News
February 2008
The first piece of our 20th anniversary celebration installations have been put in place, Norah Kennedy kindly planted a willlow arch for us as part of our organic vegetable garden. We are planning installations linked to many of our courses throughout the year.
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January 2008
.......Cowshed News
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we are still raising monies for the Cowshed refurbishment Unashamedly, we still need your donations !!
December 2007
The New Kingcombe Vehicle Arrives!!
In the last few weeks of the year the new Kingcombe Centre vehicle arrived!!! A brand new sparkly (well not for long around here!) Peugeot Partner Combi Escapade, pictures to follow. It has been sign written and looks great. So a big 'Thank You' to those who contributed to our appeal.
However, The new appeal is here!! ....... To carry out a green refurbishment of the 'Cowshed' introducing green heating technologies see here for further details and the appeal leaflet.
Fund Raising Meals were a success and over subscribed as they always are, the promise of good, no Great! fresh, local food is always a draw. Keep your eyes open for further opportunities to attend, meet new people and enjoy great food!
Tree Day was a success considering the weather!! Yet again a wet day, but Kim and David braved the wetaher and helped children make some bird feeders which were adorning our apple trees by the end of the day. The children enjoyed the tree themed word search and Kim told stories of tree based myth and legend to enthral all. All fuelled by a wholesome 'Kingcombe' soup. Roll on next Tree Day 'Treat the Tree' Saturday 6th December 2008.
November 2007
New Vehicle Ordered
Also a new vehicle is imminent, so thank you to those of you who contributed to the recent appeal, keep your eyes on these pages to read the good news when it arrives.
The Christmas Bazaar was a success and raised funds for the 'Cowshed' refurbishment. Some new faces were seen at The Centre which is great so 'Hello and thank you' to you and those who we know well, the volunteers who help set up, run and raise monies for us, for without you we would not be able to run the Bazaar.
The 2 'muddy welly' weekends were a great success and a 'Thank you' to all those who got involved. The 'Cowshed' was emptied, the vegetable garden received many hours of attention, the pond in the riverside garden was cleaned out and promptly filled due the heavy rain. Fire wood cut and stacked at Beech Cottage.
Apple day was a nice success, including games for the children, fresh apple based lunch and refreshments. Although by far the biggest draw was the fresh juice press kindly loaned by Sunnyside Farm. Using apples from our trees and some kindly donated by The Kingcombe Centre Volunteers, the fresh juice was a huge success with many children coming back for more. The Dorset Cider Project were on hand to give advice about apple orchards, trees and varieties best used for cider making, many thanks to them. See you next year, Thursday 30th October 2008!
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As well as increased visitor numbers through the ever improving visitor centre, more people stopping for refreshments and school visits there really is only one piece of really grand news. This is the most significant piece of Kingcombe Centre news since the centre opened almost 20 years ago.
The Centre has been granted planning permission to carry out a major refurbishment of the residential centre known as The Cowshed. The designs are being drawn together to install some of the most up to date technologies that we can use to make the building as efficient in heating, water use, lighting and comfort as we can. Carbon footprints are something we are all becoming familiar with but the installation of a wood burning water boiler at the centre utilising the woodland and hedges around us will truly reduce the carbon footprint of our centre significantly.
The Conservatory will allow us to capture 'solar gain' in the winter, essentially free heating with the addition of a low wattage high efficiency heat recovery and air distribution system we can keep the building ventilated with fresh warm air, and add much needed light to the building.
For further information about some of the technologies we are planning to incorporate or to make a donation to our appeal target download these two pdf documents. To open in your browser click on the link to download right click and 'save as...'
The combined leaflet or separatelyTechnologies and Appeal
To be able to read these pdf you will need Adobe Reader which you can download from here 
If you would like to help as raise money and enjoy our great food and hospitality, we have held a few fund raising evening meals and have nore planned. Download the details here and come long and join us!!
October 2007
The Kingcombe Centre has just been awarded Silver in the Nature/Conservation category of the Marshwood Vale Magazine 2007 Community Awards. We at the centre are all very happy to have been recognised for the hard work over the past 20 years of all the people associated with here past and present. So if you nominated or voted for us 'Thank You'
August 2007
A very exciting event as we took delivery of 4 male Harvest mice. They are tiny creatures weighing the same as a 20 pence piece and no longer than 7 cm tip to tail! A creature normally shown climbing in cereal crops they are at home in marshy wetland too and make great swimmers as well climbers using their prehensile tail.
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June 2007
Heatherton House from Buckinghamshire shocked all at the centre when at the start of their residential week they presented Adrian Goodhand, the Centre's Landscape and Heritage Officer, with a new electronic presenter. This equipment enables fantastic zoom and projector facilities, picture saving software and many other neat tricks and which works really well with pond dipping and river studies, or for that matter anything when both close magnification and projection are required. So from us all here 'Thank you Heatherton House for your continued support'.
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The Kingcombe Nest Box Sponsorship Scheme launched.
The scheme offers people the ability to sponsor a nest box on our site and have a yearly report on its usage and the state of nest boxes usage around Kingcombe. These can make unusual presents for somebody who has everything! we are also looking for sponsorship for nest boxes containing cameras, but this costs a little more and hopefully will come with some photographs too.
To download a nest box sponsorship form right click the link below and 'save'.
Nest Box sponsorship form
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April 2007
The new Kingcombe Visitor Centre was officially opened with the ribbon being ceremonially cut by Peggy Denty who was here with other members of her family, totaling 3 generations of the family from the valley. The visitor centre is now the new gateway to the Kingcombe meadows Nature Reserve surrounding the centre which are owned and managed by The Dorset Wildlife Trust.
Here maps can be obtained alongside advice as to what is to see on the reserve plus information detailing sites in the West Dorset region and local businesses. A good day was had by all, the weather held off and is heralding a period of expansion and refurbishment at the centre.
December 2006
2006 was a very busy year with record numbers of visitors coming to spend some time with us in this unique setting. The profile of The Kingcombe Centre has been raised through our link with The Chalk & Cheese project at various County Shows.
Work has continued on converting the wooden barn into the Kingcombe Landscape Heritage Centre, which is being equipped to accommodate schools and other groups. They will be able to use it as an outdoor education classroom with facilities for field studies and themed activities in wet weather. The area when finished will incorporate a Visitors' Centre, furnished with displays and computer generated information to enable visitors to find out more about the local landscape, its history and wildlife. The Kingcombe Landscape Heritage Centre is a joint venture with the Dorset Wildlife Trust, The Grasslands Trust and some funding from the Chalk & Cheese Project. This venture will serve as a gateway to the wonderful countryside of west Dorset.
After a cold beginning and with no significant rainfall by March we then moved into a very hot summer. By October the Meteorological Office confirmed we had enjoyed the longest summer since 1914. The prolonged hot weather did bring some benefits for local wildlife and butterflies, in particular, appear to have had a good year. A significant sighting was of an otter on the far bank of the river Hooke seen by a school group. The Kingfisher has been seen and heard flying up and down the river and latterly a grey wagtail has been enjoying the wallow in Baldrick’s run.
Project: 21st Century Living
In late 2006 work started on phase 1 of the project. The three rooms adjacent to the main Barn are being converted to en-suite facilities. Beech Cottage has had its exterior painted this summer and is now having the interior decorated. Phase 1 has been funded by a generous legacy received during 2006 and from monies raised by The Friends.
Phase 2 of our project to upgrade The Cowshed will start in winter 2007. It is hoped that a range of sustainable technologies will be incorporated into the rebuild. We are starting our fundraising with a series of special meals as listed in the brochure. All ideas and offers of fundraising or donations for this project will be gratefully received and put to good use.