Highlights of Parndon Wood
Beautiful scenery, two nature trails, cafe, wildlife spotting hides, den building, bug hunting, arts & crafts area, bug hotel, picnic benches, binocular hire available, story telling area.
Birthday parties, venue hire, amphi theatre.
Plus much more
Thank you to Parndon Wood’s volunteers for making us such a beautiful bug hotel! 💚
Our reserve and cafe are now are open as normal! Please note our viewing hides will remain closed for the foreseeable future.
Please note – dogs are allowed in the reserve but only up to the cafe area. Dogs are not allowed on the trails. Thank you for your understanding.
- Monday: Closed
- Tuesday: Closed
- Wednesday: 11am – 4pm
- Thursday: 12pm-7pm
- Friday: 11am – 4pm
- Saturday: 9am-4pm
- Sunday 11am – 4pm
For what’s on see the event calendar below or follow us on social media
Location: Parndon Wood Road, Harlow CM19 4SF.
Contact: 07802237440, ezra.folan@ecco.org.uk
Upcoming Events 2022
January 9th & 16th – 2pm – 4pm
Bird Feed & Fat Ball Making – Come and learn how to make fat balls to help feed our birds, we will then walk the trails filling our various feeders with the food made!
January 23rd & 30th – 2pm – 4pm
Winter Skies Drawing Competition – All paintings will put be on show across the reserve and our social media, with the winning painting being put on our website!
February 13th & 20th – 2pm – 4pm
Bug hunting sessions – Come and join us for 2 afternoons of bug hunting! Learn about our amazing minibeasts and the role they play within biodiversity! All bug hunting kits will be provided. This session will take place in our den building area.
March 6th & 13th – 2pm – 4pm
March treasure trails – our treasure trails are back for 2022! follow the clues and find all 10 woodland species along our main trail to reach the treasure and receive a prize.
FOR ALL ABOVE EVENTS, THERE IS NO NEED TO BOOK. PLEASE ARRIVE AT OUR VISITORS CENTRE, 10 MINUTES BEFORE EACH EVENT STARTS.
Woodland Stockpot Sessions
In the Summer of 2021, ECCO partnered with Roots To Wellbeing & Active Essex to deliver weekly Woodland Stockpot Sessions. With funding granted by Active Essex, we were able to offer activities, mindfulness classes and a hot meal every week to over 20 different families. By doing this we have been able to teach families about nutrition, food groups and the importance this has on your day to day life. ECCO are extremely proud to be able to offer these sessions to families in need.
Parndon Wood Café
Our café is wonderfully different; the courtyard vista is a pristine woodland where you can sit in peace with a drink & slice of cake or a ciabatta. Hide from the weather inside and watch birds playing around the pond. Arts and crafts are available in the conservation centre all year round so the kids can get creative while you enjoy the view.
Sunset Sessions
Back in 2018, ECCO created an idea called Sunset Sessions which are unique live music events based at Parndon Wood Nature Reserve. All funds raised go back in to the Nature Reserve.
Over 3 Summers we have had 8 sold out events and welcomed more than 800 of you to these events, we cant thank you all enough for the support you have shown.
Across these events, we have had 12 local singer songwriters perform amazing acoustic sets.
See below a video of Harmonie London performing at Sunset Sessions in the Summer of 2021!
Things to see and do
Take a walk by yourself or with the family & friends and experience our superb ancient woodland. We have several nature trails here that you can explore at your leisure.
During the spring large swaths of the woodland are covered in bluebells and foxgloves. Fallow and Muntjac deer are often being spotted and we have hides that look onto their commonly used trails. Much birdlife calls our woods home.
Species recently sighted/heard include; Buzzards, Jays, Long-tail tits, treecreepers, bull finches, greenwood peckers, nuthatches, greater spotted wood peckers, blue tits, black birds, wrens and kestrels.
Our log piles and leaf litter hold rare species of beetle which are scarce in Essex and our water ways and ponds hold much rare amphibian life.
Our Conservation room holds a number of taxidermy species and a large collection of bones for the public to learn about. There is also a huge number of information posters and books to read.
Hire some binoculars (free of charge) and spend a while sitting quietly in one of our bird hides trying to spot our large range of species. (available all year).
Hire a bug hunting kit (free of charge) and get to grips with our woodlands mini beasts. (available all year).
Arts and crafts (free of charge) we have a huge range of animal templates to colour in, or, create your own master piece with fantastic array of coloured paper and other materials. New* Paint your own birch disk medallion to take home
Enjoy hot drinks and freshly made sandwiches at the cafe while others get creative
No matter what you will find enjoyment here!
Faraway Tree Kindergarten Forest School
in 2022, Parndon Wood Nature Reserve will have its very own forest school! Managed and run by the team at Faraway, this OFSTED registered forest school will follow the early years curriculum!
For more details and how to register, please email Faraway – info@farawaytreekindergarten.co.uk or call on 07488 333 820
PLEASE NOTE – Faraway are still waiting on OFSTED approval before we can begin.
Birthday Parties
We offer a range of birthday packages here at the reserve. You can simply hire our conservation room and put on your own party theme or we can give you access to the reserve and you can enjoy a host of out-door activities.
These include;
- Pond dipping (season dependent)
- Bug hunting
- Den building
- Treasure hunt
- Natural arts and crafts
Come rain or shine, you’ll have everything you need for your activities, but don’t forget your appropriate clothing! Equipment will be provided for activities as part of the birthday packages. for more information or to book, call us on 07802237440 or email ezra.folan@ecco.org.uk.
More information here:
Please note that all rubbish created must be taken with you at the end of the party as we do not have the facilities to dispose of large amounts of waste. Thank you.
Firewood & Charcoal for sale.
Parndon Wood Nature Reserve produces many tonnes of premium quality hornbeam firewood. This firewood comes from our sustainably managed and environmentally friendly coppice scheme. It is processed by hand by our wonderful HCV and Green team volunteers and then sold on to help fund the continual maintenance of our SSSI site.
If you would like to purchase fire wood please contact ezra.folan@ecco.org.uk or call 07802237440 £5 a bag (11 kilos) (Subject to availability).
We have also begun producing our very own charcoal from hornbeam wood, this charcoal is gourmet quality and burns very hot and very long. Our bags are 10£ for 5 kilos.
School visits
Parndon Wood offers a fantastic opportunity for schools to experience the wonders of the great outdoors in a safe environment. With access to our indoor classroom (which can accommodate up to 30 pupils), extensive woodland areas and a number of bird hides, there is a fantastic opportunity to learn about local wildlife here at the reserve.
Our range of activities includes;
- Pond dipping
- Bug hunting
- Nature walks
- Foot print hunt
- Wildlife watching
- Den building
- Natural arts and crafts
- Making bird feeders
- Brass rubbing
- Bark rubbing
- Nature quizzes
Prices start from £4 per head (students) please contact ezra.folan@ecco.org.uk or call 07802237440 to arrange a visit or ask for more information.
Events calendar Parndon Wood 2021
This calendar will be updated regularly to add more events and to give greater detail. Events will also be posted on all of our social media sites (FB ), so please follow us for all our event news and updates. For more information on events please contact centre manager Ezra on 07802237440
PLEASE NOTE – More information on events, how to book, prices etc can be found on our facebook closer to the time of the event.
About Parndon Wood Nature Reserve
Parndon Wood Nature Reserve, run by ECCO, is officially one of the finest parks in the country. Receiving a sought after Green Flag award, retained in 2021 for the 12th consecutive year. Green Flag Awards recognise and reward the best parks in the country. The Reserve is the first open space in Harlow to be accepted for this status.
Set on the southern outskirts of Harlow, Parndon Wood has been recorded as a woodland for at least 900 years and therefore can be termed as “ancient woodland”. The site was turned into a Local Nature Reserve in 1974 and the reserve was also designated a Special Site for Scientific Interest (SSSI) due to its flora and value as an educational resource. The wood is composed of a canopy of oak tree standards with hornbeam trees growing beneath. These have traditionally been coppiced (cut down to the base and allowed to grow up again) every 10-15 years to make use of the timber. This practice is still carried out today, though more to keep a diversity of habitats within the woodland and increase the number of species to be found.
Parndon Wood has visits from schools, which use the woods to support national curriculum studies and for special events. These are held throughout the year, for example to demonstrate woodland crafts, painting and woodcarving weekends, animal education shows. We also offer discussion meetings about local wildlife issues and volunteer conservation work parties.
Location: Parndon Wood Road, Harlow CM19 4SF
Supporting the maintenance and conservation of Parndon Wood Nature Reserve
Please help to support Parndon Wood Nature Reserve by donating £5.00. Your donation will go towards; Setting up conservation days, supporting essential works and maintaining Parndon Wood nature reserve and its conservation centre to a high standard.
£5.00
Photography
If you’re interested in photography, there are so may inspiring subjects in the reserve. our stunning landscape and hosts of flora and fauna will get you that perfect wildlife shot. You can send your photographs to ezra.folan@ecco.org.uk of you would like an accredited photo to be shared on our social media or in the conservation centre.
For more information on upcoming events please contact us directly at ezra.folan@ecco.org.uk or call 07802237440
