Off the Peg 

Rucksacks Go Live! 

 

Yes, the rucksacks are strutting their stuff!  

Youngsters with their families or schools are enjoying Runnymede with the LDT rucksacks on backs, while hands, feet and eyes are exploring the landscape in all sorts of unexpected and exciting ways.  

What's special about the steps in the woodland?  How do you find out the age of a tree?  Why is there a tea bag in my rucksack? What's that bug?  Who was John Kennedy?!  Who was King John??!!  The rucksacks can reveal all.

Feedback has been glowing.  Rucksacks - and families - often disappear for 3 or 4 hours at a time.  Believe me, the kids come back with shining eyes.  As one family commented, children often don't want to read traditional infomation signs but the rucksack activities work reallly well.  The best comment I've heard so far - 

 "Even Dad enjoyed it"

  

 

 

 

 

Ready to Go Rucksacks

Runnymede is ready for adventure!  

 

A row of hooks has been added to the features of the newly refurbished Magna Carta Tearoom.  Along with your coffee and cakes, soup and sandwiches, you can now borrow a rucksack, stuffed with a different sort of goodies.  

Yes, the Runnymede explorer rucksacks are now available.  Grab a pack (remember to sign it out at the cafe) and allow your youngsters to embark on a voyage of discovery around Runnymede, delving into the history and landscape of this historic area.  

Open up the trail guide: where shall we go first?   Shall we try the Magna Carta memorial and read the story of King John in the shade (or shelter!) of its circular roof?  Climb the steps through the trees (one step for every state in the Union) to the J F Kennedy Memorial?  Run through the wide grassy meadows - what happened here?  Whoa - there is a huge river flowing by; where did that come from?

Why is there a tea bag in the pack?  Why a measuring tape? A paint brush?  What's this old document all about?

Borrow a rucksack and find out!

Go out number 5 and explore the womders of Runnymede!

Celebrate!

We had a fabulous launch and celebration at the National Trust Magna Carta Tearoom in May. So good to have the partners together to celebrate the rucksacks and a successful project. The Mayor of Runnymede, Councillor Yvonna Lay opened proceedings and launched a good party as well as a great project!  

The rucksacks are presented to the press!

A welcome cup of tea

Trust to Trust - Kennedy Memorial Trust's Annie Thomas
talking to Landscape Design Trust's Sheila Harvey 

Testing, Testing

Runnymede! 

Testing the Rucksacks - Hannah Owen, Gatton Trust's education trainee reports:

What a day outdoors we had. The sun was shining and the bugs were flying creating the perfect setting for a fun family day out, if of course you had one of our green rucksacks to zip up, pack up and take on a hunt around the meadows and woods for some juicy finds, facts and figures.

Each rucksack was bursting with bug pots – microscopes - measuring tapes – maps and information cards to guide each group through Runnymede, past to present.

Here we stood on the same ground that King John and his barons had met nearly eight hundred years ago to sign the Magna Carta, the written promise that the king would govern England in accordance to the feudal law. This moment marked an attempt to stop the abuse of power and the suffering of England’s people by a king, much to King Johns disdain.

Nearby sits the JFK memorial and the Kennedy steps, which once conquered provide a beautiful view of the surrounding meadows and the River Thames running by. The information provided at each memorial in combination with the booklets and fun facts in our rucksacks created an enchanting hunt through history suitable for both adults and children, keeping everyone happy.

The theme of freedom rang true in every essence of the day, families were given all the tools they needed, a few hinters and then allowed to venture off in search of their treasures – be it woodlice or inscriptions in stones.

It also provided a chance to get your heart pumping and feet stomping (big and small) in and amongst nature, learning about a poignant time in our heritage along the way too.

It’s safe to say from this trial day, the rucksacks are here to stay! And if that’s not enough to entice you there’s easy road access, parking and a café to refresh and recharge those much needed batteries.
Left: the trial team, testing HQ - thank goodness it was a sunny day - and featuring rucksack no. 5

Gatton Trust provides the specialist Education input to the Landscapes Live! project 

Runnymede Discovered!

The school visits have started! 

It is delightful to see groups of youngsters so enjoying the historic spaces of Runnymede’s meadows and woods.  

This is literally a hands on experience.  How exciting to see small hands exploring the etched stone of the Magna Carta and J F Kennedy memorials, the texture of oak tree bark and hunting for mini beats in the hedgerows and meadow edges.  

Local families will also have the opportunity to explore Runnymede too, with two group tours timed for half term (Tuesday, 29th October).  Details on how to book will soon be available on http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/runnymede/things-to-see-and-do/events/

Landscape Design Trust - we're on the way!!

What a journey! 

Nearly two years ago I wrote 'UK children are losing connection with the outdoors'

That was when Landscape Design Trust first decided to fund raise for a project to keep communities in touch with their environment.

Now of course, there is plenty of proof that well being is closely linked to having good quality open space within easy reach. That doesn't mean that there is enough green space out there, though, or that people feel comfortable about using it. Or, particularly with the demise of the charity GreenSpace, enough of us doing anything about it.

This summer, we (LDT) hope to be making a contribution to the comfort zone bit. We will be exploring the wide green expanses of Runnymede with school children, local community groups and families, many of whom may find 'out doors' a bit foreign. 

We aim to learn from their reactions and use their experience to create rucksacks. Yep, rucksacks are going to be the great new open space interpretation tool – stuffed full of games and projects and old documents and .... well, we won't really know what will be in those rucksacks until we are nearing the end of the project!

And, finally, when we do get to the end of the project, those backpacks will be available to other families to borrow, so that others can also find out that 'outdoors' isn't another country at all, but an extension of their back yard, full of exciting things to do.

It looks like being an exciting journey for all of us. We are funded by Heritage Lottery Fund's (HLF) 'All our Stories' programme and that means leaving a digital record of our project. So it's not just Runnymede's kids who are getting a new experience. I'm learning to blog. Wish me luck! Wish us all luck!

JFK Memorial Steps at Runnymede

www.landscape.co.uk