Autumn Open Day 2022
Even changeable weather could not deter the good times as we opened our gates for our Autumn Open Day this October. Almost one hundred people visited the Forest, many of whom were first-timers.
We were joined by wonderful local artists Johannes Roux and Emma Eirene. Johannes makes incredible wooden items of all shapes and sizes out of fallen trees and branches from our very own collection. Emma is an artist, photographer and entrepreneur with compelling energy. Visitors were invited to help capture the day on her living canvas, an artwork which evolved as people added ideas, colour and texture to it throughout the event. Look out for more from Emma as she is planning several events at Tortworth in 2022 and 2023.
Forest School activity sessions throughout the day gave an opportunity to create beautiful artwork, either by rolling acorns and pine cones in paint, creating leaf rubbings or or through creating natural mobiles with items from around the woods. Bug and colour hunts offered a chance to look more closely at some of the smaller creatures that live amongst leaves and under logs, and to appreciate the many shades of Autumn at Tortworth this season.
Our resident experts Jake and Garry shared their extensive knowledge of the flora, fauna and history of the Arboretum on their walking tours, and then finally, thanks in part to the grant from Renishaw, we ended the day by planting two new trees in the clearing between the Redwoods. We’re thrilled to once again have a Mongolian Oak in our collection, planted by some enthusiastic young visitors! Ever since discovering a vintage tree label for this particular type of Oak it has been a wish of the team to plant one on site. This sapling will eventually grow to around 20m, and is our 19th species of Oak at Tortworth.
Thank you so much to all who attended. This will be the last Open Day at Tortworth for a while, as we introduce seasonal Festivals for 2023, starting with our Spring Festival on the 18th March.
We hope to see you there!!
https://tortwortharboretum.org/events/
