National Trust attend a careers event

This week Chris and Rob, two of the learning officers from Carding Mill Valley were accompanied by Emma and Joe, two of the placement students from Harper Adams University to represent the National Trust at a careers fair at The Community College in Bishop's Castle. This involved talking to students about their career aspirations and advising them about routes into the countryside sector.

Winter Education Visits

On Monday our Learning Officer instructed a group of 22 M.A. students from Birmingham University through the processes of leading Geography fieldtrips.  Within a year we hope that they all find a teaching job and make a return visit with their students, confident in the activities of booking, risk assessments and conducting river studies.

Orienteering at Carding Mill Valley

CMV was a buzz of lively activity on 20^th May when over 400 students from local primary schools in South Shrops took part in an inter-school orienteering competition.  The outcome is for 8 students to then go forward in a County competition in Shrewsbury.  Similarly at the end of the school day we held a competition in the more difficult upper valley course for years 7&8 from secondary schools.  Two sports officers based at Lacon Childe & Church Stretton schools ensured an extremely well organised day with the support of our Learning team. Many schools took the opportunity to stay on and explore our lovely countryside, an eye opener for many who then vowed to return.

Our orienteering courses are really coming into their own.  Half term activities for families are based on a compilation of both courses and soon the courses will be available online. Have a go!



Greened Over

A few months ago FTV Kate, Stuart Edmunds and CMV's ecologists daughter, Caitlin went to St Lawrence CE Primary School to create some insect habitats. The materials were gathered from the Long Mynd and Wenlock Edge and children spent all morning creating cosy habitats and using leaves to make bowls, cards and dragonflies to take home.  

Kate put the habitat piles in the garden in front of the roof terrace and in the photo below you can see that now Spring has arrived the habitat pile is looking much more natural with other plants growing around it. Hopefully it will be a great haven for many insects which in turn will provide food for lots of birds.

Giants on the Long Mynd!

Learning officers Chris Stratton and Rob Webster went to St Lawrence CE Primary School last week to tell the children in class 4 all about the Long Mynd. The children then created stories, pictures and posters to show other people what they had learnt.

They based their work on the giants of the Long Mynd and how they created the hill many years ago. The children's lovely work can be seen in the back of the tearoom, please go and have a look!

Youthful Landscapes Art Exhibition

Today, in the Carding Mill Valley tea room, an art exhibition was installed. The art was created by young people from Mary Webb school in Pontesbury as part of the Youthful Landscapes Project. This initiative aims to engage and encourage young people from Shropshire and Telford to explore and connect with the landscape through creative activities.



Finished installed artwork in the tea room



Art showing the resevoir at Carding Mill Valley



The art is a combination of written verse describing their experiences and digital photography displaying areas of the Shropshire Hills AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) and Acton Scott Working Farm Museum.