October already and Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust’s North Nottinghamshire Local Group members are heading for winter without their regular meetings to cheer them up!

Needless to say, their planned talk for October, by Dr David Fox on the World of Spiders, has been cancelled. David is not one to waste his time though and he is researching the Midlands distribution range of the green leaf spider (Nigma walckenaeri) which should be starting to appear about now. If you find any, please let me know where so I can pass the information on to David. If you want more information about them you can find it by Googling the Eakring Birds website.

I hope by the time you are reading this, Covid restrictions will have been eased and the Idle Valley centre will have reopened but it is unlikely that the local Wildlife Trust group will have resumed any of its activities. However, I remain optimistic and will let all of you on my email update list know of any changes as soon as I can and keep you up to date with members’ information about wildlife and, in particular, I hope to be able to bring you the story of Bullet the Buzzard who is named after the missile that ended his flying career. We’re hoping he makes a full recovery.
If you want any more information or you’d like a chat about things, call Jan on 01777 709974 or 07969 180067 or email janwilliamson133@gmail.com. If you would like to receive email updates of Local Group activities, please email Jan with your request.
Jan

If you have an interest in the arts and would like to learn more, join the Arts Society Dukeries. They are the local group of the national arts association, The Art Society. Usually, they have monthly lecture meetings at the Civic Centre, Carlton (on the first Wednesday morning of the month, except for summer and winter breaks) and two extra, Special Interest Days of three lectures. read more

The church is open for worship on Sunday mornings at 10.15am and is open during the week from 10.30am to 1.30pm for private prayer. The Crossing Café is open with a shorter menu, but hopefully as customers return they will be able to use the former menu. Friday is still ‘pie day’ and Alison continues to bake her scrumptious cakes. read more

The local branch of the RSPCA is seeking to recruit volunteer trustees to help set the strategic direction of the branch, monitor its progress, ensure appropriate policies are in place and support the management team, staff and volunteers.
Doncaster, Rotherham and District branch supports the work of colleagues from the national RSPCA. read more

Members of the Rotary Club of Worksop continue to meet virtually by Zoom and to visit one another in a well distanced way. A recent initiative has seen members donate ‘lockdown’ savings to the club’s Benevolent Fund. This has so far raised £800. read more

At the time of writing it’s still looking unlikely that they’ll be able to reopen the Wednesday (Memory) Group to all their members, but there is a bit of good news for carers and that is that the wonderful Carers’ Roadshow, which would have been taking place in Retford in July and Worksop in June, but for the virus, is now available online 24/7 and is likely to stay there. Absolutely brilliant! read more

With the support of the local community, the two Bassetlaw Hospice shops are open and trading again! The charity is, however, keen to hear from anyone who may have a few hours to spare and would like to volunteer, getting involved in all aspects of the day to day running of the shops. For further information or to try a sample day, please contact Debbie at the Appeal Office. read more

Muddy Fork, Retford’s ‘gardening for wellbeing’ charity, based at Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust’s Idle Valley Nature Reserve, is poised to move forward as life starts to resume after lockdown. Two successful grant applications have put the charity on a far more secure financial footing, ensuring that when groups start again, post-pandemic, Muddy Fork is well-equipped to support the mental health needs of participants old and new. read more

With retirement approaching I became quite apprehensive about what I was going to do after spending my life bringing up a family and working full time. I was on my own and envisaged spending the rest of my life staring at four walls or becoming a full time childminder for my grandchildren. read more

September typically sees summer segue imperceptibly into autumn, but as October dawns the subtle shifts in the seasons are laid out in all their glory as autumn hues adorn the landscape. Whilst the autumn colours are now evident for all to see, there’s more than meets the eye to other changes taking place in our gardens and out in the countryside. read more