Explore Lydiard Park Archive

The Holly and the Ivy
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 29th November 2024

It’s December and nature in Lydiard Park has its own festive decorations. The European Holly tree with its bright red...

Nature in November
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 28th October 2024

Winter may be coming and we may need to dig out our warm coats for a walk in the park, but there is still plenty to see and...

Fungi in the Lydiard Woodlands
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 25th September 2024

This is the time of year when fungi rules the Lydiard Woods. The word “fungi” is a group of organisms that include yeast...

September Fruits and Flowers
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 29th August 2024

As we celebrate the fruits of autumn in Lydiard's walled garden, a recent browse through Lady Johanna's 17th-Century recipe...

Butterflies at Lydiard all through August
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 28th July 2024

Vernon St John, 6th Viscount Bolingbroke, was a keen naturalist and entomologist. He started collecting and studying...

Lydiard Park's Cygnets on the Lake
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 25th July 2024

We are delighted to say that as of the middle of July, our Lydiard cygnets are growing rapidly, and are spending a lot of...

The Red Kite
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 26th June 2024

The sight of a majestic Red Kite soaring over Swindon, Lydiard Park and the surrounding countryside is now quite familiar....

June brings wildlife and wildflowers
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 31st May 2024

The long sunny days and short nights of June abound with wildlife. It’s a time when the baby birds are fledging, learning...

Bluebells and Garlic!
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 28th March 2024

If you go down to the woods today – or to wooded parts of Lydiard Park – there are two wild flowers you may well find....

The Yellow Month
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 28th February 2024

March is the month when Spring arrives and nature starts to emerge from its winter sleep. Yellow is the signature colour of...

The Park Landscape in February
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 29th January 2024

The Winter months, when the trees are leafless, the vegetation has died back and the frost sharpens the outlines of the...

The Last Lord's Nature Notes for January
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 28th January 2024

Vernon, 6th Lord Bolingbroke, was a well-known naturalist. During 1967 he contributed short articles to the Ringwood and...

Nature Watch
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 6th November 2023

Each season at the park brings its own delights. In the winter it may seem as though the park is sleeping but there is still...

Heritage Apples!
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 1st September 2023

On 10th September, Swindon Borough Council and the Friends of Lydiard Park are holding a Heritage Apple Day in the walled...

After the Spring Equinox
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 2nd April 2023

The March equinox on the 20th of the month marked the point at which the sun crossed the earth’s equator, moving from...

Spring Emerges!
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 3rd March 2023

As March arrives, so it feels as though Spring is definitely in the air. However that same air that can feel pleasantly warm...

The First Flowers of February
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 1st February 2023

February is very much a winter month with the potential for hard frosts and snow. However, it’s also a time when the...

The Christmas Tree
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 15th January 2023

Whilst the tradition of bringing greenery inside to decorate houses at Christmas – holly, ivy and evergreen branches -...

Look to the Skies in November
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 31st October 2022

In nature, November is the time of transition into Winter. The last leaves fall from deciduous trees and hibernating animals...

The Magic of Autumn
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 3rd October 2022

With October, autumn comes to the park. The very dry summer has led to the leaves turning early and falling sooner. The...

Herons of the lake
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 1st September 2022

September is a time of change in nature. Daylight hours are growing shorter and the weather starts to cool, signalling to...

World Environment Day
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 2nd June 2022

June 5th is World Environment Day. It is a time for us to appreciate the environment we live in and to protect our natural...

May Days
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 2nd May 2022

As we go into the month of May we enter the last month of Spring. The origin of the name is probably the Roman goddess Maia,...

Autumn Adventures in the Park
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 20th September 2021

The peaceful parkland at Lydiard is the perfect place to enjoy autumn, to walk on a misty morning or a windy afternoon, to...

Summer in the Park
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 28th June 2021

It’s high summer and time to enjoy the colours and scents of the season! The long, warm evenings are the perfect time for...

Thirty Days Wild!
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 1st June 2021

There’s no better time to get out and about and enjoy nature than in June when the days are at their longest (the Summer...

Bluebells and Garlic!
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 1st May 2021

If you go down to the woods today – or to wooded parts of Lydiard Park – there are two wild flowers you may well find....

April in the Walled Garden
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 1st April 2021

This month in nature we are indebted to the team who look after the Lydiard Park gardens for allowing us to share the work...

The Otter
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 1st March 2021

The news in the Swindon Advertiser last month that local photographer Emma Sanger-Horwell had sighted and photographed an...

February in the Park
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 1st February 2021

"The flowers of late winter and early spring occupy places in our hearts well out of proportion to their size." Gertrude...

Wildlife in January
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 28th January 2021

There is plenty to see when you are out and about in Lydiard Park in the winter. Look out for the early snowdrop shoots...

December’s Natural Richness
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 31st December 2020

December in nature can look empty and dull but out in the park and the countryside, there is still plenty going on. Most...

Gallery: Lydiard Through the Seasons
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 6th November 2020

Enjoy a Photo Gallery of Lydiard Park through the...

Family Discovery Trails
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 16th October 2020

Family Discovery Trails Put on your family detective hats and follow our three cartoon trails to explore Lydiard Park,...

Autumn at Lydiard Park
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 29th September 2020

There is so much going on in autumn in nature. The trees put on a stunning display as their leaves turn red and yellow....

The Walled Garden
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 4th September 2020

Following his marriage to wealthy heiress Anne Furnese in 1729, John 2nd Viscount St. John, remodelled the Tudor manor house...

The Big Butterfly Count
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 26th June 2020

This year the Big Butterfly Count will run from Friday 17th July to Sunday 9th August when thousands of people across the UK...

Lydiard Woodland
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 5th June 2020

Calling all runners and walkers - those who dart and dash or meander and mooch around Lydiard Park. How much do you know...

Historic Landscape
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 23rd April 2020

Lydiard Park is listed as Grade II in Historic England’s register of the most important gardens and historic landscapes in...

Spring in the Park
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 2nd April 2020

“Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.” From “Daffodils” by William...

Snowdrops
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 22nd January 2020

Each February the display of snowdrops at Lydiard Park is a spectacle that many people travel miles to see. The snowdrops...

Lydiard Park Run
Category: Lydiard Outdoors Articles Published on: 9th January 2020

Lydiard parkrun is an all-inclusive, free, fun timed 5K event every Saturday morning at 9am for anyone of any ability over...