Volunteering to Support the History and Ecology of Stoke Park
Each winter, Stoke Park Community Group work to cut back the cherry laurel in the woods in Stoke Park. In 2025/26 this work has focused on clearing and preserving the Great Saloon in Hermitage Wood. Cherry laurel is an extremely Read More
I’ve just finished collating our butterfly count data for 2025. Here’s what the numbers show: 2024 – the red line – was a poor year for butterflies for us. When I was doing the count this year (2025), I felt Read More
Work over summer 2025 has transformed the semi-circular dew pond in Stoke Park. Since receiving funding from the Bristol and Avon Catchment Partnership (BACP), volunteers have worked to line the pond, rebuild the back wall with the original stones, and Read More
Stoke Park volunteering days start at 10am. I’m keen, so I get there a bit early and take in the view. Our rangers send an email the day before with a short description of what we’re doing, and a Google Read More
We’re starting 2025 with some positive news: we have been awarded funding from Bristol Avon Catchment Partnership (BACP) to continue restoration of the dew ponds in Stoke Park. The work will focus on the semi-circular dew pond in the lower Read More
Work to improve the path through Long Wood is almost complete, thanks to a grant from the Wessex Water Foundation Environment Fund. This grant is supporting our work to make access to Stoke Park more enjoyable for local people, while Read More
Who would choose to mow a meadow by hand when there are tractors and machinery that can do it in minutes? Me, as it turns out. Scythes have been used as far back as 5,000 BC – according to Wikipedia. Read More
From April to September, we count butterflies in Stoke Park. We do this by walking a transect – a set route through Stoke Park – every week. We follow a methodology called a Pollard walk. This helps us gather the Read More
This Winter our work was all about the P’s – planting, pruning and ponds. Planting We are incredibly grateful to The Conservation Volunteers (Lockleaze Green Gym) who undertook the majority of this Winter’s tree planting. Most of the trees were Read More
On Sat 11 Feb some of us attended a free event put on by Your Park Bristol & Bath. There were workshops, a volunteer-led discussion about how to bring parks to life, and lots of opportunities to meet and talk Read More