Green and Whitegold Festival 2021: Walks and Fieldtrips

Foraging Walks on Par Beach

10am 20th June and 4th July
Par Beach
Free, limited numbers booking required

Join Emma Gunn, author of the foraging series Never Mind the Burdocks on a hunt for wild food!

After meeting the group in the car park at Par Beach, Emma will take you on a foraging ramble where you will taste plants in their raw state and enjoy the beautiful views across St Austell Bay. Sharing recipe ideas along the way as you traverse along the dunes, the walk is about a mile or so with gentle terrain and slow paced whilst stopping to discuss specific plants.

Emma always practices sustainable foraging and weaves this in to her walks to encourage awareness of the environment, leaving plenty behind and never over-harvesting and never uprooting. The aim is to give everyone a unique insight into a new plant, new flavour, new experience and to gain confidence in the delicious art of foraging!

These walks are free and open to all but with limited numbers available. Please book in advance via Eventbrite.

Brickfield Field Trip

25th June 2021
Free, limited numbers booking required

Join members of the Brickfield Team for a walk that will circumnavigate the lake at Imerys’ Blackpool Pit and take in Watch Hill, one of the highest points in Clay Country where you can see West to St Agnes Beacon, Goonhilly and the Lizard.

Meet at the Brickfield site at Blackpool Pit and have a look at the brick kiln firing while you’re there.

Places are limited, please book in advance via Eventbrite.

Holy Trinity Town Walk

Meet at 10:30am Holy Trinity Church grounds on Saturday 26th June
No booking necessary

Heart of Cornwall Health Walks is a walk scheme based in the St Austell Area. The walks are coordinated by St Austell healthcare who work with local community and voluntary groups to set up new walks. We are passionate about helping people get and keep active.

The walk from St Austell’s Holy Trinity Church is +- 1 hour long along the Clay trails and does involve some inclines.

There is no need to pre-register, just turn up at the starting point fifteen minutes before the start time and introduce yourself to the walk leader. No special equipment needed – just wear sturdy, comfortable footwear.

Walking is a great way to improve your health and help manage your health conditions. It is suitable for people of any age and all levels of fitness. It’s inexpensive, low-impact and accessible for almost everyone.

You can find out more about regular Heart of Cornwall Health Walks on the Walking for Health website, and other activities that can improve your health and wellbeing here on St Austell Healthcare’s Social Prescribing webpages.

SX0753 @ Par Harbour

24th July 2021
Booking necessary

Join Robin Sullivan on a field trip focused on the accidental introduction of 628 non-native flowering Plants and Ferns during the China Clay Industries history and their links to Liverpool and the East India Trading Company.

Come along and learn how Par Harbour and its unassuming local plants are actually directly linked to Liverpool and the rest of the world via Liverpool’s connection to the East India Trading Company. The reason SX0753, Par, is in fact the most biodiverse 1km in the whole of Cornwall.

This will be a casual walking field trip around Par, the woods, docks and river bed. Exploring with Robin and local botanists, we will be guided through the landscape looking at the not so often discussed ripple affects of the China Clay Industry on the landscape and local ecologies.

‘And Everything And Nothing Has Changed’ has been made possible with generous support and funding from; Eco-bos, Imerys, Austell Project, the Coastal Communities Fund, Creative Civic Change, Arts Council England, Cornwall Heritage Trust, FEAST, Cornwall College and Cultivator Cornwall.