Over recent years, former landfill ground at Dimmer near Castle Cary has been transformed into a thriving nature reserve by Carymoor Environmental Trust.

This month, the team report on their new developments on the site, share some of their wildlife encounters and explain how you can join in and get your hands dirty.

Unusual new classrooms

WE are fortunate to have a great venue for all sorts of outdoor education experiences here at Carymoor. Our site tours and wildlife-based Wild Days Out are already popular with schools but there are so many more things we would like to do; History Days to show how our ancestors lived in tune with the environment, courses like hedge-laying, willow-weaving and wildlife-friendly gardening, environmentally-friendly birthday parties.

With this in mind we have just added more space to our existing eco-friendly buildings by putting up two new outdoor classrooms; a tipi and a replica Iron-age round-house. The tipi measures 30 feet across and is one of the largest erected by the company so far. Made from cotton canvas and supported by 21 enormous pine poles from a sustainable woodland in Devon, it will be used during the summer months as an outdoor base for our Wild Days Out. Touching the ground and reaching for the sky, a tipi is an inspiring space for a classroom.

The six-metre diameter round-house is designed to replicate dwellings that would have been built in the Iron-age Glastonbury Lake Village. It is built from locally sourced wood: ash poles from Ham Hill Country Park, strong and easily worked, form the framework for the walls and roof, and hazel rods to weave the six-foot walls. The roof will be thatched with reed, abundant on the Somerset Levels, producing a building which is both sustainable and biodegradable. The fun bit comes last, as the walls will be daubed with a mixture of local clay and straw. Come and join us on Saturday 2nd July for our Daubing Day and help us with this nice messy job.

Bee Shed update

Last month we set up an observation hive in our Bee Shed, to allow visiting groups to watch a honey bee colony without disturbing the bees. We are happy to report that the hive has now been populated and is buzzing along nicely. Last week we had our first school visit to the bee shed and children from The Park School in Yeovil were able to watch worker bees entering the hive with pollen, find the queen bee and see the developing larvae in the brood cells. There was empty honeycomb to handle and honey to taste.

Wildlife sightings

The dry, sunny weather has brought things forward to such an extent that some flowers and butterflies have emerged two to three weeks early. Ever mindful of events which might indicate evidence of climate change, we always take special account of anything unusual.

On 11th May, John Bebbington visited the wildflower collection and noticed a rare bumble bee nectaring on one of the plants. He identified it as a Tree Bee or Bombus hypnorum. The significance of the presence of this humble bumble is that it is a very recent migrant to Britain, unknown before the summer of 2001. The first specimen was identified at Landford in Wiltshire and more sightings were made in southern England, spreading north to Hertfordshire, over following years. Since 2007 there has been somewhat of an explosion in numbers, radiating from the south east to the north west, it is now found as far afield as south Wales and Northumberland. It is easily identifiable as the only bumble bee with a red/brown thorax, black abdomen and white tail, and takes its name from its habit of nesting in hollow trees - although in this country it has apparently taken a great liking to tit nesting boxes! Sightings of this species should be reported to to the Bees, Wasps and Ants Recording Society at www.bwars.com where data is added to a national database.

The fine spring weather is of course not an indicator of climate change. Weather is a thing that happens day to day; trends which contribute to climate happen over a much greater timescale.

The other remarkable sighting this spring is that of a single Marsh Fritillary butterfly on the southern edge of our nature reserve on 6th May. This species is not only in severe decline in the UK, it is declining on the continent to the point where Britain is viewed as one of its strongholds. Nevertheless, the Marsh Fritillary is currently declining by 10 per cent each year in Britain. This year appears to be bucking the trend, however, and reports indicate that it has done very well in its traditional sites and that it has re-colonised some old ones – although unauthorised releases might account for some of these. The origin of our single specimen is a complete mystery!

Carymoor events

There are still a few places on the willow-weaving course on Saturday 11th June (from 10am to 4pm). The course is a repeat of our popular beginners' basket-making course and will teach you about the different materials and techniques. By the end of the day you'll have a basic working knowledge of this exciting craft. Booking is essential.

Don't miss out on our Daubing Day on Saturday July 2nd (10am to 4pm). Get messy and have fun plastering the walls with clay – a great activity for all the family.

For more information, all 01963 350143 or visit www.carymoor.org.uk