Member Article

Rothbury students going up on the wall

School children in Northumberland who spent September getting creative as part of a project which works to save rare grasslands around the UK, are now having their work form part of an exhibition at the Great North Museum: Hancock in Newcastle.

As part of the Save our Magnificent Meadows Project, Northumberland Wildlife Trust invited pupils from Dr Thomlinson C of E Middle School in Rothbury to create poems and pictures to celebrate the fantastic floral meadows that can be found in our region.

Following a visit to Windyside Farm in Morpeth for inspiration, the children, aged between 9 and 10 years, drew pictures and wrote poems together with Naomi Waite from Northumberland Wildlife Trust, the organizers of Hexham Book Festival and local author Emily Diamond.

The team was so impressed with their efforts they decided to display them alongside the winning images in the 2016 UK Magnificent Meadows Photo Competition, which is running at the Great North Museum: Hancock from now until Tuesday 31 January 2017.

Northumberland Wildlife Trust’s Conservation Officer Naomi Waite, who is also the Save Our Magnificent Meadows Project Officer said: “A massive thank you to all the team at Windyside Farm for making us so welcome, and to the Hexham Book Festival and Emily Diamond for awakening in the young people the desire to produce such a wonderful selection of drawings and poems.

“And, better still, now, until the end of January they can see their work displayed on the walls of the Great North Museum: Hancock and can say to themselves ‘I did that.’ They should be very proud of themselves.”

Windyside Farm, owned by local seed supplier B & K Wharf is designated as one of Northumberland’s finest wildflower meadows and farmer Kevin Wharf has been developing his own natural meadows for almost 20 years.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sue Bishop .