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EVENTS PROGRAMME Spring and Summer 2009

 

FEBRUARY

 

Make-do and Mend Fun

Saturday 14th – Sunday 22nd February

How did the Victorians recycle? Help make our giant Forest rag rug, and weave your own recycled rug to take home. Make a peg doll in the Forester's cottage.

 

Recycle Roadshow

Sunday 15th February

The "3 Rs" - Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle - from the Recycle for Gloucestershire Team. Make your own paper and take it home with you! Get composting in your own home.

 

MARCH

 

Family History Day

Sunday 22nd March

Discover your roots with the Forest of Dean Family History Society.

 

APRIL

 

Special offer: buy a family day ticket and visit as many times as you like during the Easter School Holidays.

 

Mask Making

Saturday 4th – Thursday 9th April - 1.30pm

Will you be a party animal or a super hero? Potions, plagues and 'pothecaries Sunday 5th April Meet an 18th century doctor! Learn about some slimy, messy and gory Gloucestershire medicines and medical practices of past times.

 

Fly Your Kite

Good Friday 10th - Easter Monday 13th April - 1.30pm

Join us to make your own kite to fly and take home with you.

 

Fashion from 1837 - 1914

Easter Monday 13th April - 11am

Our very own Victorian lady takes us on a journey through fashion in all its glory including an exhibition of part of our collection.

 

Crazy Chicks

Tuesday 14th to Sunday 19th April - 1.30pm

Make your own Easter chick - let your creativity run riot.

 

Dennis Potter - Voices and Memories from the Forest

Sunday 19th April - 2pm

Jason Griffiths and Jo Garde-Hansen from the University of Gloucestershire host a talk on Forest playwright Dennis Potter.

 

Early Bird

Sunday 26th April - 8am

An early start to catch sight of the most birds and birdsong. Returns to museum at 10am for a cup of tea and museum visit. A walking event with local expert Barry Embling of the RSPB.

 

MAY

 

Spring Foray Days

Saturday 2nd May – Bank Holiday Monday 4th May - 2pm

Join us as we go out into the woodland to find the natural bounty that the Forest has to offer. Find out about collecting saps to ferment, making wine from young oak leaves, and other edible delights of the Forest.

 

Organ Grinders' Gathering

Tuesday 12th May - Sunday 17th May

The British Organ Grinders' Association hold their spring gathering, with a wide variety of hand-turned street organs playing for your entertainment!

 

Fire & Wood

Saturday 23rd – Bank Holiday Monday 25th May

Following a hugely successful event last year, this is the second annual Fire & Wood event - a fantastic celebration of our charcoal burn, chainsaw carving, and a host of skilled wood crafts.
Chainsaw carvers Clayton Ryder & Gil Parham, along with Forest personality Dave Harvey, will all be donating items to a charity auction after Fire & Wood. Click here for more info (pdf file)

 

Massive Moth Mural

Tuesday 26th – Sunday 31st May - 1.30pm

Make a marvellous moth to add to our massive moth mural!

 

Moth Morning

Sunday 31st May - 10am

Join the county Moth Recorder, Roger Gaunt, as he shows us the results of a night's moth trapping, and demonstrates how he catches and records them.

 

JUNE

 

Forest of Dean Morris Men

Sunday 14th June - 11am

Part of the Forest of Dean Morris Dancing Festival.

 

Trace your House History

Sunday 21st June - 2pm

With Forest historian, Averil Kear.

 

JULY

 

Special offer: Summer Saver family ticket, £20 for the whole holiday.

 

Victorian Garden Weekend

Saturday 18th – Sunday 19th July

Meet Ma Meek and her family in the Victorian Foresters' cottage. See the wonderful work of our volunteer gardeners. Meet the Gloucestershire Beekeepers and look at the bees in their observation hive. Plant your own seeds to take home with you and watch them grow.

 

Victorian Gardens Talk

Sunday 19th July - 2pm

Jane Bradney from Gloucestershire Garden & Landscape Trust talks on Victorian gardens, from garden technology, the role of the Head Gardener, plant hunting, Victorian carpet bedding, and kitchen gardens.

 

Seed Planting

Monday 20th – Friday 24th July - 1.30pm

Make your own paper pots, and plant seeds in them to take home with you and watch them grow.

 

Rock & Fossil Roadshow

Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th July

Gloucestershire Geology Trust bring their fantastic touring event to the Forest. Weather permitting a geologist will lead a walk along the Soudley Trail at 12.30pm each day.

 

Dinosaur Days

Monday 27th – Friday 31st July - 1.30pm

Make your own terrifying tyrannosaurus to take home!

 

Geology of the Forest of Dean

Thursday 30th July - 2pm

An introductory talk on the unique geology of the Forest.

 

AUGUST

 

Can You Dig It?

Saturday 1st & Sunday 2nd August - 11am til 3pm

Dig into an archaeological excavation, brought to you by Gloucestershire County Council Archaeology Service as part of the Festival of British Archaeology.

 

Mosaic Marvels!

Monday 3rd – Friday 7th August - 1.30pm

Add to our giant Roman mosaic of the Forest and its fantastic creatures.

 

Bat Walk & Talk

Thursday 6th August - 7.45pm

Join expert David Priddis of the Gloucestershire Bat Group for bat spotting.

 

A Child in the Forest

Friday 7th August, 7pm - tickets £8 (£6 concessions)

Open-air theatre based on Winifred Foley’s true story. Performed by Jenny Wren Productions. Grounds open from 6pm for picnics

 

Talk to the Trees

Saturday 8th August - 2pm

Explore the Forest with our expert, Pete Ralph.

 

Wildlife Weekend

Saturday 8th & Sunday 9th August

Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust bring a weekend of wildlife activities and games, and knowledge of animals, plants and composting to the Heritage Centre. Have your face painted with wonderful wildlife. Buy one get one free admission for GWT members.

 

Butterfly Talk & Walk

Sunday 9th August - 2pm

Join Simon Glover, from Gloucestershire Butterfly Conservation on a ramble into the Forest to search for beautiful butterflies.

 

Woodland Treasures

Monday 10th – Friday 14th August - 1.30pm

Make your own woodland mobile from materials collected in our beautiful grounds.

 

Find us in the Forest

Tuesday 11th August, 3pm

A performance by Found in the Forest youth theatre bringing the history of the Heritage Centre to life.

 

Fish, Fykes, and Ferries

Thursday 13th August

Unearth the secrets of the Severn with Gloucestershire Archives

 

Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust Weekend

Saturday 15th & Sunday 16th August

The team from WWT bring us a fabulous weekend of games, pond-dipping and wonderful wildfowl.

 

Wonderful Wildfowl Wall

Monday 17th – Saturday 22nd August - 1.30pm

Spot mallards, mandarins, moorhens, and perhaps even a kingfisher on our pond, and create an artwork inspired by these wonderful creatures.

 

Victorian School Day

Sunday 23rd August

Come and dress up in Victorian school clothes - mop caps and aprons for girls and flat caps and waistcoats for boys. Have a lesson with scary Miss Wright, and learn to write in Victorian copperplate script.

 

Victorian Schooling

Monday 24th – Friday 28th August - 1.30pm

Write in Victorian copperplate script, whilst dressed up in our school room.

 

Traditional Charcoal Burn

Saturday 29th – Monday 31st August

Meet the charcoal burners, discover an ancient Forest craft and the traditions that have grown up around it.

 

Have-a-go Rural Skills Day

Bank Holiday Monday 31st August

Meet craftspeople and artists, and learn about felt-making, batik silk painting, and beekeeping from Gloucestershire Beekeepers.

 

SEPTEMBER

 

Forest Fair

Saturday 12th & Sunday 13th September

Traditional games, dressing up, and prizes to be won!

 

Fungi Weekend

Saturday 26th – Sunday 27th September

Experts from the Dean Fungus Group bring their encyclopaedic knowledge of the Forest's mushrooms and fungi, and take visitors out on daily forays to hunt for mushrooms. Forays 2pm each day.

 

OCTOBER

 

Autumn Foray Days

Saturday 10th & Sunday 11th October - 2pm

See the products of our Spring Foray Days, and then join us on a walk out into the woodland to see what the Autumn's harvest has to offer.

 

Drawing the Forest

Thursday 22nd October – Sunday 1st November

Take part in our week-long event as part of the national Big Draw.

 

Spooky Storytelling

Saturday 31st October - 4.30pm

Join Jess Wilson for some atmospheric tales at dusk.

For confirmation and details of events listed, please call the Centre direct on: 01594 822170.
Alternatively, you can e-mail us. Events are usually inclusive of the normal admission prices.

 

If you are interested in performing at one of our events or would like to demonstrate a craft skill or activity, please call 01594 822170.

 

The Heritage Centre reserves the right to vary the programme of activities and special events - please call in advance