Dad

Dad

We sat together

Me on his knee,

And we talked of fairies and knights

And trips to the moon, 

And I knew

He always would love me.

We sat together

Round the kitchen table,

And we talked about school and exams,

And what to do when being bullied,

And I knew

He always loved me.

We sat together

On the garden bench,

I was now as tall as I ever would be,

In silence and shock,

And I knew

He always loved me.

We sat together,

He in his wheel chair

And we talked about everything

Even his fears,

And I knew

What it was to love.

I sit alone

Memories supporting me,

Of a man, his life and stories,

And his legacy,

And I know,

Inside me is someone worth love.

by Izzy Silver

West Malvern Community Woods, Worcestershire.

The West Malvern Community Wood is the picture of idylic beauty, for both children an adults to enjoy and explore. I will let the photos I took today speak for themselves.

Wild Garlic

Ferns

Bench and buttercups

Bluebells and Nettle flowers

Fern

Buttercups

Dandylion

Fungi

Dandylions and buttercups

Bluebell on path

Wild garlic

Bee on flower

 

Broom at side of path

 

Queenswood Arboretum, Herefordshire

Award won in 1981

Pale pink cherry "accolade" and deeper pink "kursar"

Fragrant winter Hazel, "Corylopsis glabrescens"

 Queenswood arboretum is easy to find on the A49 between Hereford and Leominster, (HR4 0PY). An award winning arboretum, it is free to visit.

Some signs of spring are beginning to show them selves. The few cherries and hazels are already in blossom and looking delightful.

There are primroses dotted around the woodland floor all over the place. A little more difficult to spot, and less numerous, but incredibly beautiful and fragile looking and exquisite are the wood anemone.

For children there is a play area, and the telescope at the viewpoint. There are also large wooden sculpture to spot dotted around the place. There are a number of bears. and when you find the mummy bear in amongst the redwoods look up to find her young cub. The raccoons are delightful, but my favourite is the native dormouse.

A great place to let the children run wild, and if you are a dog owner, they too are welcome visitors. There are also many picnic tables, and an area set aside for barbecues.

Wood anemone

Primrose

Mummy bear guarding babies tree

Two raccoons

Dormouse and her berries

Clive's Fruit Farm, Kids feeding animals, Upton Upon Severn, Worcester.

Very friendly hens

A Tamworth pig

Child feeding hens and a friendly duck

 Over the years I have taken lots of people to Clive's Fruit Farm. When it is strawberry season I am there most weeks. Gooseberries, raspberries and plums I also love and go and collect in season. It is the animals however that my children and there friend have enjoyed feeding. The hens in particular are very friendly, and although the geese are quite large and hiss a bit they are all bluster and happy to be fed.

My other favourite reasons to visit Clive's are to stock up on their apple juice and cider, to get sausages from their butcher, ( the black pudding and bacon sausages are particularly delicious ), and the homemade cakes and bread they sell. So it cider and sausages for tea tonight, but will I have the coffee and walnut, or the date and nut, or the orange drizzle cake. Well I bought them all so maybe just a little slice of each would be okay.

A rather large but relatively friendly goose

Whitley Court Lakes, woods and children's garden, Worcestershire.

The Whitley Court Lake

 Part of Whitley Court is a less formal wood, with a

On the path through the wood

 large naturalistic lake, which supplies the Shawley
 Brook from it's cascade. A large clear path through
 the wood leads you along the brook, and you could
 happily imagine all is as nature intended, but if you
 look closely you realise that much of the planting,
 including the trees, are American species, imported
 in the 1870's and 1880's.

The giant spiders web in the wilderness garden

Willow Nessies

In the 1990's a wilderness garden was developed to showcase native trees and plants. This area is being developed for children, and already boasts a giant spider and to willow "Loch Ness Monsters".

This year two beautiful wooden play areas have been built. One is for young primary age children and the other for older junior age children. They are due to be opened very soon.

The younger children's play area