Formby National Trust Art Project

Formby Nature Reserve News No Comments


Community and Participation Officer Paul Semple has been working with art teacher Jennie from Outline Arts over the last few weeks. School children from the Sefton area have been working on a project which has allowed young people to pass on key messages relating to nature and recycling through art.

There were two parts to Paul’s art project with the children. Formby primary school pupils from St Jerome’s, Our Lady of Compassion, Woodlands and St Luke’s schools displayed their work on Friday 21st April. This was for World Earth Day and the art was exhibited at the Formby Professional Developement Centre.

The second part of the project was on Saturday 22nd April at the Workshop, Holy Trinity Church, Formby. Pupils from some of the secondary schools in Bootle, Southport and Formby showed their artistic creativity. This display attracted 150 people from the local area. The young people were keen to bring Formby to people who are unable to visit the beach and woodland site for various reasons. One member of the group took some excellent photographs of the beach and woodland during all four seasons of the year. These pictures were then incorporated into the paintings of some of the young artists.

Congratulations to all the school children and their teachers on the high standard of their work. Thank you to Paul and Jennie for their hard work and input into the project. Many thanks also to Jan and Alison who worked extremely hard in the Workshop kitchen making tea/coffees and tasty bacon sandwiches.

Southport and Formby National Trust Association were delighted to support this project.

If you are not a member but would like to attend one of our events or would like to join the Association please complete our Contact Form.

Article and photos provided by Edwina Alcock, with thanks.


Dunham Massey

News Outings No Comments
Dunham buildings
Dunham Massey

Our first outing of 2023 was to Dunham Massey in Cheshire on the 19th April. The weather was fine with sunny intervals so was perfect for our first trip of the year. We were made very welcome by the staff at Dunham Massey and everyone found plenty to see and do during our time there. Dunham Massey has a house filled with treasures and stories, an ancient deer park with a herd of fallow deer, and a garden for all seasons. There is also a 17th century corn mill converted to a sawmill in 1860 that could be explored by guided tour. The watermill still drives machinery including a frame saw, band saw, circular saw, boring machine and lathe.

The Mill DM


There is a stunning garden for all seasons. Our knowledgeable guide Mike took some of our group around the garden and showcased the seasonal highlights. At this time of year the daffodils, tulips, camellias, magnolias, pulmonarias and early anemones made a lovely display. We all appreciated the sunshine and fresh air and agreed that the outing was relaxed and very enjoyable.
Our next trip is to Quarry Bank Mill, a heritage property in Wilmslow, Cheshire. This outing will take place on Tuesday 23rd May.

Moat


If you are not a member but would like to attend any of our events or are interested in joining our Association, please complete the Contact Form. Your enquiry will then be forwarded to the relevant organiser.

Article and photographs by Lois Hughes

News speaker meeting No Comments

Our guest speaker on Friday 24th March was Pete Turner, a professional magician for the past 26 years. A man still clearly in love with his job. 

On his visit last year Pete entertained us with table magic during a celebratory lunch where he demonstrated some of his intriguing magic tricks. Pete’s talk in March was Heads I win Tails you lose and he talked about the psychology of magic and the probability of predicting the correct playing card chosen and held by a volunteer. The magician relies on probability, so has to be aware of the odds of his prediction being correct. The mathematics involved in the prediction are very complex. Pete is very fortunate to have a brother who has been able to work out the odds of the various tricks working out the way Pete had hoped.

We were astonished when, after a large number of audience members stood up, as requested by Pete were gradually eliminated. The last standing was handed a piece of paper on which Pete had earlier written the prediction that he would be the last man standing. The pre written paper had described in detail, the clothing that the man would be wearing.

Pete left his audience with a piece of advice, if you have to toss a coin at any time, use a Euro, because they don’t have ‘heads’.Thus you will always be the winner. 

As always Pete left his audience entertained, baffled and bewildered, in equal measure.

If you are not a member but are interested in our events or in joining our Association, please complete our Contact Form.

Article provided by Edwina Alcock. Photographs by John Hitchmough, with thanks.

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