This page is under construction and will be added to as talks are confirmed.
9th October 2025
The Hedges and Edges Project
Jack Ellerby and Naomi Walker (Friends of the Lake District)
An illustrated talk with Friends of the Lake District’s Jack Ellerby and Nature Recovery Officer for Hedgerows, Naomi Walker, to learn about the exciting plans to enhance our wonderful hedgerows in Cumbria.
Hedgerows are real winner for everyone – the farmer, livestock, wildlife, soils, the climate, and volunteer groups get huge satisfaction planting new hedges. Be inspired to support this project through donating, volunteering or spreading the ‘Healthy Hedgerows’ message.
13th November 2025
The Arnside and Silverdale National Landscape
Mike Warren (Arnside & Silverdale Landscape Trust)
Stunning limestone pavements, ancient woodlands, intimate orchards and meadows and an impressive coastline make Arnside & Silverdale National Landscape one of England’s finest landscapes. The work of the National Landscape Partnership aims to conserve and enhance this extraordinary place now and for the future.
11th December 2025
Orchids of the Lakes and Cumbria
Richard Bate
Richard has been enthusiastic about orchids since he found a bee orchid as a boy in the Midlands. Last year, he was the first person to see a ghost orchid in the UK since 2009. He lives near Morecambe Bay.
29th January 2026
Annual General Meeting
Ambleside Parish Centre
12th February 2026
Ecology and Conservation of River Birds
Stuart Sharp (Senior Lecturer, Lancaster University)
Stuart is a Senior Lecturer at Lancaster University, where much of his research focuses on the behaviour, ecology and conservation of freshwater birds. He has been running a long-term study of dippers in Yorkshire Dales National Park since 2013, closely monitoring an individually marked population of 30-50 pairs. In this talk, he will discuss the problems faced by the world’s river birds and some of the surprising things he has discovered while studying them. He will then focus on the dipper project, the challenges of working with these charismatic birds, and how changes in the river conditions may be affecting them.
12th March 2026
Borrowdale Rainforest National Nature Reserve
Jade Allen (National Trust)
Come and hear all about the Borrowdale Rainforest, England’s largest remaining fragment of temperate rainforest. Learn more about this special habitat, the remarkable species that live here and the work the National Trust and farmers are doing in the valley to protect this special place.
9th April 2026
Harvest Mice, Bumblebees and Barn Owls: grassland environments and their wildlife
Julia Pigott (Brigsteer Bee Reserve)
Field trips in late spring or summer
As in previous years we expect to hold one or two observational fields trips.