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Contact Us
Tel: 07984 665958
Email: ruperra@gmail.com
Registered Charity no 1054796
Company Limited by Guarantee no 03186952
Ruperra Conservation Trust,
Orchard Bungalow,
Chatham,
Machen, Caerphilly,
CF83 8SB
News & Events
Time to order your firewood! Support your local woodland, buy from us - phone Ruperra Countryside Services for logs and kindling - 07977 599181 or 07984 665958.
Walks and other events
Saturday Oct 12th 10.00am Car park Our Famous Fungus Foray Join us for a wander along the paths with Peter Sturgess, our expert botanist, explaining which of the many thousands of fungi we’re looking at. Lasts about 2.5 hours.
Tuesday November 19th Caerphilly Conservative Club 7.15pm Annual General Meeting (NB: members only) If you think we should be doing things differently, come along and have your say, It’s your Trust and we want your views!
Saturday December 21st 10.30am Car park Shortest Day Walk Our annual winter walk to enjoy the different aspects our woodland offers now. Meet at the car park as usual, then at the end enjoy some hot soup and a roll (provided by us!).
Wednesday January 1st 11.00am Car park New Year’s Day Walk Hopefully the weather will be good this year! We’ll start a little later and go a little further; about 5 miles of ramblings to walk off the excesses of the festive season … bring lunch and a drink. We’ll aim to end around 3.00pm.
Great funding news! In late 2018, the Trust was lucky enough to have a grant application approved by the Landfill Disposal Tax Community Scheme, which is run by the Wales Council for Voluntary Action. The grant is for £49,700, and will be spent over three years to complete three biodiversity projects:
- Hedge restoration and re-laying in several parts of the woodland
- Removal of young Douglas Fir above the Lower Summerhouse before it becomes too big to handle, growing as it does on a steep slope and on the hillfort
- After the removal of these conifers, restoration of heathy habitat on the area around the motte, to attract more reptiles, birds, plants and insects, and creation of hazel coppice woodland adjacent for our dormice.
We’re very grateful to the WCVA for their support and we’ll keep you updated on progress.
Other funding thanks: We'd like to thank the players of the People's Postcode Lottery, who made it possible for us to lay 400 metres of native hedge for wildlife. In December 2016, our hedge laying team were funded by a fantastic grant of £9268, and the woodland birds, bats, dormice and insects will all benefit from the work.
More information on this can be found on the People's Postcode Lottery website, www.postcodelottery.co.uk
Programme of Events October 2019–February 2020
All walks begin at the main car park on the Draethen-Michaelston road (grid ref ST228871) unless otherwise stated. Please wear sensible footwear and clothing. All welcome to all events - including children and dogs! Please check before coming out if the weather is poor - we may cancel.
Volunteer Sundays are normally held on the first and third Sundays of every month, as follows: October 6th and 20th, November 3rd and 17th, December 1st and 15th, January 5th and 19th, February 2nd and 16th. All are welcome: come when you can, and stay for as long (or as short) as you want. Sue Price, our volunteer organiser (07977 599181) will meet you around 10.15 am at the Car Park unless otherwise stated.
Midweek volunteer days: Strictly speaking, these are on the second Wednesday of each month: October 9th, November 13th, December 11th, January 8th and February 12th. However, we are now up there most Wednesdays with our volunteers so if you want to come along, just ring Sue to check where to meet.