Forest of Bowland Wildlife Blogs

This Free Festival will celebrate and remember 50 years since the Wray flood on 8th August 1967
and will help to engage the local community and general public about the issues around flooding and water management.

Events will include:

• Historical exhibition of the River Roeburn and events of flooding, landslips and other river changes over the years including Wray Flood and Flood Desmond. In Rural Classroom in the farmyard.  The Wray flood exhibition will be open over the weekend.
• Rivers Healing Circle to bring together waters from rivers in UK and abroad and their stories (Sunday midday)
• Photographic competition of photos of rivers or streams in the Lune catchment (especially the Rivers Wenning, Hindburn and Roeburn). In Rural classroom in the farmyard
• River paintings by Janet Robinson and Hilary Devereaux in Middle Wood Centre
• Natural Land sculpture workshops. Resident environmental artists Richard Shilling and Julia Chick will be making natural art sculptures from materials gathered nearby in particular locations by the river throughout the festival weekend. Look out for the signs and join them to see what they have been making, learn how to make natural sculptures yourself and spend some quality time next to the enigmatic River Roeburn. All weekend.
• Search for fossils amongst the river stones
• Walks to see erosion sites, landslips and ongoing damage from the flash flooding of the River Roeburn. Follow map.
• Display of Slow the Flow techniques – woody check dams, stone check dams, in river training with careful placement of boulders, wool and bale dams that could be used for reducing peat erosion, blanket bog restoration and the use of mob grazing to increase the infiltration of rain by improving the soil structure. Details from Car park with map follow the mown path.
• Film showings from other Slow the flow projects. In Yurt near study Centre.
• Neighbourhood flood plans
• Large aerial photo of the Rivers Roeburn and Hindburn to help record memories and encourage community engagement. Near Study Centre.
• River flow experimental area to play with different structures and see how they affect water flow
• Display by Lune Rivers Trust and River Fly Monitoring (Sunday)
• N’Dodo – A brillant dancable local band from 3pm Sat
• Local musicians performing near the river and in the woodlands
• Quercus, Sian Philips, Paul, Wal and Ruth and friends – Great acoustic music. Sat evening.
• Two local choirs Lune Valley Voices Sat 7.30 and Wenning Voices Sun 2pm.
• Dance performance with Dawn Morgan and friends
• River inspired poetry workshop with Eli Denvir from 11am Sun 
• Local poetry inspired by the river
• Sharing of food brought by festival visitors. Picnic by river on Sunday.
• Beautiful Roeburndale Woodlands and organic orchards

The invisible river flows through the endless night

Cold stone and loneliness
Deer bark in the woods
Sleeping birds are startled

I sit on a mossy rock and become the stars.
By Paul Michael Fergus Wiggin

Ode to the Roeburn

Your pleasant glades and babbling course helped shape my early life
Our courses set without regret seeing turbulence and strife

You calmly flow but most don’t know the gift that you have been
With twists and turns forgotten like the things that we have seen
Your harnessed strength brought riches once along your flowing course
But in just one day unfettered you showed your might and force
We all forgive what you once did as you raged without control
But will you forgive what we do now as we erode your very soul
I hoped one day I would return to see you again old friend
Your sustenance to life around I thought could never end
With grateful thanks for rewards bestowed to generations gone by
Let the children now protect you and never let you die.

Robert W Marshall
Childhood resident of Wray

Slow The Flow – Check Dams and In River Training
Demonstration area will be on display over the weekend
Follow signs and mowed path from car park.

Have you been affected by flooding, or had wonderful experiences of a special river?

Come to our

RIVERS SHARING CIRCLE

13 August 12 noon Backsbottom Farm, Roeburndale West,
Nr Lancaster.

By River Roeburn
Shared Jacobs Join picnic Sun
followed by Wenning Voices 2pm Sun