Newsletter archive
You can sign up for our newsletter here to keep up with all the latest news, and be first to hear about volunteering opportunities and other events.
Previous newsletters are listed below.
2024 newsletters
Summer 2024 - dormouse monitoring, moth counts and bat walk events, volunteering dates, haymeadow biodiversity, weirdos in a cage, new partnership with Northern Monk, new plant nursery.
Spring 2024 - dragonfly ecology, wildlife and volunteering events, pine marten news, Countryfile appearance.
Winter 2024 - bat conservation, birdlife through the seasons, cute lil pigs, citizen science opportunities.
2023 newsletters
Autumn 2023 - 1500 wildflowers planted, John Muir Trust gathering, hazel dormouse fieldwork, celebrating BOOM, employment and community engagement, quite a large poo.
Summer 2023 - water vole fieldwork, art at Hardknott, Upper Duddon Landscape Recovery, Millom School visit, tiny poo pic.
Spring 2023 - adder surveys, photography project, world's rudest pine marten on video, breeding bird survey analysis, volunteering dates and Autumn residential tickets, poo.
Winter 2023 - All the usual stuff...star jelly, woodland carbon research, soil microbiology, Gasteruption jaculator, pine marten recovery, poo quiz, volunteer dates & wildlife blog.
2022 newsletters
Autumn 2022 - pine marten news and video, Spring residential weekend bookings open, volunteer dates, 700 wildflower plugs planted, dry stone walling time lapse video, cooling effects of tree cover at Hardknott Forest, Radio 4 appearance, plus a CLASSIC scat.
Summer 2022 - butterfly blog, Autumn residential & volunteering dates, wildflower planting, staff visit to RSPB Haweswater, someone wins a mug, wildlife pics and more.
Spring 2022 - Spring residential report, Millom School work experience student placement, University of Leeds researchers visit site, new volunteer training days: walling, wildlife walks, camera trapping.
Winter 2022 - Spring residential weekend bookings open, new volunteering dates, visit from Back On Our Maps, tree planting totals, new wildlife videos: first bat!
2021 newsletters
December 2021 - £1000 raised for our tree appeal, three local schools visit Hardknott Forest, meet our new staff, new volunteering dates for 2022, subtle mushroom pun.
October 2021 - hundreds of wildflowers planted, fundraising hike for our tree appeal, Broughton Primary School visit for their John Muir Award, Angela's Alders: tree growing blog.
September 2021 - fact finding trips to Scotland, Kielder Forest (and Cumbria), Green Recovery Challenge Fund success, job opportunities at Hardknott, new blog: volunteering with us, free camera trap training, tree appeal.
July/August 2021 - wool tree tube trial, volunteer wins epic prize, webite updates, confused stoat.
June 2021 - bird survey, wildlife walk, deer impact monitoring, wildlife videos.
May 2021 - volunteering groups expand, funding news, breeding bird survey, growing group update.
April 2021 - montane willow expedition, volunteering in the sun, newts, lizards & slow worms.
March 2021 - volunteering re-re-re-restarts, aspen planting and monitoring, what is montane scrub, wildflower propagation.
February 2021 - leaky dam construction, red squirrel sightings, volunteer growing group, 500 oak planted, quiz.
January 2021 - winter update, carbon and woodland regeneration, tree feature: crab apple, new wildlife videos.
2020 newletters
December 2020 - volunteering re-restarts, forestry/rewilding/conservation definitions blog, visit to the the ancient trees of Rainsbarrow Wood.
November 2020 - seed and root collection: oak, juniper and aspen, place names at Hardknott blog, Natural England and South Cumbria Rivers Trust visit Hardknott Forest.
October 2020 - monitoring the peatbog restoration, wildlife videos, tree planting totals and non-native removal statistics, new hats.
September 2020 - habitat survey report, visit to Mitredale Forest, extreme fencing, aspen project, autumn tree planting.
July 2020 - results of natural tree regeneration survey, aspen survival rate, zoom presentation goes online, breeding bird survey, deer impact monitoring.
June 2020 - jays and woodland regeneration, over 90% oak planting survival rate, new wildlife videos, bird species list.
May 2020 - 3000 oak donated to the project, digital mapping of Hardknott Forest, juniper information, tool maintenance, caption competition.
April 2020 - visits from three local schools, 780 trees planted (cherry, hawthorn, crab apple, aspen, oak), two chainsaw contracts completed, peatbog rewetting completed, Duke of Edinburgh award group volunteer with us.
March 2020 - aspen news, chainsaw training, John Muir Trust gathering, spring residentials, badger, woodcock, heron and fox feature on wildlife cameras.
February 2020 - project assistants begin their year with us, chainsaw contractors on site, aspen - back on our maps, tree funds appeal.
January 2020 - staff visit to RSPB Haweswater, 2020 residentials, recommended reading.
December 2019 - schools adopt-a-camera scheme, The North Face Explore Fund, first badger and owl photos, new leaflet.