Our visitor centres organise a regular programme of events and activities for adults and families. Events taking place over the next few weeks are listed below.
The Trust has fourteen Local Groups across the county that organise a programme of walks and talks for local members. Non-members are welcome at these events.
Booking is essential for most centre events, so make sure you call or visit the centre in advance to avoid disappointment.
View our upcoming events:
Sun 25th Jul 2010 9:00-17:00 Birding on the Reservoir Weekend at Abberton A joint event with Essex Birdwatching Society to promote birdwatching at it best. Guides to help with bird ID, binocular and telescope sales and advice, secondhand books, Swallow Birding stand, caterers on site. Birds should be plentiful, including common tern, nightingale, yellow wagtail, hobby and more. Come along and join the fun! Free event. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information. Location Abberton Reservoir Visitor Centre
10:00-17:00 Art Exhibition Long established and popular exhibition of over 300 pictures for sale from local artists. Portfolios from £10. Donation requested. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information. Location Thorndon Countryside Visitor Centre 10:00-16:00 Our Native Trees Native woodlands and the way they have been managed are an often-overlooked aspect of our history. The course will begin with an introduction to and history of native woodlands, looking at what defines a native tree and moving on to the state of our woodlands in the present day. It will focus on trees that are likely to be found in the woodlands and hedgerows of Essex and will explain how we identify trees using a combination of clues such as leaves, buds, bark, tree height and location. Simple identification keys will also be discussed. Leader: Bill Godsafe. Requested Donation: £30.00 To book a place on this course please contact Abbotts Hall Farm Admin team on 01621 862960 or admin@essexwt.org.uk Location Hanningfield Reservoir Visitor Centre
10:30-12:00 Teddy Bears Picnic Bring your teddy along to enjoy an adventure on the nature reserve. Follow a trail and enjoy lots of stories and a sing song. Stay on the reserve afterwards to enjoy your picnic! Suitable for under 6 years must be accompanied by an adult. Donation £5.00 per child. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Fingringhoe Wick Visitor Centre
12:00-16:00 Inflatable Fun Day NEW EVENT A variety of inflatables including bouncy castles and slides will be in the glade. A wristband can be obtained for £5 donation in the visitor centre and this gives unlimited go's on the inflatables for the 4 hours. Donation £5.00 per child. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Hanningfield Reservoir Visitor Centre
14:00-16:00 Insect life under the microscope Meet at Lee Chapel Lane car park . For more information please contact Brian Dawson on 01268 491540 Tue 27th Jul 2010 10:00-12:00 Caterpillar Club Langdon 5 A fun morning of outdoor activities, messy play and games for pre-schoolers. Suitable for 18 months up. Younger siblings go free. Donation £4.00 per child. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Langdon Visitor Centre
10:30-15:00 Wildlife Discovery Club 1 Every Tuesday in the school holidays. Outdoor and wildlife fun suitable for 7-11 year olds. 7 year olds must be accompanied by an adult but 8 years + can come along unaccompanied. Bring a packed lunch and wear suitable outdoor clothing! ADVANCE BOOKING ESSENTIAL. Donation £10.00 per child. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Bedfords Park Visitor Centre
10:30-12:30 Family Nature Day Make for cover! Donation £5.00 per child. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Thorndon Countryside Visitor Centre
14:00-16:00 Family Nature Day Creature Safari Donation £5.00 per child. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Thorndon Countryside Visitor Centre
Wed 28th Jul 2010 10:00-12:00 Caterpillar Club Bedfords Park July Wildlife and outdoor fun and crafts in the park for pre school children. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Advance booking essential. Donation £5.00 per child. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Bedfords Park Visitor Centre 10:30-12:30 Knights Princesses Dragons Quest ECC Event. Pick up a secret map and lead yourselves through the woods. Solve the riddles about magical long a go times. Collect a prize at the end. Suitable for accompanied children ages 3 to 8 years. Pre-booking essential, contact 01277 211250 for more details and to book. Cost £3.00 per child. Location Thorndon Countryside Visitor Centre 10:30-15:00 Wildlife Discovery Day Forest Skills Donation £10.00 per child. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Hanningfield Reservoir Visitor Centre
12:00-15:45 Owl Day 3 sessions Come along and spend some time in the Visitor Centre seeing, touching and learning about our amazing Owls. BOOKING ESSENTIAL. 3 sessions available 12 - 12.45 or 1.30 - 2.15 or 3 - 3.45 Donation £4.00 per child & £1.00 for each accompanying adult. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Chafford Gorges Visitor Centre
13:30-15:30 Family Nature Day Meadow Minibeast Hunt Donation £5.00 per child. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Bedfords Park Visitor Centre
Thu 29th Jul 2010 1:30-15:30 Family Nature Day Paper Making Donation £5.00 per child. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Bedfords Park Visitor Centre
10:30-14:30 Wildlife Discovery Day 1 Smorgasbord !! A mixture of outdoor activities for 8-12 year olds. You will need a packed lunch and suitable clothing.pre-booking essential. Donation £10.00 per child. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Thorndon Countryside Visitor Centre
Fri 30th Jul 2010 10:00-12:00 Family Nature Day Forest Skills Donation £5.00 per child. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Hanningfield Reservoir Visitor Centre
10:00-12:00 Craft Club Jewellery Making A new club for Fridays in the Summer Holidays. Join us as we make our own beads, then create some unique items to take home. Suitable for ages 4+ must be accompanied by an adult. £5 per child to cover materials. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Langdon Visitor Centre
10:30-15:30 Conservation Club 2 Become a young volunteer, take part in practical conservation work and help to look after Bedfords Park. Suitable for 11 years +. (Secondary Age) Bring a packed lunch and wear suitable outdoor clothing & footwear. We recommend wearing long sleeved tops and long trousers. Places limited ADVANCE BOOKING ESSENTIAL. Free event. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Bedfords Park Visitor Centre
13:30-15:30 Family Nature Day Pond Dipping at Langdon Donation £4.00 per child. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Langdon Visitor Centre
19:00-9:00 Wild Night Out 4 Enjoy a whole night on the nature reserve exploring its wildlife – bat detecting, nocturnal pond dipping, small mammal survey and much more. Eat supper round an open fire, camp in tents provided and enjoy a full English breakfast at the centre in the morning. Donation £30.00 per person. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Hanningfield Reservoir Visitor Centre
Sat 31st Jul 2010 10:00-16:00 Birding Day Out Join our expert leaders for a day of field trips to various local sites. We'll use our up-to-date local knowledge to take you to the best places and see the best birds. Numbers are limited so please book early. Donation £20.00 per person. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information. Location Abberton Reservoir Visitor Centre
10:30-12:00 Seed and Produce Swap July Are you stuck in a glut of Vegetables? Got too many seedlings, or seeds? Then come to our seed and produce swap at the visitor centre. Arrive at 10.30am to start swapping. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information. Donations welcome. Location Bedfords Park Visitor Centre Sun 1st Aug 2010 10:00-16:00 Optics Day 4 Are you just starting out in birdwatching and don't know where to begin, looking to upgrade those old binoculars or thinking about getting your first telescope? Come along to Abberton Reservoir Visitor Centre on an Optics Day and let our friendly Optics Team help and advise you. Our range of binoculars, telescopes, tripods and accessories, carefully selected for quality, price and value for money, will be on display so you can try before your buy. Includes Opticron, Hawke and Minox. Special offers and secondhand available. All profits go to EWT to support our conservation work around the county. Free event. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information. Location Abberton Reservoir Visitor Centre
Tue 3rd Aug 2010 10:00-11:00 Creative Clay Come and have some messy fun with clay. Donation £5.00 per person. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Chafford Gorges Visitor Centre
10:30-14:30 Wildlife Discovery Day 2 Smorgasbord !! A mixture of outdoor activities for 8-12 year olds. You will need a packed lunch and suitable clothing.pre-booking essential. Donation £10.00 per child. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Thorndon Countryside Visitor Centre
10:30-15:00 Minibeast Safari Wildlife Discovery Day Donation £10.00 per child. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Fingringhoe Wick Visitor Centre
10:30-15:00 Wildlife Discovery Club 2 Every Tuesday in the school holidays. Outdoor and wildlife fun suitable for 7-11 year olds. 7 year olds must be accompanied by an adult but 8 years + can come along unaccompanied. Bring a packed lunch and wear suitable outdoor clothing! ADVANCE BOOKING ESSENTIAL. Donation £10.00 per child. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Bedfords Park Visitor Centre
10:30-14:00 Family Nature Day Bushcraft and Bivvies Donation £5.00 per child. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Abberton Reservoir Visitor Centre
13:00-14:00 Creative Tshirts Bring your own plain, pale coloured T-shirt to decorate. Donation £5.00 per child. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Chafford Gorges Visitor Centre
Wed 4th Aug 2010 10:00-15:00 Fishing Day 1 Come along and try your hand at fishing. Donation £4.00 per child. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Chafford Gorges Visitor Centre
10:00-14:00 Fairy Wings Making Session All day at chafford gorge we will be using tissue and sparkles to craete some very magical fairy wings to take home. Wear old clothes for messy fun! Donation £4.00 per child. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Chafford Gorges Visitor Centre
10:00-12:00 Family Nature Day A walk in the wildwoods Donation £5.00 per child. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Bedfords Park Visitor Centre
10:00-12:00 Caterpillar Club August am Two hours of fun and games in the Park for pre-school children and their families. Pre booking essential. Donation £5.00 per child. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Thorndon Countryside Visitor Centre
10:00-14:00 The Chalk Walk Come and join our guided walk and experience 85 million years of Earth’s history - see the evidence at Chafford for tropical oceans, colliding continents, arctic tundra, the wandering Thames and much more. Donation £5.00 per person. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Chafford Gorges Visitor Centre
10:30-15:00 Wildlife Discovery Day Tracks Trails and Treasure Donation £10.00 per child. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Hanningfield Reservoir Visitor Centre
10:30-15:00 Wildlife Discovery Day Bushcraft Adventures Donation £10.00 per child. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Abberton Reservoir Visitor Centre
10:30-12:00 Family Nature Day Pond Dipping Donation £5.00 per child. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Fingringhoe Wick Visitor Centre
11:00-13:00 The Happy Unbirthday Party ECC Event. Come and celebrate your unbirthday in the woods at Thorndon Park South. Fun and games, singing, balloons the works! And a present to take away! Suitable for accompanied children over the age of 3 years. Pre-booking and payment essential, contact 01277 211250 for more details and to book. Location Thorndon Countryside Visitor Centre
13:00-14:30 Family Nature Day Creative Bushcraft Donation £5.00 per child. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Fingringhoe Wick Visitor Centre
14:00-16:00 Caterpillar Club August pm Two hours of fun and games in the Park for pre-school children and their families. Pre booking essential. Donation £5.00 per child. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Thorndon Countryside Visitor Centre
19:30-21:30 Owl Evening at Hanningfield Come & enjoy another fantastic evening with Phil Eckett from ‘Owlwise’ and meet several different types of owls. Features a seated illustrated talk, and an interactive demonstration with live owls. Donation £5.00 per adult & £3.00 per child. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Hanningfield Reservoir Visitor Centre
Thu 5th Aug 2010 10:00-12:00 Family Nature Day Den Building Morning Donation £5.00 per child. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Bedfords Park Visitor Centre
10:00-12:00 Family Nature Day Pond Patrol Donation £5.00 per child. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Abberton Reservoir Visitor Centre
10:30-14:30 Wildlife Discovery Day Does Science Suck? Donation £8.00 per child. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Langdon Visitor Centre
10:30-12:30 Family Nature Day The Challenge Donation £5.00 per child. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Thorndon Countryside Visitor Centre
13:30-15:30 Family Nature Day Pond Dipping Afternoon Donation £5.00 per child. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Bedfords Park Visitor Centre
13:30-15:30 Family Nature Day Natural Art and Craft Donation £5.00 per child. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Abberton Reservoir Visitor Centre
14:00-16:00 The Challenge Family Nature Day Donation £5.00 per child. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Thorndon Countryside Visitor Centre
16:00-17:00 After School Art Club 6 Come and learn how to draw wildlife each week. Donation £4.00 per child. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Chafford Gorges Visitor Centre
19:00-21:00 Owl Evening at Bedfords Park Phil Eckett from Owlwise will be giving a talk and flying his owls in the centre. Booking essential. Donation £6.00 per person. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information. Location Bedfords Park Visitor Centre
Fri 6th Aug 2010 10:00-12:00 Family Nature Day Tracks Trails and Treasure Donation £5.00 per child. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Hanningfield Reservoir Visitor Centre
10:00-12:00 Craft Club Clay A new club for Fridays in the Summer Holidays. Create some unique items to take home. Suitable for ages 4+ must be accompanied by an adult. £5 per child to cover materials. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Langdon Visitor Centre
10:30-12:30 I'm a kid get me out of here! ECC Event. Follow bushcraft expert Roy Spears' tips and pointers to learn how to survive in the wild. A self led trail with a prize at the end. Suitable for families, come in explorer costume! Pre-booking essential, contact 01277 211259 and meet a the Pavilion Cafe at Thorndon Park South. Cost £3.00 per child. 10:30-14:00 Family Nature Day Minibeast Hunters Donation £5.00 per child. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Abberton Reservoir Visitor Centre
10:30-15:30 Conservation Club 3 Become a young volunteer, take part in practical conservation work and help to look after Bedfords Park. Suitable for 11 years +. (Secondary Age) Bring a packed lunch and wear suitable outdoor clothing & footwear. We recommend wearing long sleeved tops and long trousers. Places limited ADVANCE BOOKING ESSENTIAL. Free event. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Bedfords Park Visitor Centre
13:00-14:30 Family Nature Day Orienteering Adventure Donation £5.00 per child. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Fingringhoe Wick Visitor Centre
13:30-15:30 Family Nature Day Mad about the Meadows Donation £4.00 per child. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Langdon Visitor Centre
Sat 7th Aug 2010 9:00-17:00 Art Exhibition at Hanningfield A selection of paintings of birds by Keith Clark will be on display in the visitor centre. Come and have a browse and even buy if you see something that takes your fancy! Donation requested. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Hanningfield Reservoir Visitor Centre
10:00-16:00 Macro photography Workshop One day workshop to learn how to use your camera to make fantastic pictures from the tiniest details. Booking essential. Donation £35.00 per person. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information. Location Bedfords Park Visitor Centre
10:30-12:30 Plants and butterflies of Marks Hill Plants and butterflies of Marks Hill. Meet at Delmores car park at 10.30am. For more information please contact Joy Emerson on 01708 440297. 14:00-16:00 Grub Club Two hours of themed fun in the woods for accompanied children ages 5 to 7 years. Pre-booking essential, donation £5.00 per child. Location Thorndon Countryside Visitor Centre 19:00-9:00 Wild Night Out 5 Enjoy a whole night on the nature reserve exploring its wildlife – bat detecting, nocturnal pond dipping, small mammal survey and much more. Eat supper round an open fire, camp in tents provided and enjoy a full English breakfast at the centre in the morning. Donation £30.00 per person. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Sun 8th Aug 2010 9:00-17:00 Art Exhibition at Hanningfield A selection of paintings of birds by Keith Clark will be on display in the visitor centre. Come and have a browse and even buy if you see something that takes your fancy! Donation requested. Please telephone the visitor centre for more information or to book your place. Location Hanningfield Reservoir Visitor Centre
10:30-16:00 Explore the Seafloor Explore the Seafloor during National Marine Week. Wessex Archaeology brings their Explore the Seafloor (http://ets.wessexarch.co.uk/) road show to Fingringhoe Wick Visitor Centre and nature reserve. There will be lots of hands-on activities to help you investigate the seafloor off the East Coast of England– what it’s made of, what creatures live there and what we can learn about the heritage and history of our seabed. Activities will be available throughout the day so you can arrive and join in at anytime. Normal suggested entry donation requested £2 per adult £1 per child or £5 per family (2 adults & 2 children). Location Fingringhoe Wick Visitor Centre NO BOOKING REQUIRED |