Moss Wood Caravan Park Wild Day 2023
The fundraising team joined our partners at Moss Wood Caravan Park for their annual Wild Day in the heart of Cockerham, Lancashire
As a Cockerham resident myself, I was delighted to spend a Saturday celebrating all things wild and wonderful at Moss Wood Caravan Park. As soon as you arrive on the site, you are greeted with an abundance of colour as native wildflowers tumble out of large planters and borders, leading you deeper into the park.
I arrived along with other supporters to set up our stands for the day ahead. I had the pleasure of being given a spot next to Alasdair McKee from the engagement team at the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, more familiarly the RSPB. As we chatted about our most recent campaigns, our incredible volunteers and the wonder of interactive colouring sheets, we admired the excitement of the Moss Wood residents, young and old, all eager to explore and learn. We both were showered with questions and nature lovers sharing stories about their local wildlife sightings, with families whipping out their camera phones to show us what they had spotted on their stays at Moss Wood.
Alasdair shared the history of Emily Williamson, the creator of the RSPB, a Lancastrian, with parents living in Cockerham. I shared insights on Cockerham and Winmarleigh Moss, Lancashire’s best example of a lowland raised peat bog nestled just near Garstang, between the villages of Cockerham and Winmarleigh, walkable distance from the caravan park. We had coastal finds from as close as Cockerham sands and it was clear that Moss Woods was the perfect place to learn more about the Lancashire wildlife landscape.
We were joined by the Forest of Bowland AONB who shared even more information about areas to visit a bit further afield. The Frailloop recycled steel sculpture team were there showing the power of creativity when it comes to recycling. We even saw some mini beekeepers on site, learning about the behaviours of bees and the important role they play in pollination, with Cross Apirary sharing tasters of their ranges of honey.
The day offered a range of activities for visitors to enjoy, including a Wildlife Trust favourite, pond dipping. Pond dipping is an amazing activity for children to safely get up close with the weird and wonderful creatures that live in the ponds on site. During the day we saw visitors of all ages learning and understanding the power of different habitats and the intricacies of pond ecosystems. Guests were also encouraged to have a go at making their own bird feeder, using recycled materials and learning about the steps they can make in their own gardens to help wildlife thrive.
Moss Wood Caravan Park have a wonderful nature trail for their visitors to enjoy, sharing insights into wild meadows, birds to look out for and bug hotels. We love the teams effort to share the abundant nature and wildlife that Lancashire has to offer to all of their guests. Moss Wood take huge pride in celebrating sustainable tourism in Lancashire, working to minimise their impact on the local environment and encouraging their guests to do the same.
Walking around the site you can see the efforts being made- recycling bins are readily available and their office is a recycled paper only zone. Landscape work done on site has been done with local wildlife in mind, whilst trees and hedges are only cut at the times of year least likely to disturb wildlife. A strip at the bottom of the hedgerows is left untouched to protect vulnerable habitats and most hedges are cut on a two-yearly cycle to allow them to most effectively pollinate. Areas of grass are allowed to grow free, with no interference and the plants that have been planted are locally sourced, native plant species to encourage the growth of natural wildlife.
'We have converted an area of the park into a small nature reserve, complete with scrapes for wading birds.'Moss Wood Caravan Park
Alongside their 20 consecutive years achieving the Gold Award for the David Bellamy Conservation Award Scheme, as of July 2023 they are proudly celebrating achieving the Bronze level of the internationally recognised Green Tourism scheme and are working towards the Gold level of sustainability. We are delighted to have Moss Wood Caravan Park on board as a local business member and we look forward to next years Wild Day and the next steps they take in their sustainability journey.