Students parade at Chirk Castle to raise awareness for curlews. The event on March 14 seeks to protect the birds habitats.
Clwydian Range partners with the National Trust, and local students will help host the event occurring on March 14th, before curlews’ breeding season starts.
Students had creative sessions at school, working with Sam Kenyon, local artists, Fiona Collins, and Morgan Elwy to make things for the parade.
Young champions will carry a meadow in the parade, joined by a giant curlew puppet named Pegi Pyg Hir; together, they will travel to the castle.
Sam says Pegi needs a safe place to lay eggs, the kids’ parade helps her find that place, and Pegi will find a safe spot to build a nest.
Music and curlew calls will accompany them, as many people love hearing the curlew’s call since it is culturally important to the landscape.
Pupils will sing a curlew song with Morgan Elwy while Fiona Collins tells a story; the event hopes to celebrate the curlew.
Sam appreciates the National Trust for hosting this fun celebration, made great by the pupils and artists, with support from schools.
Clwydian Range is part of “Curlew Connections Wales,” a project with Bannau Brycheiniog and GWCT, collaborating on the curlew’s cause.
“Curlew Connections Wales” is with Gylfinir Cymru, a project across all of Wales, aiming to help curlews breed, including Denbighshire.
Curlews face a severe threat, “Red Listed” in Wales and the UK, with Wales losing over 80% of curlews since 1990, making it very important to protect them.
Habitat loss impacts the population while farming and predators also hurt the birds, reducing the curlew numbers.
Work supported by funded by the Welsh Government using Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) money, protects curlews in twelve Welsh areas.
Barry Mellor, thanking the National Trust and hard-working students, states it’s an important project as curlews were common in Denbighshire and popular across the United Kingdom.