The scheduled talks for CMG members on March 3rd had, unfortunately, to be cancelled because Dr Kevin McGinn was ill. He’s now better, and we hope to reschedule his talk in the Autumn. The talk is on seed harvesting in … Continue reading
Meadows – 98% gone? Really?
Gallery
This gallery contains 1 photo.
Another interesting post from Andrew Martin When meadows, and their disappearance, are discussed on the media, a statistic is often quoted: that 98% of them have disappeared since the end of the second world war. But where does this figure come … Continue reading
Mad About Moles
Gallery
A welcome post from Julian Wormald: It’s the time of the year when one really notices moles. Particularly obvious if you have meadows, or pasture, and always more noticeable in early spring. I knew that this was mating time for … Continue reading
Almost meadows….which will be of interest to some!
Gallery
Wednesday, 21st April 7.15 for 7.30pm start ZOOM meeting for Cothigardeners. Julian Wormald talks on: “Wildflowers, Meadows and Gardens – challenging ideas for more naturalistic gardens.” This will look at various aspects of wildflower hay meadows – their biodiversity, aesthetics, … Continue reading
The Big Meadow Search 2021
Gallery
This gallery contains 1 photo.
We are aiming to run “The Big Meadow Search” over a 2 week period during the summer. We are drawing inspiration from the popular RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch. Our plan is going to involve searching meadows for a selected list … Continue reading
Dyffryn Twi Project – Helping to put Meadows on the Map
Gallery
‘Dyffryn Tywi – Hanes Tirwedd Ein Bro’ is a valley-wide project that covers the middle part of the Tywi Valley between Llandeilo and Carmarthen. Funded through the Welsh Government’s Sustainable Management Scheme, it is about how we look after our local landscape, now and … Continue reading
Skills for Bees/Cefnogi Cacwn
Gallery
There is a new Bumblebee Conservation Trust project on its way – so be on the lookout for more information if you fancy learning how to become a bumblebee recorder. More details below: Rachel
CMG Membership
The Carmarthenshire Meadows Group has a subscription of £10 per year. We ask members to pay a subscription so that we can maintain the CMG website (which costs £66 per annum), provide insurance to cover the group for sites visits and indoor meetings (£84 pa) and the “Membermojo” membership system (£40 pa, increasing to £75 if the membership is 100 or more). The membership system enormously simplifies the administration of the group and maintains a secure database of members and also of their land (should they choose to enter that information).
Until the start of the pandemic in the spring of 2020, we also paid for the hire of village halls around the county to hold indoor meetings every spring and autumn (the cost of hall hire varies). We also offer to pay the speakers’ expenses, especially if they need to travel a long way to deliver their talk. CMG members may attend indoor meetings for free and non-members pay £3 for entry. We had to cancel all outdoor events and indoor meetings starting with the one arranged for March 21st 2020 and as we didn’t (and don’t) need to pay for hall hire for the foreseeable future we gave the members one year’s membership for free.
CMG is run by a “steering group” of seven unpaid volunteers, but since we can’t currently meet up to discuss and plan the running of the group, we now have a Zoom contract. This is used for our steering group meetings as well as for delivering talks for CMG members on a wide range of conservation and wildlife interests, which we’ve been doing every month since October last year. The Zoom contract costs £144 annually, which is about the same as we were spending on hall hire for the big indoor meetings. The autumn/winter talks have been recorded, and they become available for anyone to watch on our YouTube channel whether they’ve paid a subscription or not:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1szE6Y3JQMP-6ukQejGdVQ
We also use the subscription income to pay for occasional printing costs and we are planning to produce information sheets on meadow and grassland management particularly relevant to conditions in Carmarthenshire.
All these activities are funded by the subscriptions paid by our members, of which there are currently about 70. The website, as of today has 186 followers, so it’s apparent that many of the people who have subscribed to follow the website aren’t members of the group. So, if you’re not a member, but you find the website interesting or useful, please consider helping us to continue providing these services by joining the meadows group. You can find out how to join by visiting this page on the website:
CMG Membership and Privacy Policy
Thanks for reading.
Rachel
Webinars worth a look:
Gallery
There are two very good webinars from Plantlife, which might be of considerable interest to visitors to this website, that have now become available to watch on YouTube. The first is given by Dr. Trevor Dines, and in this talk he … Continue reading
Webinar 24 February 2021 – Centre for Alternative Technology.
Gallery
At CMG we want to support and promote like minded groups and webinars and talks when they arise. This time its CAT – with what looks like a practical guide to meadow creation and enhancement. Note that Dr Kevin McGinn … Continue reading