Yesterday we visited the Bury Wildlife Festival in Abbey Gardens hosted by Bury Water Meadows Group on Saturday – I hoped to spend longer at the event but unfortunately the day it was on was super jam packed already, but even with the short time I spent there it was still really insightful and great to talk to local organisations, who are doing amazing things for our local community and the nature and wildlife in Suffolk and beyond!
As I said, my day was jam packed, I spent the morning swimming with the Nutty Mermaids (read about there here), after that I had to get home, get washed and back out the door again for a trim at Bimbos in Bury st Edmunds. (A fantastic hairdressers if you’re local to Bury St Edmunds). After this we headed to Clear to Sea, a delightful refill stores on St Johns Street in Bury St Edmunds. With our jars in tow we topped up on some required refills, of Granola, Soap Bars, washing up brush heads, and of course the essential and delicious 55% dark chocolate buttons and a cheeky piece or 2 of their vegan fudge.
After this we had some lunch, went to Water Stones, where I was luckily enough to purchase £40 worth of books thanks to a gift voucher I received for my birthday in March.
We then toddled down to the Bury Wildlife Festival in Abbey Gardens, Bury St. Edmunds – I hadn’t been to one before so wasn’t sure what to expect – but it was a fantastic FREE event in Bury St Edmunds, there were guided walks, talks, workshops for all ages and various stalls for local organisations.
The first stall that caught my eye was the Larkwood Lakes stall! There was a banner, that mentioned walks, wild swimming with the nutty mermaids (where I’d actually been earlier that day!) and paddle boarding. As I approached the stall, someone was asking about the swimming, so I apologised for ear wigging and explained I’d been there just earlier that day and it was my first session! (read the blog post here) I explained it was great, and how I’d definitely recommend it for advanced and newbies like me – as long as you can swim, you’d be fine!
I then got into a discussion with Tony the land owner of Larkwood lakes. I was so surprised to meet him, after literally talking about the “marine bioligist” at the open water swim session a few hours earlier – I was meeting him in person in Bury town! Tony is obviously very passionate and I take my hat off to him and the good work he does. I’m definitely interested in one of his guided walks.
The next stall that caught my eye, was Suffolk Prickles a hedgehog rescue charity in Suffolk. They do so much great work – and informed me how I can go about helping hedgehogs in my own garden. Inspired by their good work, and how much I love our hogs, I donated to Suffolk Prickles once I was home.
Then next organisation that got our attention was Art Branches. A organisations that runs nature-inspired art workshops for people struggling with mental health. This is something I can certainly relate to as I know, art & creativity is the key for me, and what ever life throws at me, getting out doors and creating things will help me through – it always has. I added to their community art piece, with a Wild Minder style Cowslip Primrose and supported their organisation by purchasing a tote to add to my ever expanding tote bag collection.
It was great to talk with everyone and hear about all the good things happening for the community, Wild life, nature & eco-systems around Suffolk. I wish we could have stayed longer and enjoyed the day more, but with the busy day we had beforehand, we had to get back and care for our pooch! Maybe next year I’ll get it in the diary early and make a day of it.
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