We received a generous offer of help to furnish our 'schoolroom' at the Garth, a secure room we will be able to use when welcoming groups to Knaresborough Forest Park. A supporter who is a member of Knaresborough Quilters, Sue Hadley, offered to make cushions for the wooden benches. She was also given the materials free of charge by the Cone Exchange in Harrogate. When it came to stuffing the cushions, we were able to use sheep's wool which had also been donated by a local fa

As we are now into July, it seems a good time to share some news about some of the birds that can be seen around KFP during the summer. First of the summer visitors to arrive in the spring are the warblers, of which the Chiffchaff and Blackcaps are the most common and are breeding widely at KFP. The Blackcap has a rich ‘fluting’ song that has earned it the name of the ‘Northern Nightingale’. The Common Whitethroat is another warbler seen at KFP and appears to be more widesp

Thursday is our regular volunteer day, today with 11 volunteers progress was made with many aspects of site development. Our first memorial bench, provided by APS, was installed alongside the Beryl Burton cycleway. More wildflowers, Field Scabious, Ragged Robin and Oxeye Daisy, grown from local seed, were planted near the new hazel coppice. Meanwhile solar panels were being installed at the Garth, funded by the Waugh Trust, supplied and wired by Oasis Energy. Looking good! An

A group of volunteers met on Knaresborough Forest Park today to launch our campaign to ask dog-walkers to keep their dogs on a lead when visiting the site. We feel it is important to engage dog owners in conversation to share our reasons for this, which are also explained in our previous journal post . We encourage dog walkers to enjoy walking on KFP, as long as they keep their dog on a lead, because: we have seen and heard skylarks, willow warblers and meadow pipits around t

We were very lucky with the weather for most of our planting days, if not with the underfoot conditions, which were very boggy! But our volunteers are made of stern stuff and got a huge amount of work done with good humour. We were joined by volunteers aged from 3 to 87, as well as several groups including Orb Community Arts and the Knaresborough Nidd Gorge Conservation Group, who took a break from working on the paths around the river to come and boost our numbers. We are hu

The weather was kind, despite forecasts for rain it remained dry for our first tree planting sessions on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. It was very muddy under foot and planting holes previously dug were full of water but we still managed to complete the first phase with 900 hazels plus stakes and tree shelters Heads down and planting Some little ones came to help And some a bit older........ We were delighted to welcome some sixth formers - despite getting muddy trainers th

We were contacted back in July 2025 by a musician performing under the name of HerOrangeCoat, asking permission to come and roam the woods until she found a place where she felt inspired, settle down and write a song using vocals and ukulele, then record it in situ. This process was a part of the project called The Woodland Sessions, backed by the Youth Music NextGen Fund. Capturing the spaces that inspired them, these field recordings were all written and recorded by HerOran