Mountsorrel Railway first ecology activity session is a tremendous success!

Saturday September 26th was the launch date for a new initiative by the Mountsorrel Railway Project aimed at giving local children and their parents the chance to learn about and experience ecology.



Mountsorrel resident and project volunteer Lesley Humphries organised a series of activities aimed at helping children to develop a better understanding of the environment and, on this occasion, insect wildlife in particular. Lesley said:

The trackbed and surrounding area of the old Mountsorrel Railway is a wonderful haven for wildlife. We want to open up the educational opportunities of this ecological resource in a controlled manner that allows children to learn in a hands on fashion. Children can learn so much from an opportunity like this. It's great to allow the parents to share in the experience as well!

The children spent several hours exploring the areas around the trackbed and were shown how insects thrive in certain locations and not others. The children were able to see many different types of creatures first hand. The children then constructed their own mini wildlife habitats which were placed along the trackbed at various locations.



Volunteer project leader Steve Cramp commented:

Lesley has worked hard over the last few weeks planning, researching and sourcing materials and it was great to see so many local families come along to take part. My sincere thanks go to Lesley for creating this learning opportunity.

As a direct result of the success of the first activity session, Lesley hopes to run a further ecology session at the end of October. The project makes no charge for these activities. If you would like to take part in future sessions please contact Lesley or see the project website for further details.

And don't forget there's an opportunity to join guided tours of the Mountsorrel Railway on the weekend of Saturday 10th October! See here for more information.