New moth identified July 9, 2021

Andrew Curran, one of our longstanding volunteer wildlife recorders, was elated to report his recent discovery, after the latest moth identification session:

 “The moth was sighted by the lower oak canopy near the earth oven on Thursday 8th July. I thought it was Yellow-legged Clearwing which was recorded here at Martineau Gardnes, several times in the past. To my great delight, this beautiful moth proved to be Orange-tailed Clearwing. A new identification for Martineau Gardens and nationally scarce”

Find out more about how we indentify and record moths, using a moth trap (all moths are released quickly and not harmed)



Our music for the evening June 28, 2021

Huge thanks to Tauny Southwood  who has come on board by bringing bands, ‘Jazz on Tap’ and ‘Tayz & the Drolls’ to the Garden Party.  Read on for more details about the bands.

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Reducing the plastic in play May 24, 2021

For those of you who have been following the story regarding the renovation of our Shipwreck Play Area, you will remember how we have been focusing on a natural play experience, which will engage children’s imagination. With our commitment to wildlife and the environment we wanted to keep materials as green as possible, creating a green play space that reflects our values was important to us.

We were delighted when local business Envirotoy got in touch with a good deal around their plastic-free toys. They gave us a number of sets and we were so pleased with them that we bought additional sets for busy times.

Stuart Loach (Envirotoy) with the plastic-free toys by the newly created sandpit

Pictured here, Stuart Loach (Director, Envirotoy) personally delivering the plastic-free play sets. The wooden sand play sets are made from ‘planwood’ a type of moulded wood that uses left over sawdust and good for waterplay too.

Prior to the official launch, our volunteers gave the sandpit area a test run and of course, a cermonial sandcastles were made.

Members of the Garden Team give the buckets and spades a test run!

Stay in touch with our plans, by following the story on social media. You can find out more about Envirotoy here.



Good news for birdlovers and bees May 7, 2021

We’re delighted to have completed the repairs to our bird hide thanks to a Magic Little Grant of £500 and the hard work of our volunteers who did all the renovations. The grant also funded the planting of even more bee-friendly plants as part of our work in facilitating natural beekeeping methods.

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Our CEO, Gill Milburn, is retiring May 6, 2021

Gill at the helm of the recently restored wheelhouse

Our wonderful CEO Gill Milburn is retiring in September after three years of incredible service to Martineau Gardens. We will be writing more about all that Gill has achieved for Martineau Gardens soon, but wanted you to hear as soon as possible. Please give her a virtual three cheers and fist bump for leading us, the organisation, the staff and the volunteers with such diligence, kindness and strength, particularly through the pandemic. We feel very fortunate that Gill was at the helm during this time.

We are seeking an inspirational leader to join our small independent charity. The successful candidate will be someone who shares our vision and values, invites innovation and thrives on making a positive difference to the people and communities we serve.  Click here to access the application pack details.



Jobs: Chief Executive Officer April 27, 2021

Our CEO is retiring and we are seeking an inspirational leader to join our small independent charity. The successful candidate will be someone who shares our vision and values, invites innovation and thrives on making a positive difference to the people and communities we serve.  

Chief Executive Officer
Salary Scale: NJC 29 £32,910
Hours: 37.5
Location: Birmingham

Closing date: 27th May 2021
Interview date: Week commencing 9th June 2021

For more information, please download the application pack here:



We need you! Visitor Welcome Volunteers April 26, 2021

Kim, our Visitor Welcome Team member

· Do you love Martineau Gardens?

· Do you enjoy meeting people?

· Do you have a few hours to spare each week?

If the answer is  ‘Yes’, then join our Visitor Welcome Team.

To find out more you can read a description of the role here or send an email to info@martineau-gardens.org.uk mentioning Visitor Welcome Team in the subject line.

The Visitor Welcome  Team meet, greet and  look after our visitors Mondays to Saturdays*, usually working 10am – 1pm or 1pm – 4pm Some like to do a full day. 

*Martineau Gardens is now open Mondays to Saturdays 10am until 4pm. We extended our hours to include Saturdays on 31 July 21.



Outdoor theatre this summer April 17, 2021

If you’ve missed the theatre, then why not book a ticket to one of the two open air productions at Martineau Gardens this summer. Perfect for younger audiences, who would enjoy an informal, outdoor setting, from the comfort of their picnic rug, Little Red and the Big Bad Wolf takes place on  the Tai Chi Lawn, on Saturday 10 July, 11am with the Shipwreck Play Area open an hour earlier for BYO brunch and a play.  Then on Tuesday 17 August at 7pm, Folksy return with ‘The Tempest’, the Shipwreck deck will appropriately become the stage for the evening. Gather your friends, folding chairs and a picnic.  

Covid-secure: These are open air events, taking place after 21 June* (the time when it is anticipated that covid social restrictions will ease) our website has more details about what to expect. Advance ticket purchase is recommended to avoid disappointment for these popular shows. 

Click on the above links to read more and book!



Go Green for Outdoor Education April 12, 2021

We are delighted to hear that the Department for Education has given the green light for Educational Visits to resume from 12 April 2021.

Juliette Green, Martineau Gardens Environmental Education Officer said:

“Here at Martineau Gardens, we can’t wait to welcome back school children for Educational Visits. When pupils visit, much of their day is spent outside. Children need this outdoor provision more than ever right now – to be able to observe the natural world helps to improve wellbeing and concentration and after having been restricted for so long, we’re delighted to be able to resume our outdoor learning programme.”

She added, “The topics they study are varied, but a typical visit might include exploring the different habitats at Martineau Gardens to learn about food chains, they examine parts of plants and learn about conditions plants need to grow. Or they might take part in a minibeast safari, do some pond dipping and or even go on a ‘pirate adventure’ where they learn how to use maps and compasses and make a boat.   I can’t wait to get started again.”

School visits at Martineau Gardens resume from Tuesday 4 May 2021.

For more information, view our Schools area here  and to make a booking or an enquiry email juliette@martineau-gardens.org.uk



Winter with the honeybees of Martineau Gardens March 8, 2021

Though winter is a time when much wildlife is hibernating or lying low, emerging for food then darting back to the safety of their abode, on a sunny day, you might notice a honeybee foraging for food. That got us thinking, what do beekeepers do over winter? We asked our volunteer beekeeper, Sam Walker, what are the main challanges are over the winter months.

What do beekeepers do over winter?

Sam explains: “Winter is less busy time, but it’s still an important time for beekeepers. Throughout the winter months, the hives must still be monitored but less invasively and less frequently, so as not to disturb the winter cluster. I’ve been visiting the hives at Martineau Gardens regularly over winter. I’m checking that the bees’ food stores are still accessible and topping them up, if needed. Honeybees prefer the the nest at a constant temperature, they achieve this by clustering together, just like King penguins huddling to keep warm!.”

Do bee’s hibernate?

A honeybee colony will hibernate but may fly if the weather is warm enough and there is food. By contrast with bumble bees and wasps, only the queen will hibernate – the workers (female) and drones (male) die out before the winter.

Is honey being produced over winter?

A honeybee colony may contain approximately 50,000 to 60,000 bees during the summer, but far fewer are needed over winter, this maybe reduced to around 10,000 bees over winter. This is the reason why honeybees store extra food. They need the extra stores to get them through the winter, so it’s important for beekeepers to ensure they have enough food. They don’t tend to make honey over winter in the UK as there isn’t the volume of plants they need to forage from to make honey.

Do honeybees forage over winter?

During mild winters the honeybees will actually use more food stores that they would in a very cold winter. If it is a mild day during the winter honeybees may be seen flying in the apiary for toilet breaks or to forage for nectar and pollen from the few winter flowering sources of food, such as ivy, gorse, hellebores, winter honeysuckle, winter heliotrope and winter jasmine and snowdrops. This website is a great and informative source of which wildflowers to expect each month. http://www.seasonalwildflowers.com

Why have you been moving slabs around in the aviary?

So along with checking food stores it’s good idea to check that hives have not fallen over in bad weather. And that no unwanted visitors have been visiting such as mice and woodpeckers. As food becomes more scarce for these animals they look for any opportunities!

Winter is also an excellent time to do any work in the apiary as there are less bees flying! I have been making a few improvements. I have lifted the hives a little more and on to longer hive stands to give me more room to work, placing slabs on the ground below the hives to try to reduce the moisture within the hives, and save my back a little. Sometimes swarms land under the hives and this will make it a lot easier to retrieve them.

In January, when Sam was re-organising the area, she moved a slab and found a neatly gathered store of cherry stones – all nibbled with a small hole – the store cupboard of a woodmouse.

honeybee photographed at Martineau Gardens in February, foraging amongst snowdrops

What are your plans for 2021 at Martineau Gardens?

The start of the year I’m checking and cleaning equipment, making repairs, and planning the coming beekeeping season based on records made from previous years. Making sure I have enough equipment and reading up on bees, there is an amazing amount of information. This winter I have been studying honeybee pests, diseases and poisonings, forming a zoom study group with other beekeepers from Birmingham Beekeepers Association. We have also started to look into honeybee Management and Behaviour which are all modules run by the British Beekeepers Association to improve the beekeepers skillset. I have also had a little go at making mead too! (A traditional alcoholic drink made by fermenting honey.)

The beekeeping season generally starts in April time but is temperature and frost dependent. Full inspections of the honeybee colonies will not take place until there has been no frosts and the daytime temperatures have reached 16ºc. There is a short period before the honeybees start to expand their nest in which you can prepare for the swarming season, and start to look for cues that the colony is about to swarm which is the natural way in which honeybees multiply to make new colonies.

Beekeeping classes

We’ve run beekeeping classes at Martineau Gardens for a number of years, sadly we had to cancel our classes planned for 2020, due to the pandemic, but we’re looking at how we can deliver these safely this year, and will be letting people know what’s possible. An area of beekeeping that is growing in interest is ‘Natural Beekeeping’ – looking after the interests of the bee population, not just keeping bees for honey. I’m attempting to combine some of these practices into my beekeeping husbandry techniques to try to have more of a Natural Beekeeping focus.

Introduction to Beekeeping at Martineau Gardens