Arts Week at St Madoc

Last week we ran our first ever onsite Music and Art Week with Year 4 pupils from Clase Primary School. We had a great time coming up with some team names and mascots (the spiderpig was one of my favourites) and then building the mascots out of sand and scrap on the beach.

We had some interesting interruptions to our walk coming back from the beach, with a fully fitted out film crew popping up amongst the dunes, and some errant sheep making a bold dash for freedom!

Next day featured tracking animals in the woods and making some more unusual forest creatures of our own – here’s Blue Team’s great Man of the Woods:

We also did a lot of running around the woods pretending to be woodpeckers and then helping each other come up with clan rhythms on percussion instruments.

We then got messy with mud paint and clay in the sports hall, building on Clase Primary’s current class topic of the Celts. So, here’s a sample of the fab Celtic badges made by students:

Then, as if all that wasn’t enough, we got in the mood for Halllowe’en with an evening lamp procession using lanterns made from willow and paper and some spooky flickering lights . .

We finished off the week by making more music and building some of the animals we had tracked in the woods earlier in the week out of scrap and craft materials (although we also had some brave attempts at making spiderpigs).

My favourite artwork of the week? A city in sand designed on the beach - it sort of reminds me of the Nazca Lines in Peru. Great stuff.

Thanks to Mrs Thomas from Clase Primary for most of the above photos. Interested in coming for an Arts Week yourself? Email info@stmadoc.co.uk to see what we can offer.

Volunteers get stuck into bracken clearance

It's that time of year again! One of our biggest conservation tasks is controlling the bracken on our sand dunes. Each year we cut back the bracken at selected areas of the site. This encourages the rarer plants, including pyramidal orchids, and their associated insect life.

The habitat enhancement should be well appreciated by the hundreds of school children who will join us on wildlife hunts on the sand dunes next year.

Much of this work would be impossible without volunteers, so thanks to all those who are taking part! If you are interested in volunteering please call 01792 386291, or email info@stmadoc.co.uk

Reptile survey yields loads of adders!

The reptile population continues to thrive on our sand dunes. In our latest survey, we found nine adders and five slow worms. These normally elusive animals can be attracted by a piece of roofing felt, which creates a warm microclimate in which they like to shelter.

Adders and slow worms give birth to live young, and this may explain why most of the animals we found were female. They may have a more urgent need to keep warm during pregnancy.

Our ongoing program of habitat management benefits these animals by maintaining a varied habitat, with plenty of places to hide and open areas for basking and hunting.

Show me the honey . .

Last week we were graced with another visiting bee expert. But this time, it’s a more domesticated variety we were hunting for – the honey bee.

David O’Carroll, a cornerstone member of the Gower Honey Co-operative, makes regular visits to the beehives kept on St Madoc’s land. Visitors to our site often don’t realise that we keep bees here since we tuck them out of the way to make sure children can’t bump into them by accident. But we actually now have four hives in all, and David has been looking after the bees here for two years.

Here he is, talking a bit about the work he does and what’s going on with the hives kept on our land.

Apple Day coming up

As mentioned in the video, we will be celebrating Apple Day on Sunday 19th October this year. Come and join us from 2pm to 5:30pm to celebrate the humble apple (and enjoy some homemade apple related produce). Hopefully, the Cooperative will be able to provide us with some St Madoc honey on the day as well.

Just turn up on the day or, if you want more info, contact Sarah Leedham at St Madoc Centre, info@stmadoc.co.uk / 01792 386 291 first. Our address: St Madoc Centre, Llanmadoc SA3 1DE

Buzzing about the dunes

Mark Pavett scouting for bees

Last week we were lucky to have Mark Pavett, a Curator at the National Museum of Wales, visiting us. Mark works for the Entomology Department at the museum, which means that he is an expert in the study of insects, and he spent a day looking around the site and identifying bees.

We won't have his species list back for a while yet as he took over 30 samples and needs some time to investigate but we will let you know what he found as soon as we get the results back. What we do know is that we definitely have at least one member of the Osmia genus which nests in shells (something we definitely have in abundance here) which we now know to look for when we're showing guests around the site.

A very shy
Andrena barbilabris

New species for The St Madoc Centre

Even more excitingly, last week's visiting school children discovered a new species for our site while exploring the sand dunes, which Mark was able identify as Andrena barbilabris, a species often found on heath and sandy areas.

Our captured bee was a little shy for the camera, but you can read more about this species and see more detailed photos on the Nature Guide UK website. Congratulations to the pupils from Burlais Primary School who found this new addition to our species list!

More insect activity coming up

We will be running a butterfly identification walk here at the Centre from 11am-1pm on Sunday 27th July. This event will teach attendees some introductory butterfly identification skills and demonstrate butterfly survey techniques as part of a walk around our special sand dune habitat. This event is free and open to all ages, but booking is essential. 

Contact us on 01792 386291 or info@stmadoc.co.uk to book a place or for more information.

St Madoc Winter Bird Walk – 08/03/1

We booked the nice weather for our winter bird walk – our first wildlife event of the year - and it arrived just on time!  Our nine guests were able to appreciate our grounds in their full splendour, with stunning views across the estuary and as far as Worms Head and Llanelli. 

The clear skies meant ideal hunting conditions for buzzards, and we were treated to a constant aerial display from these big raptors, including some territorial disputes with crows. We used the brilliant ‘Birdvoice’ gadget to play bird songs in the woods, and attracted some replies from our resident birds, which at this time of year are just getting ready to establish territories and nests. On leaving the woods we watched oyster catchers and lapwings on the marsh, and meadow pipits flitting about on the sand dunes. 

A good time was had by all, and we increased our appreciation of this unique angle on Gower and its birdlife.

What's been happening: Autumn

When the St Madoc Centre started to offer activities and catering to schools in 2009 our school season consisted of one full week. This year’s school season was somewhat longer, with 26 schools and classes enjoying our food, accommodation and activities. That’s over a thousand pupils, from infants to college age - not forgetting their hard-working teachers! To think we’ve had an impact in that many children’s lives is absolutely amazing, and all of the staff at the St Madoc Centre are looking forward to 2014, which already promises to be busier still!

This year we were especially pleased to have been donated some money by Warburton’s and the Four Winds Trust which meant we were able to keep offering massively reduced prices to children requiring free school meals. This means we were able to continue giving a fantastic experience to children who may otherwise never have had an opportunity to have a holiday and enjoy themselves like they do with us.

‘For many of our children it will be their first 'holiday' and time away from their home. In fact very few of our children have ever experienced a sleep over!’ ... ‘That is the impact of your work, it can change a life, change an attitude, develop a dream, inspire a community.’

Primary School Headmaster

This year we’ve also spent a lot of time working on a science programme, aimed at year 4 and 5 pupils. This programme contains a lot of different activities, like pond-dipping, rock-pooling and strand-line surveys. These activities were tested out by a very helpful local primary school over a four day stay and despite a few Autumn showers their stay went very well, with everyone enjoying themselves immensely.

Sadly, this Autumn saw the departure of two of our longest serving members of staff, Rob and Chris. Both worked incredibly hard during their time at the St Madoc Centre to make us what we are today. They both were a major part of the success of our school’s work, as well as maintaining our facilities and keeping them at the high standard they are in now.

Thanks for all your hard work, guys!

This Summer and Autumn we have held various different events. In August we held a Bat Discovery Evening, for the second time. Once again it was well attended, and using various electronic bat detectors we found a variety of different bats. Our second annual Apple Day was held in October, a celebration of all things appley, with pies, cakes and games. Hayley Watts’s delicious apple pie took home the first place prize in the Pie Competition, and over twenty people attempted the William Tell Archery Challenge, with two people actually managing to hit the apple! The Volunteer Day in October went well, with plenty of work getting done; the pig pen is being prepared for new pigs, and our ever-growing orchard was prepared for the winter. Many thanks to all our volunteers!

Autumn has also been an interesting time of year for wildlife discoveries, with two species new to the St Madoc Centre being discovered. The Four-spotted Chaser Dragonfly is common across the UK, but was seen flying above our wildlife pond for the first time. The second, slightly more exciting, sight was a flock of six Choughs seen feeding on Craneflies near the headland. Choughs are rare across Britain, so to see six on our land was brilliant. We also held our second reptile and amphibian conservation course, which was again very well attended, firmly putting the St Madoc Centre ‘on the map as a good site for reptiles’, according to our Conservation Ranger, Sarah.

Events at the St Madoc Centre

ECO-TRIBE

Every second and fourth Sunday

3-5pm Call Mark on 07455677711 for details

Outdoor environmental activities for children & parents/carers.

SATURDAY 23RD NOVEMBER
AN EVENING OF SONGS, TUNES & TALL TALES

8pm at Llanrhidian Church, Gower

Mike O'Connor & Barbara Griggs are great fun. They make music of breathtaking beauty on fiddle, concertina, viol and harp. They have a unique repertoire, both original and from historic Cornish manuscripts.

Call 01792 386291 or email sarah@stmadoc.co.uk for tickets in advance, tickets also available at the door.

Tickets cost £8, or £4 for under 16s, with glass of wine or juice.

Raising funds for St Madoc Centre

SUNDAY 1ST DECEMBER

SONGS FOR ADVENT

Doors open 6:30pm, singing starts at 7pm

With the Cantorion Llanmadog presenting an evening of light music.

Tickets cost £12, including a meal, bar available. Get in contact with us to book your ticket.

SATURDAY 7TH DECEMBER

CAROLS AND CRAFTS

10am-3pm

Our annual Carols and Crafts event. Live music, hot food and free mince pies. Free entry.

Volunteer at the St Madoc Centre:

We are always very happy to work with volunteers, no matter their age, skill or ability levels. If you are interested in volunteering at the St Madoc Centre, or would like more information about any of the events listed in this newsletter please contact us using the details found below.

Phone: 01792 386 291 Email: info@stmadoc.co.uk Website: stmadoc.co.uk