Category Archives: Education

National Trust Hughenden – Nestbox Making Workshop

Join us on National Nestbox Week to make and decorate a bird or bat box for your home or garden.

We’ll have all the kits ready for you to assemble with the help of our brilliant woodwork volunteers, you just need to hammer and screw the pieces together and decorate – subtle is best, but a few pencil drawings and extra wood pieces wouldn’t hurt.

You’ll have a choice between bat boxes and three different types of bird boxes to appeal to a range of birds/bats.

This workshop is suitable for older children and adults alike, but please bear in mind all children under 18 must be accompanied by an adult.

Times

February 2023

DateTime/s
1410:30 – 12:0013:00 – 14:30
1610:30 – 12:0013:00 – 14:30

Prices

Ticket typeTicket category
per kit£15.00

The basics

Booking details: Call 0344 249 1895 Please note this is only pre-bookable as we only have a limited supply of kits.

Suitability: Children over 10 years old.

Meet at the Studybase – next to the Estate Office.

What to bring and wear: Wear warm layers and bring waterproofs, this event will be partially outdoors.

Accessibility: There are 3 stairs to access the Studybase courtyard, then another flight down in to the Studybase (which isn’t essential). Please let us know if you have any other requirements and we’ll do our best to help.

Contact info: Hughenden 01494755573 hughenden@nationaltrust.org.uk

All details are here.

Half term fun for families in Bucks

Families looking for low-cost ideas to entertain their children during the upcoming February half-term need look no further than the local area for inspiration. Buckinghamshire’s libraries, leisure centres and museums have a wide range of events and activities taking place across the week.

A number of Bucks libraries are hosting events. Why not join the brass players of Alina Orchestra for a special kid’s version of Band in a Van? Children can take part in some fun interactive games and afterwards the band will invite attendees to shake some percussion, conduct the group or sing along to some popular songs.

The event is free and there is no need to book in advance:

  • Hazlemere Library: Thursday 16 February – 2pm to 3pm
  • Chesham Library: Thursday 16 February – 3:30pm to 4:30pm
  • Aylesbury Library: Friday 17 February – 10:30am to 11:30am
  • Princes Risborough Library: Friday 17 February – 1pm to 2pm

What about joining the Curious Investigators, Scribble and Clipboard on an exciting adventure as they sort through the recycling and discover a strange egg? This highly visual show is aimed at children aged between three and seven and is taking place at:

  • Bourne End Community Library: Thursday 16 February 11am and 2pm 
  • Burnham Community Library: Friday 17 February 11am and 2pm 
  • Aylesbury Library: Saturday 18 February 11am and 2pm
  • High Wycombe Library: Sunday 19 February 1pm 

Suggested donations are £5 per ticket. Tickets must be booked in advance and children need to be accompanied by an adult who must also have a ticket.  

Other libraries around the county will be hosting regular and extra activities during the week including Bounce and Rhyme, Explore Learning Workshops, Duplo and Lego play sessions, arts and crafts and book clubs. Most are free but sometimes booking is necessary. Visit the website for more details on what’s happening in your local library.

If you are looking for something more physical, leisure centres across Buckinghamshire have a wide variety of activities taking place this half term including:

  • Swimming crash courses at Swan Pool in Buckingham. Crash courses are designed to enable children to quickly develop their confidence and ability in the water and are available for a range of swimming abilities, catering for complete beginners, up to children who can swim up to 25 metres.
  • Family swimming sessions will be available throughout the half term holiday at Aqua Vale in Aylesbury and in Wycombe, Chalfont and Chiltern leisure centres.
  • Adventure climbing at Wycombe leisure centre.
  • Soft play at Chesham leisure centre.
  • Climbing and soft play at the Chilterns Lifestyle Centre in Amersham.
  • Fit for Sport holiday camps offering multi sports to messy arts and crafts at the Chilterns Lifestyle Centre.

More information can be found on the council’s website.

And don’t forget, Buckinghamshire’s museums have a wide selection of interesting and varied exhibitions and activities taking place ranging from craft workshops to an autism reality experience in Aylesbury.

Clive Harriss, Buckinghamshire Council’s Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure said: “Our libraries, leisure centres and museums offer a wide range of fun activities and events aimed at children and families throughout the year. During school holidays there is even more to choose from with the majority of activities at affordable prices and some are free, which is great news for everyone. And if you just want some fresh air and exercise, then I’d recommend visiting Waddesdon Greenway, or one of our country parks and green flag parks.”

There are also lots of other activities and events taking place around the county during half term. Visit Buckinghamshire Family Information Service website to find out what’s on. You can search for events based on location, age group, and type of activity.

Consultation: Have your say on the Home to School Transport

Buckinghamshire Council has launched its Home to School Transport Consultation inviting residents to share their views on proposed changes to council-run school bus charges (Spare Seats Scheme), the Home to School Transport Policy (0- to 25-Year-Olds) and the Post-16 Transport Policy Statement for 2023 to 2024.

Between Wednesday 19 October and midnight on Sunday 4 December, people in Buckinghamshire will be able to provide their views on proposals for:

  • Spare Seats Scheme charging options
  • Updates to our home to school transport policies

Any changes will apply for the 2023 to 2024 academic year onwards and will apply to both new and existing customers.

More details are at https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/news/have-your-say-on-the-home-to-school-transport-consultation/

Summer of Stories

Buckinghamshire’s ‘Summer of Stories’ is well and truly underway – but there’s still time for you to get involved.

This summer, Buckinghamshire Culture and Buckinghamshire Council have been working together to create a Summer of Stories, focusing on a theme of ‘stories of happiness’. The ‘Story Stall’ is part of this multi-stranded project aiming to engage people across Buckinghamshire with stories and creativity.  Inspired by our strong literary heritage this project will result in animation of town centres, activity supporting wellbeing, enhancing quality of life and maintaining connection as part of wider Covid recovery.  Residents of Buckinghamshire have been invited to share and celebrate their personal stories, and those of the county itself, through conversations with artists, or via ‘Story Postcards’ at artist-led pop-up stalls across the county in markets and local high streets and at various cultural and library locations.

It’s not too late to get involved with the Summer of Stories. If you would like to get involved and share a story of happiness, or a story of Buckinghamshire, you can find the final few pop-up stalls in the following locations:

  • Winslow Market on 25 August, 8:30am-2pm
  • Live in the Park, Aqua Vale Park, Aylesbury on 28 August, 9am-5:30pm
  • Black Park, Wexham on 29 August, 10am-4pm
  • Beaconsfield Country Fair, Beaconsfield on 30 August, 9:30am-5pm

Full details are here.

This programme is supported using public funding by Arts Council England, and funding from Buckinghamshire Council, Heart of Bucks and Rothschild Foundation. 

“Beacons of the Past’ a talk by Dr Wendy Morrison – Friday 28th May 7.30pm

The HVRA is an affiliated organisation to the High Wycombe Society; their next event sounds very interesting indeed. You and your neighbours are welcome to join, via zoom, a talk on Friday May 28th. at 7.30pm by Dr Wendy Morrison of Chilterns AONB “Beacons of the Past”.

The link to the talk is given below and is open from 7.15pm.

Archaeologist Dr Wendy Morrison’s research areas are Prehistoric European Archaeology and Landscape Archaeology. Closer to home, Wendy leads the Chilterns ‘Beacons of the Past’ project. Her work seeks to engage and inspire communities to discover, conserve, and enjoy what is around us and the unique Iron Age hillforts and their prehistoric chalk landscapes. The Chilterns has one of the largest collections of hillforts in the UK, yet many are poorly preserved, and little is known about them. Luckily, several of these hillforts are accessible from the Ridgeway. A key part of Wendy’s project is the largest LiDAR survey ever flown for archaeology in this country, and one of the largest in the world! Images are captured with a laser scanner mounted on a small plane that captures information about the ground below; revealing intriguing ‘lumps and bumps’, such as hillforts, that are hidden by tree cover and other vegetation. Wendy is also a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.

Would you please pass this message on to as many residents as possible in your road in case they wish to zoom in.

The link to this meeting is:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7211505280

If the link does not work, open or download the Zoom application (it’s free) and enter Meeting ID: 721 150 5280 (no passcode required)

For those with limited technical facilities it will be possible to hear the proceedings by phone: 0203 051 2874 – enter the meeting ID on your keypad followed by # as instructed.

The session opens at 7.15pm to allow time for people to join and resolve any little niggling technical issues, and people can stick around for a chat after the talk and questions if they so wish. Sorry, but everyone will have to provide their own tea/coffee and biscuits!

New online Heritage Portal opens virtual door to Buckinghamshire’s history

Ever wondered what the connection is between the Coombe Hill monument, Cold War missile and rocket testing at Westcott, West Wycombe Park and the remains of Ludgershall medieval village?

Well, their fascinating histories have been documented, alongside some 35,000 other records, and are now available on Buckinghamshire’s brand new online Heritage Portal.

As well as information about traditional archaeological sites, earthworks and artefacts, the portal also contains details about historic buildings and local landscapes, covering periods from the earliest human settlements to the end of the Cold War and beyond.

Web site: https://heritageportal.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/

Bucks Council announcement

Cars with idling engines

(The message below was sent recently to the Head Teacher of Great Kinghill school:)

I write as a resident of Cryers Hill.

I would like to draw to your attention the preponderance of vehicles parked at school drop off/collection times which keep their engines running for considerable periods while stationary. This occurs mostly in the car park of the White Lion pub, but also on the grass verges in the vicinity.
The parents involved may not be aware that this now an offence, but they are surely familiar with the dangers of increased air pollution, which impacts directly on children’s health as well as that of the residents in the area. The contribution to greenhouse gases/climate change is also well documented. The RAC article, to which I supply a link below, describes this particularly well.
I wonder if you and your staff could find time to bring this to the attention of both parents and children, and ask them to switch off their engines when parked for more than a few seconds.  I hope it will not be necessary to ask the overstretched police to take action.
Yours hopefully