Information on Loughborough

Nature diaries and natural collections - the creative way

Posted on 16/06/2009

Leicestershire Councty Council Community Services

15 June 2009

Nature diaries and natural collections - the creative way

A free evening lecture that aims to inspire people to record the countryside is to be held.

The talk will look at how wildlife records and diaries can be enhanced by creative writing, digital photography and wildlife drawing and painting.

Senior curator of natural life Carolyn Holmes will also entertain guests with anecdotes, taking inspiration from Leicestershire County Council’s Museum Collections.

The event will start at 7.30pm on Tuesday, June 30th at the Holly Hayes Environment and Heritage Resources Centre in Birstall as part of the Discover Like Darwin programme of events being run by the County Council.

Increasingly, people are spending more time outdoors, re-making connections with the countryside and discovering more about wildlife. In the past people kept wildlife notebooks and used inspiration from the natural environment to feed in to a variety of hobbies from painting to poetry writing.

Leicestershire County Council’s Natural History Collections do not just contain natural history specimens, but also hold many note books and collections of pressed specimens that give insight into the past and the work of local naturalists. These can provide inspiration to modern recorders and collectors.

The lecture will also provide people with an opportunity to collect a free copy of the Recording Naturally pack and the Natural Inspiration publication, which are full of ideas about making your own own wildlife diaries including using modern day techniques such as wildlife web sites and digital scrap books.

To book a free place on the lecture or for more information on the

Discover Like Darwin programme, please call 0116 3053726, email museums@leics.gov.uk or visit www.leics.gov.uk/darwin