February 2024

11 Buckden Roundabout February 2024 Buckden & Diddington Footpaths Did you know that our villages have 22 signposted foot- paths? According to the “ Buckden and Diddington Public Rights of Way Map ” ( https://buckdenpc.org.uk/wp - content/uploads/2020/03/Footpaths - Map.pdf ), the shortest of these is just 30m and the longest is 1900m, albeit that is part of the Ouse Valley Way (North), a path that extends for some 41km! Many of these paths pass through interesting countryside and some lovely scenery. With the map and a bit of planning, you can devise sever- al circular routes of varying length to suit the time availa- ble to you and our somewhat unpredictable weather. Alternatively, the Round - about Buckden walk leaflet de- scribes an 8 km circular trail starting from the Village Hall. Copies can be found in the box by the information board outside the Village Hall or can be downloaded from https://buckdenpc.org.uk/wp - content/ uploads/2020/03/Route - map.pdf. This trail was devised to encourage residents and visitors to explore our local area, to learn more about its history and to hopefully experience the delights of its flora and fauna. To help you make the most of the walk, there are some helpful leaflets for each of the four seasons and one which de- tails local history https://buckdenpc.org.uk/the - parish/ walking - in - buckden/. If history is your thing then you might like to try out the shorter walk around the village pavements to find out more about our wonderful buildings and their history https://buckdenpc.org.uk/wp - content/uploads/2021/02/ History - Leaflet - Oct - 20 - All.pdf Don ’ t forget to take in a stroll around the Park at the Towers and when it is open, a visit to the Knot Garden, on your way along the High Street. Walking with children Whilst the idea of getting the kids to let off steam by tak- ing them for a walk seems like the perfect plan and they are really keen to begin with, the reality of it can be quite different! However, there are some great ways to keep them interested and some resources to help which are freely available. The Round - about Buckden walk has a child - friendly leaflet with some brilliant activity sugges- tions for things to do/look out for on your walk https:// buckdenpc.org.uk/wp - content/uploads/2020/03/17400 - Buckden - Leaflets_Kids.pdf . Turning our daily walk to school into a competition, with a small reward at the end, always used to work with mine. With this idea in mind, the Green Infrastructure and Biodiversity Advisory Group of the Parish Council are inviting all young people in the Parish to take part in a Photography / Art competition to make artistic impres- sions of some of the local footpaths. Details of this will be in next month ’ s edition of the Roundabout and will be available on the Parish Council website. The closing date will be mid - April so plenty of time for the weather to im- prove! To whet their appetites for the competition, here are a few other ideas to make walks more fun: • What ’ s changed? Are there different plants, birds, animals, etc., on your route? • Encourage your child to keep a log (photographic is easiest) of what they have seen. If done over time this can show how the seasons change and if kept up for a few years, show how the climate is affecting our flora and fauna. • Start a museum collection. Take an egg box with you and put in it 6 things you have found that are interesting and you want to keep. • Play wildflower / tree / animal / bird bingo. Just agree a number of different wildflowers / trees / birds they need to collect before you start. To help identify these, there is a great App by iNaturalist called SEEK. For the more adventurous, you might try listening to bird song https:// www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife/how - identify/ identify - bird - song • What ’ s that footprint? Great for this time of year when paths are muddy or if we are lucky, covered in snow. Take a picture and see if you can work out what left the print when you get home. This site has some good tips and photos to help with that. https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2022/01/ animal - tracks - snow - print - identification/ • Who left that behind? Identifying animals from their poo. Sounds a bit gross but kids are fascinat- ed by it. https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/ blog/2020/02/animal - tracks - id - kids/ • How many colours? Each agree a colour before you set off (or to save arguments, have a sweet treat wrapped in different colour paper in a bag to be drawn by each child). How many things can you spot of that colour on your walk? • Bark rubbing. Take a few small pieces of paper and some wax crayons along with you. The results can be used to make a collage of a tree (or other art- work) when you get home. • For many more ideas visit www.pect.org.uk/ services/education We hope that you enjoy your walks and look forward to seeing your competition entries. Madeline Fraser