Announcing “The Gathering: for water and Nature”

admin on January 30, 2026

The River Hope team are organising events around Stratford-on-Avon District and South Warwickshire between 6 – 15 March, 2026, to see water differently – as a living presence that connects people, place and Nature.

The programme was launched on 1 December, 2025 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Stratford-upon-Avon: see presentation outlining the overarching vision (Remember | Reflect | Restore).

They are co-creating an opportunity for people across South Warwickshire to come together for learning, creative exploration and imagining, reflection, planning and action to mark the International Day of Action for Rivers on Saturday 14 March, 2026.

Expect: workshops, discussion panels, book talks, film screenings, exhibitions, ceremonies and hands-on activities that bring together residents, creatives, environmentalists, schools, local organisations, community groups and elected representatives.

New scrape and butterfly bank in Cornmill Meadows, Shipston-on Stour

admin on January 18, 2026

Shipston is very fortunate to have its own designated Local Wildlife Site. Cornmill Meadows is owned and managed by Shipston Town Council with the help of Warwickshire Wildlife Trust and a team of local volunteers.

As soon as they took on Cornmill Meadows, the management group were encouraged to include ‘more water’. A team from the Severn Rivers Trust dug out a scrape in the lower meadow at the end of 2025 (at no cost to the group) and created a butterfly bank with the soil that was removed. The site obviously looks very bare at the moment, but the group will plant it up as soon as they can and, hopefully, within a year it should look a lot more established.