IF you went down to the woods this weekend there was a big surprise.

Families headed to Moses Gate Country Park for the first-ever Wild Fest organised by the Bolton Conservation Volunteers and the Darcy Lever Gravel Pits Action Group.

Rick Parker, organiser of the volunteers, was thrilled with how successful the day had been.

He said: "It was beyond our wildest dreams. It was a lovely day. There was a lot of positive feedback and it worked far better than we expected really for the first time."

Families came to the park on Sunday to take part in a range of activities like den building, pond dipping, willow hurdle making and dog training.

The Gravel Pits Action Group led the pond dipping with their specialist camera which allows people to see a magnified view of the fascinating wildlife living in the ponds.

Mr Parker said: "It enlarges what you're looking at and you could see cyclops, [a tiny freshwater crustacean] and you could see it giving birth!"

 

Mr Parker led the children hurdle building, creating a natural fence of woven willow branches.

He said: "All ages could take part, it's easy, it's in and out, in and out. We had some tiny ones taking part right through to about 10 and they all loved it and had a go."

Dog training was well attended and hosted by Jayne Stott, daughter of steeplejack Fred Dibnah. Mr Parker added that he thought the children's favourite activity was probably the den building.

 

Children collected tokens at each activity and once they had a fell set they could cash them in for pancakes and popcorn served up by the volunteers.

The day was helped along by funding from the Tesco Bags of Help campaign which gave the volunteers about £2,000 to improve the area in Moses Gate around the pond to create an outdoor classroom area for children to learn about wildlife and different wild skills.

The volunteers already teach children from Prestolee Primary School in Church Road once a week.

Mr Parker, who has been with the volunteers for 40 years, said they are hoping to put on another Wild Fest day next year, perhaps earlier in the year to take advantage of the weather.