The Best Day In The Whole World

and 'better than Fortnite' were some of the comments made by children attending the Fantastic Fire event! 

The day began with preparations in the kitchen. Volunteers and staff made cake mix, cored apples (without a corer!), sharpened sticks, washed potatoes and even made a 'popcorn machine'!

Families soon arrived and were given a ready wrapped potato as a ticket.

As people gathered in front of the Field Centre a Buzzard was observed soaring overhead in the clear blue sky. 

On arriving at the fire site the potatoes were put into the ash pile (remaining from yesterday's worky day) along with apples, bananas, chocolate brownies in orange halves and bannock was placed on top of the ash.

A bit of maths was then involved as the bread dough was mixed for the twister dough. Sunflower oil and water were measured out with perfect precision and added to the ready mixed dry ingredients.

Ian (inventor of the potato crate) had russled up a 'popcorn maker' and it worked a treat in the flames of the campfire. The dough was cooked on the end of Willow sticks and then filled with a concoction of chocolate sauce and squirty cream or butter and cheese or honey!

Fire lighting was next on the agenda and everyone had a go at igniting a cotton wool ball with flint and steel. Determination paid off and eventually almost everybody succeeded.

Close by the croaking of frogs could be heard as the first frogspawn of the year was spotted. Please take care when visiting as there may well be frogs in the road over the coming weeks.

All in all, a fantastic event, thanks to the help and support of many volunteers. Thanks are also due to Catherine Hayden, editor of Undergrowth, who has once again put together an outstanding newsletter and to team Wednesday for coordinating the distribution to the Friends of the reserve.