Special working party on Sunday 4 March, 10am-4pm
This will be led by Nottingham Wildlife Trust and we will prepare the wildflower meadow area for seed planting. We need all the volunteers that we can find, and other Notts conservation groups will also be invited to join us. Please bring a rake! Don't feel that you have to do the whole session, you are very welcome to join us for whatever time you can spare.

April working parties for balsam bashing
We plan to meet each Wednesday at 7pm by the river, to remove the small seedlings of Himalayan Balsam, in order to protect the biodiversity of the site. It was very successful last year - while we still had some balsam along the river's edge, we kept it at a level where it didn't exclude our native plants, so we believe this is important and quite pleasant work.

The fundraising gig by Tokyo Green at the Poppy & Pint on 12 November was a great success and raised over £200 for the group's work on the Hook. See a full review on the main music page.

Jeff Mackintosh, Vice Chair of the Friends of the Hook, with Tokyo Green

The creative perambulations of Sherwood Forest

Local poet Dave Wood was funded by the Arts Council of England (through the National Lottery)  to walk and facilitate creative workshops along the 1662 Perambulation route of Sherwood Forest.

Having started from the Hook earlier in the year, Dave finished his perambulation with a ceremony back on the Hook on Saturday 5 November. Around 20 people attended, including Richard and Sue Mallender, our local Green Party Borough Councillors; Ray Derby, Mayor of Stapleford; members of the Friends of the Hook; and representatives from the Woodland Trust (dressed up splendidly as trees - see pictures above).

Jeff Mackintosh, Vice Chair of the Friends of the Hook, welcomed everyone and set the scene, and after a speech from the Mayor, and a poem written by Dave, a sapling of the Major Oak from Sherwood Forest was planted to mark the end of this unique creative event. The Friends of the Hook are very pleased to have been associated with Dave's revival of a 350 year old tradition.

Dave Wood 077099 77684  davewrite2002@yahoo.com    http://creativesherwoodforestperambulations.blogspot.com

Information about the Hook and the Friends group is available on our website: www.friendsofthehook.org.uk

or email Sam Hudson.