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

We had two working parties on the go today, making the most of the good weather. We had already planned a hedge-laying day, recreating a hedge between the trees on the hay field on Bilton Hall Drive. One of the issues we are meeting on this field is dog walkers accessing the field through gaps in the hedge and letting their dogs run and leave their poo on a field we reap unsprayed hay from. We would therefore like to protect both the hay and the wildlife from this. Some of th

We were delighted at the support for another ceilidh this year, with participants old and young obviously having a great time. The caller of the band even commended them, not only on their enthusiasm but also for following her instructions so obediently! We must say that they look as if they know what they are doing here: We are hugely grateful to the Dark Horse Ceilidh Band for offering their time and skills free of charge, (particularly violinist Amy, a Long Lands sharehol

The bitter east wind on Thursday did not deter our valiant volunteers as we marked out the positions for our first phase of planting - 900 hazels for coppicing with a few Field Maple, Alder and Rowan From a distance it looks like we have a plague of moles but we mark out by digging out a square of turf ( screefing off in Yorkshire ) After all the rain this year conditions are quite difficult and the holes soon fill with water Hoping for better weather for the planting da

In line with the adage " safety in numbers" many of our birds flock together in winter, both for safety from predators and also to forage for food more effectively. We now have large flocks of thrushes, tits and finches moving around Knaresborough Forest Park taking advantage of this year's bountiful supply of berries and fruit, especially hawthorn. Some of the birds are with us throughout the year but their numbers have been swelled with visitors from Northern Europe, coming

We are pleased to share the plans for the first major tree-planting scheme at the land. This first phase focuses on the field to the left of the Beryl Burton Cycleway as you approach from Knaresborough. The design has grown from a workshop with wood-meadow ecologist Dan Carne, whose work centres on creating landscapes that are productive, biodiverse and grounded in local character. The plan brings together four complementary habitats, each chosen for what it can contribute to

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and KFP Volunteers Enhance Ponds with Native Shrub Planting The KFP team had to obtain planning approval before developing the four newly installed newt ponds. As a condition of this approval they were required to achieve Biodiversity Net Gain to offset the habitat loss caused by the spread of spoil. This was done through the planting of 100 square meters of native shrubs, including Hawthorn, Hazel, and Dog Rose. See below a current and artistic impre

We had feared a low turnout or even a washout for our November working party, but we should have trusted both the weather and our stalwart volunteers, of whom 21 turned out despite waking up to pouring rain! In a busy two hours, we cleared leaf mould, soil and brambles from the Beryl Burton Cycleway which runs down the north side of the site. It even got so warm that some of us had to take off our coats! We cleared enough to fill two large piles of leaf mould to save as compo