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Annual General Meeting 2017

The Annual General Meeting of the Friends of Bidston Hill will take place during the afternoon of Monday 15th May at Tam O’Shanter Urban Farm. The formal business of the AGM will be preceded at 12:30pm by a guided walk of Bidston Hill (weather permitting), returning to the farm by 1:45 pm. All welcome. The AGM itself starts at 2 pm. The formal business (including election of office bearers) will be followed by an illustrated lecture by Peter France on “Viking Wirral and the search for the site of  the Battle of Brunanburh”.

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Halloween on Bidston Hill 2016

Halloween. Seven o’clock in the evening. Well dark. Misty. I was on my way to Bidston Village and I was late. I decided to take a short cut over the hill and down to the village that way. Although I knew the hill well, I felt disorientated. Where was I? Was I still on the right track? Then I noticed a strange light in the distance ahead of me. As I approached it, I found there was a group of ghostly figures sitting in a circle around a blazing fire in a brazier that looked suspiciously like a witches’ cauldron. Then a voice called out: “Fear not. Hale and welcome. … Continue reading

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Autumn 2016 Newsletter

Our latest newsletter (Autumn 2016) is now available on-line and as a downloadable PDF. Paid up members should have received their copy already. Contents: Chairman’s Report Disney for Dogs Tales of the Hill New Beginnings for Bidston Observatory Book Reviews Membership renewals Enjoy!

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Volunteers Needed

Friday Group Each week we have a Friday Group that do various tasks on Bidston Hill, organised by our local Ranger. So if you have some time to spare and don’t mind getting ‘stuck in’, why not come along at around 10.00am on a Friday morning? We meet at the Tam O’Shanter Farm and have a cup of tea and a friendly chat before starting work. Tasks include; litter picking, pruning of trees, shrubs and gorse, path maintenance and a whole lot more. We are a friendly lot and you will be providing a very useful contribution to the work done by our volunteers. We hold various events as well … Continue reading

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Spring Clean

On Saturday 5th March, about 25 volunteers took part in an all-day Spring clean of Bidston Hill and Flaybrick Cemetery. The national “Clean for the Queen” weekend provided a convenient excuse, not that any was needed. March is a great time of year for a a clean-up of Bidston Hill, before the spring growth makes a lot of the rubbish too hard to get at. Fortunately the weather was clear, although some of the paths were still muddy from recent rains. The volunteers gathered at Tam O’Shanter Farm to collect litter-pickers, refuse sacks, and maps of the area to be covered. Bidston Hill alone covers 100 acres, and our brave … Continue reading

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Newsletter published

Our latest newsletter (February 2016) is now available on-line and as a downloadable PDF. Contents: Chairman’s introduction and forthcoming events Clean for the Queen, Saturday 5th March Memories of Bidston Hill, a letter from Brian Cheesman Bidston Observatory and Its Tide Prediction Machines, an article by Philip Woodworth of the National Oceanography Centre Enjoy!

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Clean for the Queen

Press Release from the Friends of Bidston Hill: As part of its support for the country’s biggest-ever community clear up, the Friends of Bidston Hill are organising a community litter-pick on Saturday March 5th 2016. The national Clean for The Queen campaign aims to give the country a tidy-up ahead of The Queen’s 90th birthday in April. The campaign is being backed by organisations including the Women’s Institute, the National Trust and RSPB, as well as businesses including McDonald’s, Costa, Greggs, KFC and Wrigley and anti-litter charities such as Keep Britain Tidy and the Campaign to Protect Rural England. Supported by the Government, Clean for The Queen has also won … Continue reading

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Membership renewals

Memberships of the Friends of Bidston Hill became due for renewal on 1st January 2016. The annual fee of £5 covers a whole family for a year. If you haven’t renewed your membership, or want to join, you can download the membership form here (or collect one from the Ranger’s office at Tam O’Shanter Farm). Normally, members would have received a reminder with the winter newsletter. Unfortunately, we’ve been having problems with the production of our newsletter. We apologise for the inconvenience, and thank you for your patience while we sort things out. In the meantime, we have introduced an email list, whereby anyone (not just members) can sign up … Continue reading

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Teddy Bears’ Picnic

When the heavens opened only an hour before the Teddy Bears’ Picnic on Bidston Hill, we all thought “Oh no, not again”. We’d originally scheduled the picnic two weeks earlier, and had to cancel because of severe weather warnings. But the downpour was shortlived, the sun came out, and a great time was had by all.

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Teddy Bears’ Picnic cancelled

The Teddy Bears’ Picnic, scheduled for Friday 14th August, has been cancelled due to severe weather warnings and near certainty of heavy rain. Sorry for the inconvenience. We will try again on Friday 28th August, weather permitting. Keep an eye on our events page for more information.

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