The Great Big Wild Weekend Walk

Three Goodgymers and two honorary members walked 3km in Cymbeline Meadows near to the City Centre. Our mission was to spend mindful time together observing, recording and enjoying our local surroundings. The Meadows are host to a wide variety of Flora and Fauna some of which we were able to identify and record. First on the list was a ‘stick’ identification task courtesy of Bonnie. It turns out you can have a big stick and a small stick which later were used to reenact the traditional Pooh sticks game from a bridge over the River Colne. At first glance the green long-grass meadow seemed bland but looking further there were at least 6 varieties of grass waving in the breeze. Looking deeper into the meadow thicket there was an explosion of colour from Bulbous Buttercups to joyous Oxeye Daisy with a carpet of Field Scabious, Cornflower and Corncockle. The hedgerows were awash with flowering Dog Rose. What a treat! Along our route we had been carefully looking out for Bumblebees. With all the meadow flowering still in bloom thankfully we saw many, mostly White-tails. Helen had brought her bee identification booklet helping us to decide which of Britain’s 24 Bumblebee species we were looking at. Standing on a footbridge over the river we all watched the intricate dancing Damselflies and Dragonflies. The electric blue flashes making our eyes flit side to side. At halfway we stopped to record a tree for the ‘Treezilla’ project. With the aid of a smartphone we were able to detail a chosen tree’s species and type, height, trunk girth, crown diameter and general health condition. We chose a Common Lime with its wonderful delicate yellow flowers. With recordings taken we set off down the farmers track and were treated to lovely birdsong. Using a bird identification app Helen and Anna were able to identify Skylark, Greater Whitethroat, Chiffchaff and Blackcap amongst many others. Frazer and Bonnie completed the wild walk with a game of Pooh sticks, I wonder who won?