Local children enjoyed exploring a stretch of river teeming with life on their doorstep at Aspley in Huddersfield Riverside Nature Park. EPIKS and Grow to School welcomed two eager classes from Moldgreen Primary School for a river visit field trip, sponsored by Aspley Wharf based yacht engineering specialists Sentini Marine.
The site at Aspley is one of many in Huddersfield Riverside Nature Park maintained all year round by EPIKS Volunteer Environmental Rangers. EPIKS are thrilled that Grow to School are sharing this special place, and the learning it offers, with a young audience.
What makes a healthy river
The children learnt about what makes a healthy river and what creatures live in the River Colne at Aspley
Beckie Earnshaw, Grow to School’s outdoor learning and food growing practitioner tells children about river wildlife in Huddersfield Riverside Nature Park.
Beckie Earnshaw, outdoor learning and Food Growing Practitioner at Grow to School said, “Today the children have been looking at what is here in our local stretch of river. We’ve done a bit of kick sampling and in our samples the children have identified caddis fly larvae, mayfly nymphs , leeches, beetle larva, freshwater snails and a freshwater crayfish.
Half of the children who came here today said they didn’t know about this place. It’s fabulous that they’ve been introduced to it now, so they can come back with their family for many years to come.”
EPIKS Volunteer Co-ordinator and Environmental Ranger Gilly Dukes
Gilly Dukes, EPIKS Volunteer Co-ordinator and Environmental Ranger said,
“What we’re trying to encourage in all our work in nature is a relationship with the spaces that we live in. Bringing young people from their own neighbourhood to somewhere that is walkable from home to explore the things that live in these spaces and have a greater understanding means you build a connection. With that connection you build responsibility and stewardship.
If you have seen what lives in the water and you’ve examined it and you can identify it, then you have a greater ability to care for it. It’s the same for adults. You’ve got to be able to think about what you’re doing in your own home and how it affects what happens downstream.”
“Awe and wonder”
Moldgreen Primary School pupils identifying river wildlife at Aspley in Huddersfield Riverside Nature Park
Joel McKay, Year 4 teacher at Moldgreen Primary School said,
“It’s been brilliant. It’s been a true sense of awe and wonder for the children. They’ve been engaged with the activity, they’re learning loads by the second. You can truly see that this is something they would love to do more of in the future and that’s what we try to inspire in them, spending more time in nature.”
The children were joined at the riverside by Jon Lee , Director at Sentini Marine, who generously sponsored the event. Jon said,
“It’s really great to see the kids going on an adventure and finding out what’s in the river- it reminded me what it’s like to have been a child on a field trip. To have been able to help facilitate it, it’s been a real privilege for us.
“Sentini Marine supply operations manuals for superyachts worldwide and believe in protecting the seas and waterways. We believe in teaching and encouraging the next generation to take an interest in the waterways; some of these kids will remember this field trip for the rest of their lives- we hope events like this will inspire the next generation.”
EPIKS are always keen to talk to businesses about sponsoring activities in Huddersfield Riverside Nature Park- if your company would like to explore supporting our work, get in touch on and take a look at our Corporate Environmental Stewardship page.
If you’d like to be part of the amazing crew of Volunteer Environmental Rangers who look after Huddersfield Riverside Nature Park, check out our volunteering page and send an email to .