Monthly Archives: May 2013

“Neither wild nor manicured!”

Next Saturday morning (May 25th) Clonard Girl Guides along with a group from the Wexford Christian Fellowship undertake a very worthwhile project in Redmond Park. The wild meadow at the top of the park was described by the Tidy Towns’ judges in their 2012 report as being “neither wild nor manicured”! That’s about to change. Under the watchful eye of Clíona Connolly this work party will begin the process of turning this area into a genuinely wild meadow.

Posted in Biodiversity, Events, Tidy Towns Competition, Tidy Towns News

Go Foraging at Raven Woods!

foragingeventsmarywhiteMary White of Blackstairs Eco Trails will be in Wexford on Saturday, May 25 for the Wexford Food & Wine Festival. She is leading a walk that morning (11am-12noon) from the car park at Raven Woods, just beyond Curracloe village. This is no ordinary walk as Mary will have all those in her charge foraging for all manner of wild and tasty incredible edibles along the way. After this you need never go hungry! Price €5 per person. Remember to wear sturdy boots and stuff a rain jacket in your backpack.

Posted in Events

204 Tidy Towns Supporters sign up for GreenHome Energy Savings

Some time ago, we posted an article outlining the benefits for householders in signing up for GreenHome, an An Taisce project which shows you how to make changes to your energy and utility usage patterns, saving you money while protecting the environment at the same time.

greenhomeAn Taisce informs us that 204 households have signed up under the “Wexford Tidy Towns” banner, we are very pleased to have introduced so many people to an easy way to keep money in their pockets, and do their bit for the environment.

Click on the link to go straight to the GreenHome sign-up page. Click on the “Pre green home survey” button on the right ( under My Account ). You’ll see 42 multi-choice options – for each one just click on the option most applicable to your own home ( there are ‘not sure’ and ‘not applicable’ options for all questions, so it really will take just a few minutes ). Remember to Select “Wexford” from the ‘Counties’ list and “Wexford Tidy Towns” from the Groups list.

GreenHome is an environmental programme that aims to support and direct householders as they take actions that reduce their impact on the environment while saving money on household bills. Any individual can visit the website here to become a member and learn about ways to save money, access current environmental information, see how ‘green’ their household is and enter competitions. Participants complete a simple survey at the beginning of the programme. This is followed by four action based themed household challenges to include: ‘Slim your bin’ waste reduction challenge; ‘Energy Vampire’ challenge to find out about ways to reduce energy use in the home; The ‘Water Wise’ challenge that helps householders to find out about ways to preserve and conserve water as a precious resource and ‘Travel Green’ challenge where householders learn about environmentally responsible travel options. The GreenHome team actively engage with participants though workshops and presentations and the programme has 4,000+ online members.

As of 2011, it has been agreed that the GreenHome programme is the “preferred option” to demonstrate waste minimisation, as part of the Tidy Towns competition. The Tidy Towns volunteers can join as a group and used to demonstrate waste prevention and minimisation.

So – if you are interested in saving money, protecting our environment, and boosting Wexford’s score in the Tidy Town’s Competition, please visit www.greenhome.ie, and register your household, community group or business as a member.

Posted in Tidy Towns News

Sásta – Family entertainment in Wexford June Bank Holiday Weekend

Wexford Quays will be a riot of festive fun for all the family this June Bank Holiday Weekend (Sat 1st and Sun 2nd, 12pm to 8pm daily) for the first ever Sásta Festival. There’s a feast of music, comedy, food and craic to look forward to with an emphasis on the young (and the young-at-heart!)

McFaddens Funfair’s Pleasure Planet will be bringing along their Travelling Theme Park, with the newest and best in funfair rides, and there will be carousels, climbing walls, puppet shows, clowns, face-painting and lots more to make this a special weekend for the kids.

Jerry Fish will play ringmaster on the main stage, with a variety of musical and comedy acts, including the brilliant Galway Rock Band “The Cabin Collective”.

sastafestival

Posted in Events

Celebrate International Day for Biological Diversity (May 22) with a natural history tour of Wexford

The United Nations has designated May 22 as International Day for Biological Diversity. The purpose of the day is to increase understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues with the theme this year “Water and Biodiversity”. This, of course, is music to the ears of our friends at the Wexford Naturalists Field Club the aim of which is to promote, enjoy and celebrate all aspects of the county’s rich natural heritage. To honour the occasion WNFC has lined up Dave Daly, Zoë Devlin, Alan McGuire and Chris Wilson to lead a guided walk exploring the natural history of Wexford Town. Meet 7pm at Rowe Street Church car park. To take part one must be a member of WNFC (join now!) or a guest.

Alan and Chris are part of the team, along with Don Conroy, behind WildSide, an independent group devoted to observing, celebrating, and promoting, our natural world and wildlife. Zoë Devlin is the published of ‘Wildflowers of Ireland – A personal Record’ (www.wildflowersofireland.net). Dave Daly is a celebrated wildlife artist who has just been elected to the prestigious Water Colour Society of Ireland (www.davedalyartist.com). Both Alan and Dave are members of our own Biodiversity Committee.

Posted in Biodiversity, Events

Enjoy National Dawn Chorus Day at Tintern Abbey

DawnChorusRobin X3 (Clive Timmons) 180BirdWatch Ireland’s National Dawn Chorus Day takes place on Sunday next, May 19th. Those in Co Wexford prepared to make the early start are guaranteed one of the best choral works they will ever hear at historic Tintern Abbey, near Saltmills. Meet at the barrier at the entrance to the abbey at 4.30am. The walk will be led by Chris Wilson, Alan McGuire and Don Conroy with breakfast afterwards at the Wheelhouse Cafe, Fethard-on-Sea. While the “show” is free you pay for your breakfast! This event is held in conjunction with the South Australia Branch of Birds Australia who will be holding their own Dawn Chorus event on the same day in Caroline Forest. There is also a “Dusk Chorus” event on Forth Mountain at 8pm that evening.

Posted in Events

Clean up at Horse River

That’s the name we are giving to today’s posting following another day of Trojan work by Wexford Tidy Towns. Keep reading!
We returned this morning to Westgate to continue with the painting of railings and gates at An Tobar / Westgate Centre. We also collected litter from the general area surrounding: Westgate Green, Selskar, George Street, Abbey Street, Spawell Road, 1798 Street, Redmond Square, Redmond Road. And following reports of a serious litter problem, a small crew was dispatched to an area called The Knock up near Bishopswater. What a mess! Then again this area, tucked away out of sight as it is beside the Horse River, has long had a reputation as a litter blackspot. Suffice to say that it looks a helluva lot better now than it did but it will take a few repeat visits to get it properly sorted. All the pix today come from The Knock … ‘cos that’s where the camera was!

horserivercleanup
Horse River, Wexford

Posted in Cleanups, Tidy Towns Competition, Tidy Towns News