In June 2025, the Roaming Writer Creative Retreat was hosted at Howdy Glamping Site in Cumbria for a weekend of inspiring creative workshops that brought us closer to nature. We spent evenings roasting marshmallows on the campfire and sharing our favourite music, whilst getting stuck into some hands on creativity in the day. We even explored a little beyond the site, taking a nice walk and chilly dip at a local wild swimming spot.
The Creative Skills in Ecology Workshop hosted by Holly kicked off with an informative introduction to Ecology, Species Identification and Taxonomy. We took part in some warm up doodling activities which helped us understand the way in which we name species scientifically. We then went on to immerse ourselves in the trees of the hedgerows at Howdy Glamping, using identification keys, books and diagrams to identifity the trees around us. We finished by conducting scientific illustrations of leaves from the trees we identified, taking care to label the parts of the leaf and key features used to identify it.
Our participant feedback:
"Interesting, fun, informative."
"I was interested to learn the finer details of leaf such as the petioles and margin shapes. The more I learn about the natural world the more connected I feel. Holly’s workshop opened my eyes to see trees in a new way."
"Enjoyable, educational, interesting."
"I wanted to learn more about tree species for a while and being able to name them in nature makes me feel more connected."
"Peaceful, creative, enlightening."
"I have been able to share my new knowledge with the children I care for in my Childminding setting."
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