Families from across the North East discovered wildlife and explored the countryside at Nature Camp, the family-friendly event at Low Way Farm.

There were lots of nature activities during the weekend, families enjoyed bat detection, wildlife treasure hunts, dawn chorus sound recording, woodland walks and moth identification.

The young people that attended said:

“I enjoyed the treasure hunt and the bat walk. We heard quite a few bats, including a really big one which was super close to us.”

“I’ve had a really fun time today and I have been doing activities, spotting birds, all kinds of stuff and its been a really good fun weekend. The coolest thing I have seen this weekend has been the oystercatcher.”

“We went on a walk, in the ancient woodland walk, we leant about different types of trees and flowers and how to id them. We looked at moths, and we also were listening to birds in the morning from the night before, as we put microphones in the trees. Last night I heard some birds when I was falling asleep in my tent”

“The first day we went to meet a farmer, and we went to see some lambs and feed them, I found a feather. When I got back to the tent with my nanna, she used an app on her phone to find out what feather it was, it was a tawny owl feather, it was so soft and smooth. Then I found a tree and sat in it, I sat in it all night until it was bedtime, then when I woke up we went to do some bird recording to find the birdsong, I have had so much fun on this weekend.”

“I’ve loved this weekend, and I’ve loved spending time listening to the bird songs and the nature cinema was great too.”

Families said:

“The birdsong walk was great with the little ones, they enjoyed after fitting the microphones to the trees, they enjoyed going round and using the microphones for themselves.”

“Ari and I enjoyed our time at Nature Camp, loved all aspects of the workshops that we attended. I was amazed at the different kinds of months were caught. All in all, we found the experience of value, found everyone was friendly and all who lead the workshops were too and informative.”

Nature Camp, is part of Nature Fest, a two week celebration of the outstanding nature, wildlife, plants, and rocks found in the North Pennines National Landscape and UNESCO Global Geopark. The North Pennines National Landscape team work in partnership with local farmers and nature groups to showcase a packed programme of fun and informative events.

Karen Scott the farmer at Low Way Farm said:

“We really enjoyed hosting Nature Camp for the North Pennines National Landscape Nature Fest. Seeing the joy and amazement on the faces of the kids when they walked around our farm and learned all about farming and the nature we support on the farm was fantastic, I really hope that the memories of this weekend stay with them forever.”

Nature Camp is made possible with funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, with thanks to the National Lottery players.