RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch

23rd - 25th January

All you have to do is watch out for birds for one hour which you can do anywhere, including at the Bustardthorpe site.

You can find out all about it here. If you click Sign up on the home page and input your contact details on the next page, the identification chart and results record will be emailed to you (at no charge).

If you decide to take part - and do it on Bustardthorpe site, we would very much like to know your results. This will help  build up a picture of the birdlife in our own special Bustardthorpe area and will help us focus on activities like which types of bird boxes to make in future. 

To help you with this we have created a survey for you to log your results which will only take a minute or two for you to complete. Please complete the survey here. The deadline for completion is Saturday 1st February - thanks from the Trustees.

AGM

Annual General Meeting for trustees to update members on the charities’s objectives, and financial situation.

19th March, 7pm – 9pm at Bishopthorpe Sports & Social Club, Bishopthorpe Village, YO23 2RB

Delivery - manure

March 2026

We are expecting a delivery of manure on site soon, once it arrives please be considerate to other members and allow everyone an opportunity to get some for their plot. If you don’t have a wheelbarrow get in contact and we will see if we can lend you one.

Collective Sharehouse

As part of our supporting the Collective Sharehouse charity there is a filing cabinet under the verandah table where donations can be left. Donations can be surplus fruit and vegetables during the growing season and grocery, personal hygiene items etc at any time of the year. These donations are very gratefully received and we deliver them to Clements Hall once or twice a week.

Tribute - William Robert Hammond

1932 - 2025

The Gardener

The gardener, with his spade and hoe,

Works in the sun and rain and snow;

He digs and plants and waters too,

And watches over what he grew.

He tends the flowers with care,

And prunes the branches here and there;

He weeds the beds and mends the fences,

And gathers up the fallen senses.

He is a lover of the earth

And all the wonders it gives birth;

He is a lover of the bloom

And all the fragrant, sweet perfume.

The gardener is a patient man,

He works from dawn as much he can;

And when the day is done and he’s through,

He looks with pride at what he grew.

So let us all be gardeners fair

And tend to life with love and care,

And watch the seeds we plant come through,

To bloom and flourish, strong and true.