National Meadows Day this year will take place on Saturday, July 1, with two events taking place nearby. Lesley Tate reports.

THERE can be few things more likely to conjure up pleasant thoughts of long summer days, idling away the hours, than a wildflower meadow.

This year, national meadows day - dedicated to celebrating and protecting the country's vanishing wildflower meadows - will take place on the very first Saturday in July.

And, more than a hundred events will be taking place across the country - including one at Nethergill Eco-farm near Buckden, in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, and the other at Bell Sykes Coronation Meadows, Slaidburn, in the Forest of Bowland AONB.

From wildflower walks and scything demonstrations, to picnics and bug hunts, people will be able to appreciate the meadows first hand this summer.

Teaming with wildlife and a riot of colour, the flower-rich hay meadows at Nethergill Eco-Farm are truly special.

Visitors will be able to take part in wildflower walks, talks and bug hunting activities - if the weather is kind.

There will be homemade refreshments to buy, or people can bring their own picnics to enjoy.

Over in the Forest of Bowland at the Bell Sykes Coronation Meadows in Slaidburn, there will be a chance to learn more about the plants and wildlife of the flagship meadows.

There will be guided tours looking at flowers and bugs, at 11am and at 2pm, and visitors will be able to watch rural craft demonstrations. They will also be able to learn about the traditional uses of meadow plants and see a meadow cut by hand.

Refreshments will be available

Both events will aim to show people the important and ongoing restoration work being carried out by the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust and the Forest of Bowland AONB to help restore the iconic part of Britain's landscape for future generations.

Working with farmers, landowners and contractors, the ripe wildflower seeds from thriving species-rich hay meadows are harvested and spread onto meadows nearby that have lost some of their botanical diversity. Key species have already been reintroduced to more than 650 hectares so far, with plans to improve the species diversity in a further 100 hectares of degraded meadows across the region this summer.

Just a hundred years ago there would have been a meadow in every parish across the region, supporting a way of life that had gone on for centuries.

Supporting over 80 species of wildflowers, a healthy hay meadow provided grazing and hay for livestock as well as employment, food and medicine for the parish.

They were part of a community's cultural and social history - reports of haymaking times and hiring fairs - where landowners would recruit men and boys - a regular feature of the Craven Herald.

Today, just three per cent of the meadows that existed in the 1930s remain - representing a loss of more than three million hectares.

National Meadows Day is the main event of the Save Our Magnificent Meadows project - the country's largest partnership aimed at transforming the fortunes of vanishing wildflower meadows, grasslands and wildlife.

Plantlife, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), is spearheading the project.

Both events will take place from 10am to 4pm. Although the activities are free at Nethergill Farm, donations will be welcomed to support the meadow restoration work of Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust (YDMT). Booking is advised via the website nethergill.co.uk or by telephone 07854 602060.

Walks at the Bell Sykes Coronation Meadows will cost £3, for more information email sarah.robinson@lancashire.gov.uk or telephone 01200 448000.