MORE THAN 40 families went on safari on Sunday, but they didn’t find any lions or alligators.
They were taking part in the annual Twyford Village Safari, held at Loddon Nature Reserve.
Organised by the Berkshire Buckinghamshire Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust and Twyford Together in partnership with the Twyford and Ruscombe Horticultural Society and the Duke of Wellington pub, the event was judged to be a huge success.
Participants set off from the Duke in staggered slots between 11am and 2pm.
Armed with a questionnaire, the youngsters had to answer a series of wildlife-themed challenges with all the answers found in the nature reserve.
Tasks included bark rubbings and identifying spiders from different webs as well as learning about minibeasts and bird watching.
And when they returned to the Duke with their answer sheets, the horticultural society’s members gave each child a sunflower seed, with a challenge to plant it out ahead of their autumn show on Saturday, September 7. The winner will receive a prize for growing the tallest in Twyford.
The Duke’s kitchens were open and serving family-friendly fare including pizzas and hot dogs, which were eagerly devoured before the youngsters played in the pub’s extensive gardens.
Gordon Storey, from Twyford Together, was delighted with how the event had gone and how it had seen the different groups work together.
“Each of the entrants received a packet of sunflower seeds, where the biggest will get a prize. This is an example of the Horticultural association and Twyford Together working together. I bet they were planted out all over Twyford on Sunday afternoon,” he said.
