17th October 2024
Biodiversity monitoring at Cumbria Connect: what, where, and why?
Mo Verhoeven (Cumbria Connect)
Cumbria Connect is an ambitious project restoring 33,000 ha of upland landscape in North-West England through large-scale tree planting, natural regeneration, peatland restoration and re-establishment of historic river systems. Mo will describe how and why they are monitoring nature’s restoration.
14th November 2024
A wilder Skiddaw Forest
Stephen Trotter (CEO, Cumbria Wildlife Trust)
12th December 2024
The Wild, Wild West in Winter
Alan Walker (Wildlife photographer)
Alan has specialised in wildlife and nature photography for the past 20 years and has been published in magazines in the UK, Europe and USA. Alan has also had his work exhibited all over the world.
This talk features both the stunning landscape and the wonderful wildlife of remote places in the USA’s western states in the winter months. In this talk we will visit Montana, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico and Alaska where temperatures can be below -25C!
30th January 2025
Annual General Meeting
Ambleside Parish Centre
13th February 2025
Geology and Landscape of Cumbria
Ian Jackson (Geologist and writer)
Ian Jackson was born and raised in Carlisle. His love of rocks began in the late 1950s in the Caldbeck Fells and valleys around Martindale. He has a degree in geology and geography from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and is a Chartered Geologist and Fellow of the Geological Society. He spent 18 years surveying the geology of parts of the north of England, including Cumbria, for the British Geological Survey. Later he was responsible for national and international programmes that produced the first UK, European and global digital geological maps and made them web-accessible. He hikes in Cumbria and Northumberland every week. In addition to many scientific maps, articles and reports, he is the author of several books on geology.
13th March 2025
For Peat’s sake, can’t we all agree?
Jessica Fior-Berry (IUCN UK Peatland Programme)
Jess Fìor-Berry is the policy lead for the IUCN UK Peatland Programme. In this talk Jess will discuss how she came to be in peatland policy, before addressing why the UK’s peatlands are so important nationally and globally, the challenges and complexities of peatland conservation in the UK and how we can work more collaboratively for better conservation outcomes.
10th April 2025
The Secret Life of Moles
Stephen Trotter (CEO, Cumbria Wildlife Trust)
Moles are widespread but rarely seen above ground. CWT’s chief executive, Stephen Trotter will talk about the underground world of these fascinating animals
May/June
We will hold one or two observational fields trips, possibly a late evening bat walk in Ambleside and a daytime visit to the SSSI at Miller Brow.