Events Calendar 2023
There is something for all ages in our Friends events this year – do come along and join us!
Tuesday 4 April 2023
AGM
11.00am to 12.30pm at East Grimstead Reading Room
Tea, coffee and cake will be served. No membership fees are to be charged this year while your committee sorts out a way forward with our finances.
Do come and meet the committee and hear our plans for the year. We can answer any questions you may have.
RSVP please by the day before to: secretary@friendsofbentleywood.org.uk
Sunday 16 April 2023
Bentley Wood Conservation Volunteers: Bean Pole Celebration at the Barn.
Arrive any time between 10am to 1pm
Demonstrations of woodland crafts, using hazel to make spars and hurdles, plus tea/coffee and biscuits. Come and take away bean poles and pea sticks, produced in the wood by our own volunteers, for a modest donation. You are welcome to arrive any time during the morning, and do bring the family.
Enter at the Livery Gate entrance (off Livery Road) or the Tytherley Road entrance.
Sunday 30 April 2023
Spring Drive through
2pm to 4.00pm
Drive through the wood by car to see woodland trees springing back into life and, of course, the bluebells. Enter at the Livery Gate or Tytherley Road entrance (off the Tytherley–Winterslow road) and come along for refreshments at the Barn. Donations welcome.
Tuesday 25 July
Summer Evening Walk with the Bats
8.30pm at Eastern Clearing car park
Walk with the bats. Come and enjoy identifying bats with our bat detectors. Experts will be on hand to answer your questions. Ends at 9.45pm. Bring suitable clothes, shoes and a torch or head torch.
Sunday 30 July 2023
The Friends’ Summer Picnic Lunch with the Morning of Marvellous Moths and Phil Read’s Brilliant Bones at the Barn
10.00am to 12.00 to see the moths, with Picnic lunch from 12 noon.
Walk or cycle to the Barn, or drive in at Livery Gate or Tytherley Road entrances, any time between 10am and midday. This will be a privileged look at the amazing variety of moths found in the wood the previous night, in the company of experts who can identify the largest to the smallest moth, all of them marvellous.
Phil Read will also be on hand to show you and all the family some amazing skulls and bones, so do bring all younger family members!
No need to RSVP for the morning only.
We will have a delicious picnic lunch served at 12 noon, and this is a great opportunity to socialise with other Friends.
For lunch, children free, adults £5 a head payable on the day.
Copes of this year’s Nature Notes will be available.
RSVP if you wish to join the Picnic lunch please by Wednesday 26 July to: secretary@friendsofbentleywood.org.uk
CANCELLED Sunday 15 October 2023 CANCELLED
FOBW family bike ride and Autumn Drive-through
THE BIKE RIDE WILL NOW TAKE PLACE IN 2024
NEW DATE for the 2023 AUTUMN DRIVE-THROUGH
SUNDAY 29TH OCTOBER 2023
Autumn Drive-through the wood in the afternoon.
Gates open 2pm and close at 4.00pm
Drive into the wood by car and see the autumn colours. Enter at Livery Gate entrance and come along for tea, coffee and cakes at the Barn. Then drive to the Draining Field (one-way signposted route) and exit via Howe Farm Track onto Livery Road (note: forestry operations permitting).
Sunday 22 October 2023
Annual Bentley Wood Fungus Recording Day
Meet at Eastern Clearing car park, 10am
Come and learn to recognise and identify some amazing fungi. This is a joint meeting between FOBW, Salisbury & District Natural History Society and Wiltshire Botanical Society. Coordinator Ailsa McKee will divide us into groups with a few people picking then gather us at the end for an identification session.
Please wear suitable footwear for rough/muddy terrain. The recording and identification session will be finished by 1.30pm.
This event is NOT open to the general public please.
Saturday 2 December 2023
Friends’ Christmas Party
At Winterslow Village Hall, from 12 noon until 2pm.
Our new lunchtime celebration after the success of 2022. Do come and enjoy a festive treat with good food and wine, great company, a raffle, and entertainment. We look forward to welcoming you.
Kids go free, adults £5 a head on the day.
RSVP please by no later than Wednesday 29 November to: secretary@friendsofbentleywood.org.uk
The Trustees have asked us to remind Friends that the picking of flowers
or collecting of any specimen from Bentley Wood is not permitted.
Please refer to the Bentley Wood map below for the location of The Barn
and the car parks referred to in this programme.
If you require more information on any of the events organised, please contact:
Myra Bennett, Tel: 01794 341308 or email: secretary@friendsofbentleywood.org.uk
The Friends of Bentley Wood accept no liability for any accidents or damage to any person or property caused by the natural occurring hazards within a woodland area. This includes any loss and or theft of any personal property occurred on site. All persons attending Bentley Wood do so at their own risk.
