Hazy days, hedgehog ways: Newsletter 10/09/25

Hello wonderful Wild Folk <3

Can you feel Summer softening into Autumn?

Long days of being baked in the high sun are becoming mornings of "should I bring a jumper with me?". The flowers have become seeds, the trees are letting go of their leaves, and the air... feels… different...

For some, becoming aware of all of this can be uncomfortable. Autumn transitions us from expansive Summer to inward Winter, holding both energies within itself. It’s not just “rush to do everything before it gets too cold/wet/mucky/ripe/rotten/tiring” or “let's put a pause on that/slow ourselves down/shall we rewatch this entire boxset in one sitting…?” - it’s a dance between them. The trees whisper and remind us that we can't do it all. A season of gathering and letting go - storing away the treasures of the year while gently releasing what no longer needs to be carried.

The wheel turns.

September is when hedgehogs begin to look for their Winter home, their hibernaculum. They've enjoyed a Summer of juicy bugs and slugs, but they know that this abundance is temporary, and that they must find a safe place to curl up until the warmth of the Sun returns again in Spring.

And that, my wonderful, wild friends, is exactly what we are doing too.

A New Den for Ways of the Wild:

The Conservation Area of Ravenscourt Park will be shut from now until Spring 2026, so like our hedgehog cousins, we're looking for a new place to call home until we can return again in Spring.

We’ll still be running sessions in little nooks of Ravenscourt Park in the meantime, but we’re also on the lookout for another wild site in West London (ideally within Hammersmith & Fulham). If you know of a space that might fit the bill, please let us know!

Here's our new site checklist:

• Feels wild (not a neat garden, with scruffy areas & great trees)

• Enclosed or partially-enclosed space

• Big tree for hammocks/swings

• Relatively easy to access via public transport

• Plausible permission to operate there

Whilst it would be amazing if all of these items could be ticked, we're open to compromise for the right spot.

What have we been up to at Ways of the Wild?

We've had our busiest year yet; building up from sessions on a couple of days, to providing sessions on 4, 5 and sometimes 6 days a week! It's been a huge and rewarding shift, and we're so grateful to everyone that has been a part of it.

Here are some highlights of the past six months:

We had THE most iconic start to a Wild Week in April with Mister Heron dropping into the pond, plucking a Frog from the Iris and swallowing it whole in front of all of us, National Geographic style. ICONIC.

The children have been faithfully stocking the hollow at the base of a tree, home to Mr Frog, with plums, stones, and oat cakes for months. It’s become a mainstay ritual of the woods, checking whether any frogs are home, if gifts have been accepted, or if new guests have appeared (three at once being the record!). The hollow remains a secret treasure, a mystery discovered only by the curious or revealed proudly by friends.

Katie's Kitchen has popped up in multiple Wild Weeks, Forest Clubs and Stay & Plays, serving up wild brews such as nettle, yarrow and dandelion tea, and not so wild brews of the sweeter, chocolatier variety... Not only has this kept everyone's insides warm, its a great opportunity for us to engage children in foraging and health & safety lessons of the outdoor cooking kind. Part of the allure of nettle tea for a lot of the children is something along the lines of "how can this plant that hurts me on the outside not hurt me on the inside?", which normally leads to Katie showing them how to pick nettles without getting stung (big crowd pleaser) or getting the magnifying glasses out to look at the hairs of the nettle. Whether or not they sip the brew, the learning lingers...

The pond life cycle has been a HUGE topic this year. First we watched the frogs lay their eggs in February, then the tadpoles hatched and we watched them grow, rescued buckets of them stuck in the shallows, and squealed with delight at the little froglets hopping through the meadow. Watching the pond dry up was sad for us all, especially after so many months of pond dipping, and watching snails and larvae of all kinds come to life. BUT... we cannot wait for its restoration and for the cycle to start all over again next Spring!

For the first time ever, we offered an After School Club for local school children every Monday and Thursday. The energy of children set free after a long school day was something else! For many older ones, it became a chance to rediscover imaginative, unstructured play — a slow process of trust and freedom (that was oh so worth it!).

Special mention to our Beltane Community Picnic that brought folk tradition into the city. Katie comes from an area where Maypole is still a part of the school year, and it was so lovely to be abel to share that with everyone. With jingling bells, music, and a gorgeous picnic spread (thank you, as always!), it was pure joy to dance and celebrate together.

And of course, we ended the season with our biggest Summer Wild Weeks yet. We honestly have no words for the team, the parents, and the children who made it so special. It was wonderful, wild, and utterly magical — thank you for trusting us to do what we do <3

What's coming up?

All of our upcoming events can be found on our Bookwhen page.

While the Conservation Area rests, we’ll be focusing on:

• Stay & Play group

• Drop-off sessions

• Community Picnics & Mud Kitchens (locations shared with bookees)

Though it feels like a huge loss not to see you all in the Conservation Area for a while, we’re looking forward to the day we return and how magical that moment will be. After all, absence makes the heart grow fonder.

In a park somewhere in London, we'll see you all soon - have a wonderful season, wild folks <3

Katie & Jay x