We then had a nice walk down to the river, over the bridge and up to Arley Station where we had our morning snack while waiting for the train. Mr Smith came to wave us off because, as everyone knows, he loves steam locomotives!
All aboard!!!
We travelled on the train to the Severn Valley Country Park where we were met by our ranger, Ed. We had lots of questions for Ed about what we might see at the Park, and we told him all about mini-beasts - he was very impressed that we could name some of them in French!
First we walked through the trees and across the fields while Ed told us about the wildlife in the area, including otters that have been sighted on the river. When we arrived at the visitor centre we sat on the grass and ate our lunch.
After lunch, Ed showed us some baby eels that were rescued further down the river. They are being looked after by the centre and then when they are bigger they will be released back into the river.
Next we walked to the meadow for our afternoon activity - the mini-beast hunt! Ed showed us how to use huge nets to catch mini-beasts with, by swooping them across the long grass. We were amazed at how many different creatures we found in our nets, including butterflies, grasshoppers, spiders, and lots of different types of beetles and flies.
After our mini-beast hunt, it was time to collect our things and head back to the train. The train was running and bit late and we thought we might have missed it at first! While we were waiting, we heard some bats nesting in the shelter above our heads! Finally, the train was here. We said goodbye and thank you to Ed, and headed off on the train back to school! We had a lovely day!
