Are you interested in the night sky? Have you always wanted to look up and be able to know for certain which constellation you’re looking at? Well now’s your chance to find out more about astronomy before the telescope.
Dr. Chris Woolston will be talking about the remarkable discoveries made by naked eye astronomers prior to the invention of the telescope; from the Ancient Greeks through to Isaac Newton on Wednesday 7th July 2010 from 8.30pm.
Weather permitting we will be taking a short walk to search for the constellations and stars of the summer night sky. Please bring binoculars if you have them.
The meeting point will be the Scout Hut, Sandridgebury Lane, Herts AL3 6JB.
No need to book. There will be a suggested donation of £3.00 in aid of Heartwood Forest.
Parking at Heartwood
The Woodland Trust recently submitted a planning application to the county council for a car park and access track at Heartwood Forest.
Proposing to create 50 permanent spaces, not 150 which has been stated in a recent local article. There is a provision for upto 100 further cars in an “overspill” area for big community events.
The consultation process has been both lengthy and transparent. As well as meeting and consulting with the appropriate bodies, they held open door sessions in Sandridge, Harpenden, Wheathampstead and Marshalswick, not to mention a series of on-site meetings open to any and all interested parties.
After carrying out and reviewing this local consultation it became clear it was of utmost importance that there was a dedicated car parking area on site, so as to prevent parking issues in and around Sandridge village.
The Woodland Trust feel that the final design, whilst providing essential car parking spaces, also is aesthetically appropriate and we hope that in the main the local population supports what we are attempting. The Woodland Trust are always open to questions and feedback, as at the end of the day Heartwood Forest is for the community!
You can see the designs in full here: Plan 1 and Plan 2.
There is also a big scale proximity plan here which shows the location and the sensitive approach they've tried to take.
Save the date for HeARTwood Festival
Last August saw the first big summer festival at Heartwood Forest and this year will be no exception. So, get your diary out and make a note of
Saturday 28th August.
Celebrating everything that is great about woodlands and trees and you can get involved in all sorts of woodland arts and crafts including willow weaving, charcoal drawing and bird box making. For the little ones there will be a teddy bears picnic with prizes for the best dressed teddy’s.
The creation of Heartwood Forest is underway
After many months of planning and hard work the growing phase started and the whole community celebrated by planting trees in November 2009.
Lady Verulam, the patron of the project was there to say and few words about how special this project is and plant one of the very first trees, as well as the Woodland Trust’s chief executive, Sue Holden and three children who have taken part in the countrywide Tree For All tree planting project.
Everyone joined in and had a go at planting trees. It was a fantastic day, the weather was kind and nearly 5,000 trees were planted. If you missed out on this event then why not come along to one of the next events as detailed above.
Forest Facts, the Sandridge Forest will be:
Bigger than Whipsnade Zoo (600 acres)
Bigger than Sherwood Forest Country Park (450 acres)
Bigger than Hyde Park & Kensington Gardens combined (625 acres)
Twice the size of Regents Park (410 acres)
Everyone joined in and had a go at planting trees. It was a fantastic day, the weather was kind and nearly 5,000 trees were planted. If you missed out on this event then why not come along to one of the next events as detailed above.