Free Bumblebee Day in the Garden!
Caldmore Community Garden, Carless Street, Walsall, WS1 3RH
Saturday 25th March 2023, 11am-2pm
Family activities: 11am-1pm
Talk: 1-2pm
Join the Bee Inspired team for an exciting day of all things bumblebee!
Get creative with family activities for all ages from 11am-1pm.
And come along to learn all about our bumblebee friends at our talk from 1-2pm – open for all!
Children must be accompanied by adults. Come dressed for a day out at the garden.
MEET THE GRUFFALO
At Caldmore Community Garden
Saturday 18th March 11-2pm
– Come to the launch of our new Gruffalo Trail at the Garden – meet the Mouse, Owl, Fox, Snake, and of course the Gruffalo himself!
– Take part in Gruffalo crafts and listen to Julia Donaldson’s story at 12pm and 1pm.
– Enjoy home-made cake and hot drinks at our Community Cafe, and bring a picnic if you like!
Aimed at children under 6, but siblings can come along, too!
Our address: Caldmore Community Garden, Carless Street, WS1 3RH
Join us for Big Garden Birdwatch at Caldmore Community Garden, and have a go in your own back garden or from your balcony.
We will be learning about birds’ habitats and feeding habits, explore bird flight and other aspects of bird science.
We will be opening the booking process mid-January, you will be able to book for one hour of family science at 11am, 12pm or 1pm. In the meantime, save the date 28th January!
Our Garden Saturdays are funded through People’s Health Trust Active Communities Fund and West Midlands Combined Authority Green Grants.
BRITISH GARDEN BIRDS
TALK BY COLIN MCSHANE
1-2pm at AAINA HUB (Bath Rd, next door to the Garden)
The talk will concentrate on the birds people will most see in gardens or parks. Colin will tell us how to identify them and what the key differences with similar species are, and spice it up with plenty of other bird facts. There will be a chance to ask your own questions about garden birds in preparation for Big Garden Birdwatch the following weekend.
Colin McShane runs a small volunteer group called Belvide Ringers who catch and ring wild birds to tag them under licence to the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO). They have been doing this for 40+ years during which time we have ringed in excess of a quarter of a million birds in the UK and several other countries around the world.
MAKING BIRD FEEDERS AND BIRD BOXES
11am – 1pm at Caldmore Community Garden
Come and make your own bird box to take home and install at your garden with Steve and the Men’s Shed team.
Learn how to make a range of bird feeders from recycled materials (toilet roll tubes, paper or plastic cups, plastic bottles, cans, etc), pine cones, seeds and vegetarian suet.
Explore the bird world with bird crafts and make some bird ornaments to hang in your house and garden.
Complete a trail and take part in British Garden Birds knowledge competition for children and win a bird-watching kit!
The event is funded by West Midlands Combined Authority Green Grants and People’s Health Trust and organised in partnership with AAINA Community Hub.
We are very sad to share with you that Thomas Worley, Justice of the Peace, our neighbour and longstanding Caldmore Community Garden volunteer, passed away last week.
Tom had been involved in the Garden from the beginning, always nosy, kind, infecting everyone with his sense of humour, generous to a fault – it was from his back garden that we used to run an extension lead for all our events when we still didn’t have electricity in the early days. He was a master of the barbecue, a hard worker, and a proud owner of a long ladder that he was always happy to lend us when we needed it.
We will never forget all those times when he used to just pop down and check on us, sharing a laugh and a cup of tea, and one of his countless stories from the mining days or when he used to be Justice of the Peace.
He was a dear friend to us all, and will be greatly missed at the Garden and in the whole of Caldmore. We would like to extend our deepest sympathies to his family, especially his wife Voula.
Visit Santa’s Grotto and meet Santa and his elves!
– Live Music: George Northall (sax) plays Christmas and winter songs
– Presents for children and family photographs with Santa
– Christmas crafts
– Garden stall with Christmas cards made at the Garden
– Mince pies, mulled apple juice, hot drinks and home-made cake
The free Festival of Lights returns for two days at Caldmore Community Garden on Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th November 2022. The festival provides a free celebration of diverse cultural and artistic traditions and brings people together across cultures to enjoy arts and creativity for all ages.
Caldmore Community Garden will be illuminated to create a place where diverse traditions of Diwali, Bonfire Night, and All Soul’s Eve meet to light up the night and open the doors to all the community.
Saturday 5h November:
– 6pm – Animal Magic by storyteller Peter Chand and Fox & Rocha
Sunday 6th November
– 5.45 meet at the Garden for the Lantern Procession
– 7pm fire performance by Helter Skelter Arts
Gates open half an hour earlier with hot drinks and cake at our community cafe.
Saturday 5th November will see a performance of ‘Animal Magic’ from Peter Chand and Fox & Rocha at 6:00pm. Join Storyteller Peter Chand and musical maestros Fox & Rocha for a family session of stories and songs from around the world. You will encounter fantastic tales of elephants with small noses, preening peacocks and misbehaving crows. A toe-tapping interactive and lively evening awaits you as this delightful trio returns to Caldmore Community Garden.
On Sunday 6th November the joyous and beautiful Lantern Procession will start off the evening at 5:45p.m. The procession, led by fiddle player Adrian Ward, will walk from the Community Garden to Caldmore Green. Pick up a lantern created by the school children from Caldmore Primary Academy, toddlers and families from Caldmore Tots group and the community of Caldmore. Alternatively, bring your own torches and join in the fun. We will light up the streets of Caldmore and invite everyone to accompany us on our way back to the Garden.
Return to the Garden for an incredible free, fire performance, at 7pm by Helter Skelter Arts that will light up the Garden with their flames and daring stunts! A great show for all the family. (Keep an eye out for the duo around the Garden as well, as they paint patterns and images in the air with their amazing LED props)!
The festival is delivered by Caldmore Village Festival Group and funded by The National Lottery Community Fund, Black Country Touring, whg and Children In Need.
Yes, many of us have known this for some time, but one of the more pleasant outcomes of a global pandemic has been that more and more people have embraced the simple pleasure of growing things.
From windowsill herb gardens to grand projects, the nation has been getting down and dirty with the soil and the seeds, the roots and the tubers.
Brothers Jake and Warren Oldershaw have been propagating a delightful theatre show that digs deep into the reasons why we could all do with a bit more horticulture in our lives.
While Jake has been performing (showing off) for over 25 years, Warren has grown himself a nice career as a garden designer. This is the first time they’ll appear in a show together since the Nativity incident in 1980.
During each performance they’ll design, draught and bring to life a unique and beautiful garden; share fascinating stories of different plants and species; tell personal tales of why gardening is so important for mental health, and maybe even throw a few songs into the mix.
Door open at 5:30pm for 6pm start. Hot drinks and cake will be served at the cafe.
It’s an outdoor venue, so please come prepared for the weather!
To book in advance, go to https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-head-gardener-tickets-416606279597 or just turn up on the day.
Inspired by the flora and fauna of Caldmore Community Garden we will create linocut prints celebrating the diversity of the garden and the beauty that can be found. Linocut is great for focusing on the details and texture found within nature. We will carve and print greetings card and print designs – experimenting with colour and technique – and exhibit our finished prints and well as hand-printing our work to sell as cards and prints – unique designs for a unique setting.
Over seven weeks we will explore the techniques of linocut; starting with a single colour print that can be used to print greetings cards and then moving on to creating prints that use several colours; either through a layered print technique or a reduction linocut technique.
It doesn’t matter if you are a complete beginner – this versatile technique will bring out the artist in everyone! We will be using non-toxic inks and learning hand printing techniques to ensure that this is a really accessible process. Prepare to be bitten by the printing bug!
Workshop dates:
To book, e-mail caldmoregarden@gmail.com, txt / Whatsapp 07871813252, or send us a message. Spaces are limited and booking is advisable!
Free entry!
Alix is a printmaker and artist based in Coventry. She is a full time artist and splits her time between making art and teaching linocut workshops at venues around Coventry and Warwickshire. Alix is a predominantly self taught printmaker; she began printmaking after attending a workshop in November 2015 at Birmingham Printmakers and the bug was well and truly caught! She creates single colour, multi-block and reduction linocut prints. She also creates pencil and pencil crayon drawings. Her drawings are ‘true to life’ but her linocuts have a more contemporary feel. Alix enjoys creating images of animals and birds and takes inspiration from nature. She captures the character and detail of the animals, forgoing background to concentrate on the beauty, patterns and textures that can be found. She works from home – printing in her kitchen, usually with a spoon! Recently she has begun to experiment with a multi-layered coloured technique using translucent inks and a printing press. She aims to be as environmentally friendly as possible in her printing methods and materials.
Contact details:
www.alixalmond.com
Instagram: @alixalmond
Facebook: @AlixAlmondArt
alixalmond@hotmail.co.uk
Funded by The National Lottery Community Fund and People’s Health Trust
Caldmore Community Garden 