motivates you to consider volunteering, we’d love to have you in our team.
What We Do

The CRT promotes nature-friendly farming to help reverse biodiversity decline and combat climate change. We believe nature is integral to good farming and we protect, promote and regenerate our land and all life on it. We put our philosophy into practice on over 2,000 acres of working farms, small-holdings and woodland across England.
Slow-worms – the gardener’s best friend

The UK has 6 native reptile species including the curious slow-worm (Anguis fragilis). Although serpent-like in appearance, slow-worms are in fact limbless lizards and an amazing example of de-evolution.
Wildlife & Farms

To achieve our vision of a living, working countryside we have purchased 18 sites across the UK, each with their own unique ecosystem and biodiversity.
Conservation Volunteer

This is your chance to get 'down and dirty' to help CRT improve the habitats and environment on our farms, with a wide range of conservation projects and initiatives.
Bere Marsh Farm

Mixed farmland, Dorset
Robin Page

Co-Founder
David Mills MBE

Trustee
Regenerative Farming & CRT

Since our inception we have been working tirelessly to achieve our vision of a living, working countryside, and that is not changing, but in a world that’s in its sixth mass extinction we must evolve to fight this threat.