Author: Colin Andrews

  • Working Party, June 2026

    Working Party, June 2026

    With the early morning rain, the day didn’t look too promising, but the hardy volunteers were not to be deterred and fortunately the rain held off. Numbers were down due to holidays and family & work commitments, but increased by Victoria and Chris joining us for the first time. Victoria finding us via a Google…

  • Working Party, May 2026

    Working Party, May 2026

    The Beggarwood Wildlife Group were hard at work on Tuesday 5th May. The weather not as glorious as our last outing but warm and, importantly, dry! We split into 3 groups to attack different areas of the park, our aim as always to keep it useable for our community and to encourage more wildlife into…

  • Working Party, April 2026

    Working Party, April 2026

    Our intrepid adventurers gathered near the Beggarwood café early on Tuesday morning somewhat disconcerted by the strange weather patterns. A yellow orb radiated heat and a deep blue arched overhead. Could this really be the start of summer? It was an unusual combination for a day during the Easter holidays, generally more damp, grey and…

  • Down Grange Meadow Work Party, March 2026

    Down Grange Meadow Work Party, March 2026

    Our second visit to Down Grange to assist Steve and Marion was attended by 8 willing and able volunteers. The tasks for the day included clearing and tidying fallen branches, bramble cutting and blackthorn popping. The morning was quite breezy but the location for our tasks was fairly sheltered.

  • Working Party, March 2026

    Working Party, March 2026

    A mild fine spring morning met the group ready to get stuck into the mornings tasks. Kevin was welcomed as a potential new member of the team before tools were loaded into a wheelbarrow and 8 volunteers headed out towards the play area to a patch of brambles and dogwood to be cleared. Many hands…

  • Down Grange Meadow Work Party, February 2026

    Down Grange Meadow Work Party, February 2026

    The ‘Magnificent Seven’ rolled into town, undeterred by the inclement weather ready to get stuck in to the tasks laid out by Sheriff Ildi.

  • Community Litter Pick, February 22 2026

    Community Litter Pick, February 22 2026

    Around 30 people, young and not so young, attended our first community litter pick of the year to help keep our area clean and green. We were also joined by Cllr Stacy Hart. Also in attendance was Alan from natural Basingstoke, who brought along his nature displays to the café. He had lots of young…

  • Working Party, February 2026

    Working Party, February 2026

    The ‘Magnificent Seven’ rolled into town, undeterred by the inclement weather ready to get stuck in to the tasks laid out by Sheriff Ildi.

  • Working Party, January 2026

    Working Party, January 2026

    The members of the Beggarwood wildlife group met on the first Tuesday of January, for the first working party of 2026. The group were several members short this month due to circumstance and ill health. Linda was ‘stuck’ in sunny Egypt due to a flight cancellation and both Roy and our leader Ildi were unwell.…

  • Litter Pick, December 16 2025

    Litter Pick, December 16 2025

    After postponing the litter pick the previous Tuesday, due to a forecast of rain and high winds, again the forecast was looking like it was against us in the morning for our second attempt! However, things were looking brighter from 2pm, so it was third time lucky. Five ‘Wombles’ gathered in the park and with…