YWT Stirley

15/09/2025

We were treated to a fantastic rainbow at Stirley today. Beautiful scenes of our highland cattle grazing beneath it.

12/09/2025

🧱 Ever fancied trying your hand at dry stone walling?
Join us tomorrow at Stirley for a hands-on introduction to this ancient and iconic Yorkshire craft!

🌿 Dry stone walls aren’t just beautiful – they’re vital homes for wildlife and a key part of our countryside heritage. Sadly, many are falling into disrepair, and the traditional skills needed to restore them are at risk of being lost.

👷‍♂️ Come and be part of the solution! Learn the basics, meet like-minded people, and help rebuild a broken-down section of wall in a stunning setting.

📅 Saturday 13th September
🕤 9:30am – 5:00pm
📍 Stirley, Huddersfield
💷 £30 for members / £35 for non-members
🥪 Bring lunch, dress for the weather, and we’ll provide the stones (and the kettle!).

👉 Book your spot now: https://www.ywt.org.uk/events/2025-09-13-introduction-dry-stone-walling

Let’s put another stone in the wall together! 🧱💚

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust

Yorkshire’s dry stone walls are an important and iconic part of our heritage. Have a go at dry stone walling in this day workshop.

19/08/2025

Our butterfly surveyors have shared with us a few pictures of some of the species they have seen recently at Stirley. We have 3 transect routes across our site covered by 4 surveyors who walk them every week between 1st April and 29th September recording every butterfly that they see. The data is fed into the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme. Here we see a Comma, a Gatekeeper, Small Copper and a Wall (coincidentally pictured on a drystone wall).

Photo Credit: Gillian Cooney and Alex Irvine

17/08/2025

Young people of West Yorkshire, join us for another Wild Ways session this Wednesday. 💚

Discover how to survey a variety of species on a nature reserve to collect important data about plants, animals and litter to help inform our work.

Find out why collecting data is important and then learn some practical skills to record plants, pond creatures, small mammals and butterflies.

This is a practical event for young people aged 13-25.

Discover how to survey a variety of species on a nature reserve to collect important data about plants, animals and litter to help inform our work. Find out why collecting data is important and then learn some practical skills to record plants, pond creatures, small mammals and butterflies. Practica...

15/08/2025

Ever fancied seeing a bat? Now is your chance! 🦇

Join us next Friday (22nd August) for a brilliant bat walk! Here's what one of our recent Stirley attendees said:

"Thanks to Mary for your knowledge, expertise and skill for a Friday night out like no other! I'm a definite for the next walk just on the off chance that we'll see these amazing little again in the way we did last night!!"

Are you batty about bats? Always wanted to spot one but never had the chance? Join us for our incredible bat walk at Stirley.

13/08/2025

Did you know that our livestock move around between nature reserves depending on where they are needed? Four of our cattle (3 galloways and one highland) have just been rounded up to move to Stocksmoor Common Nature Reserve. They will be there for around two months to do important habitat management, grazing within the meadow and the wet woodland areas before returning to Stirley for the winter.

11/08/2025

If you walk through our fields you might have noticed that our annual hay cut has begun to take place. We cut our grasslands in late July/early August to allow flowers in them to be pollinated and set their seeds before the hay cut happens. The removal of the thick thatch of grass enables the flowers to be more able to compete with the grass when growing again next year. On some of our fields we do a similar process by grazing the land with our cattle instead of cutting it. The hay is used by neighbouring farmers to feed their livestock over winter.

03/08/2025

🌍 Ready to take action for the planet?
Join us at Stirley this week for a hands-on sustainability takeover! 💪

If you're aged 13–25 and passionate about nature, this is your chance to:
🌱 Learn how to use the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals
🏡 Audit a real site and building
🧠 Create an action plan to present to Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s Sustainability Group
🎉 Have fun while making a real difference!

📍 Stirley, Huddersfield
📅 Wednesday 6th August, 11am to 3pm
💚 Free to attend – no booking needed!

ywt.org.uk/events/2025-08-06-wild-ways-sustainability-auditing-action-planning-ages-13-25

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust

28/07/2025

We’re turning a blank patch into a buzzing wildlife garden – and we need YOU! 🐝

If you’re 13–25 and up for digging, building, planting and learning, come join us at Wild Ways!

🛠️ Get hands-on with ponds, spirals, habitat piles & dead hedges (yes, it’s a thing – and it’s awesome!)
🌿 Learn how to garden for wildlife
👯‍♀️ Meet other nature-loving legends

It’s hands-on, it’s outdoors, and it’s totally FREE. No booking needed – just show up and get stuck in!

🗓️ Wed 30th July ⏰ 11am–3pm

Wild Ways events run every Wednesday in August: ywt.org.uk/our-events

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust

23/07/2025

Last week was the one year anniversary of the beginning of the Stirley Dry Stone Wall Restoration Team. In that year they have made phenomenal progress repairing 55m of broken wall sections. Thank you to all the volunteers who have worked so hard this year to restore our walls which are such an important part of our heritage and landscape.
Photo credit: Alex Irvine, Rob Newsum

16/04/2025

10/04/2025

Spring is here! ☀️🐦

Looking for something to do this Easter? Try your hand at a new skill - Needle Felting!

No previous experience necessary! Bring the whole family to join in this wild and woolly adventure and make your own fluffy sheep, highland cattle of colourful mini easter egg! 🐮🐑🐣

Looking forward to seeing you!

Book online here:

Get into the seasonal spirit and join us for this special workshop to create your own unique Felt animal. Using natural wool, learn the art of needle felting and create your own cute fluffy masterpiece to take home with you.