UK Woodland Seasons (Chapter 3 - June)

Looking upwards in early June we now see wall-to-wall foliage and very little light reaches the woodland floor.
















Only on the woodland edges do we see any sunlight. Here on the woodland edges the growth of vegetation is amazing, with bright white flower heads of Elder and pink wild roses.

Wild Roses

On the ground we see very little colour, other than green. Gone are the bluebells, except for yellow leaves and swollen seed pods.

Bluebell seed pods

Where there is light the Nettles and Dog's Mercury are growing tall. Other plants in flower are the Wild Privet and the Bramble (Blackberry). Martagon Lily is almost in full bloom - just a few more days.

Martagon Lily

Flowers of the Elder tree adorn the woodland edge. The scent is like honey!

Elder flowers in closeup

Greater Burdock on path edges. This species has the largest leaves of any native British plant.

Bramble in bloom

Nettle in flower


















Wild Privet in flower. This is a calcium tolerant indicator species (indicating the high pH of the soil)

Impenetrable growth quickly filling any clearings.

Where there is light Nettle and Dog's Mercury grow luxuriantly













Bramble growing rampantly in a clearing. Only two years earlier this very patch was rough grassland with two species of orchid present. Clearly some conservation work needs to be done.

Tree planting

During last days we had next meeting with a forester. it took part in the 7th class. Except the discussion about forest and it´s benefit for people. We were planting three types of trees in our school garden. They were: lime, birch and pine.

It was a really funny day that we enjoyed.

Comenius Tree Wakes Up

Here is the UK's Golden Beech tree as you never saw it before!

We hope you enjoy the sight. What does your tree look like?

Planting trees within the project Trees and the Environment

Not only children planted...


but also teachers.

It was hard work.

But it worth it. 2000 young trees were planted in a day.

Everybody was looking forward to traditional roasting of sausages after such a hard day.:)

The UK Woodland Seasons (Chapter 2 - April)

This year Spring came early and the bluebells have advanced to almost their full height already by mid-April. The larger patches of bluebells are stunning.

Up in the trees the leaves are in various states of progress. Generally the younger trees are in a more advanced state than the older trees which are concentrating on flowers rather than leaves. The next two pictures of Sycamore will show this very well.











Looking upwards we see that some of the Beech trees are slow to come into leaf ..........

..whereas the Hawthorn and Birch are well advanced. The overall impression is of a golden-green light striking the woodland floor.

The highest accolade this month goes to the Wild Cherry (perhaps shared equally with the Bluebell).

At ground level the plants are making best use of the light before the leaves close the canopy. The Snowdrops are almost over and all that remains are the long slender leaves lying flat on the ground.

Daffodils have begun to fade out too but, here and there, their yellow heads can still be seen.

Dog's Mercury is now rampant and the 'Stinging' Nettle is beginning to take hold on the woodland edges.

Two rather special plants, members of the Lily family, are the Solomon's Seal and the Martagon Lily.

Adding colour to the edge of a path is the first Wood Violet of the season ........

.. and in the darker, damper patches of vegetation shines the Wood Anemone.









A plant to watch over the coming months is the Wild Arum. This plant has several other English names: Cuckoo Pint and Lords and Ladies to name but two.

Feedback from Finland

Feedback from the stay in Finland given by the pupils of Pitkäkangas school:

- It was a pity that we couldn’t have visitors staying in my home.
- It was a great experience to be able to talk in English with foreigners. I started to think how it would feel to talk English all the time.
- It was awfully nice to play football esp. with the Turkish boys. The Turkish girls taught us a new game, they were fun.
- The party in school hall was terrific. The English had a familiar song and we could sing it together. The Czech had nice pictures and music of their country.
- It was nice to have them on the lessons but we didn’t understand everything. Some of them had funny names.
- I was excited when they came in the morning. The visitors greeted us cheerfully but then I didn’t have time to get to know them and speak to them. It felt bad.

And the lodgers commented as follows:
- We looked forward to getting to know new people and to talk to them. The visitors were friendly and eager to experience new tastes and habits –even sauna. We got along well.
- Some children were rather quiet and shy. Some ate chocolate and not food.
- Some visitors seemed to be very interested of shopping and late nights, we would have liked to spend more time together.

Friday in Finland

Friday, March 20th
We were taken by three coaches to Iso-Syote to enjoy skiing and sleighing as well as roasting. The weather on the way seemed to be anything but not nice. As we arrived though, it suddenly turned into a beautiful sunny day. Those brave of the English group rented skiis for x-country and followed the "skilled" Czech instructors.

Majority of children had a great amount of fun while sleighing/toboganning on improvised plastic bags.

After having a delicous lunch, we were happy to be informed about a national Syote park by a nice guide. Some of the children were entertained by a seeking game prepared for them in a permanent display

Both films were impressive and showed how the Finns care about their precious nature and their eagerness to pass it on their youth.

Roasting the "Pulla" in the afternoon was definitely a pure rarity for all of us. Not for the Finns though :)