The leaves are going from green to golden as we enter Awesome Autumn. What a great time then to get out and enjoy some of the great outdoors and local wildlife.
Wildlife Friendly Otley Festival
Otley’s first ever Wildlife Arts Festival celebrates our wonderful wildlife with inspiring displays by local artists, photographers, sculptors, craft makers and more. Otley writers and poets will give readings of work featuring wildlife and nature, plus local wildlife experts will give short informative nature talks. All this will be free at the Courthouse from 10am to 4pm, while in the evening, renowned BBC wildlife photographer Ian McCarthy will give an informative talk about work he has done on shows such as Blue Planet, Autumn Watch and Planet Earth (tickets: £11)
See www.wildlifefriendlyotley.org.uk/festival
Chevin Forest Task Day
Join in the upkeep of the lovely Otley Chevin by joining in with the task day on October 9 from 10am to 2pm. Tasks include hedge laying, boardwalk construction, tree guard collection, orchard maintenance and scrub clearance. This work is essential to the management of this beautiful local nature reserve.
See www.chevinforest.co.uk/what-s-on/calendar/
Visit Gallows Hill
Gallows Hill is a peaceful and increasingly diverse place, situated along a stretch of the River Wharfe in Otley. It is a habitat for a great many species of wildlife, most notably the common toads which can be found in the ponds in large numbers, and this may be the last chance to see them before they bed down for winter. Another key resident is the kingfisher, which may be spotting flashing its blue wings as it flies over the water.
Buy some seasonal veg
Autumn’s a great time for seasonal British veg that are mid-way between summer salads and heartier winter meals. Try aubergines, beetroot, butternut squash, caulis, courgettes and marrows (that are coming to the end of their summer season) and leeks. Pick these up at Otley’s regular market on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, at the artisan farmers’ market on the last Sunday of the month (October 31) or at one of our two grocers: O’Fresh and Simon & Becky.
See a wildlife-themed show
There’s only one gig in this year’s Otley Music Festival but it’s all for a good cause with funds being raised from the performance of Kitty Macfarlane going to Wildlife Friendly Otley’s Wildlife Fund for Schools initiative. Kitty Macfarlane is a songwriter and guitarist from Somerset, nominated in the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2019 for the Horizon award, and voted FATEA Female Artist of the Year. She will be playing at the Courthouse on October 9 and tickets cost £15.