It was very exciting to hear the children from our four first schools on BBC Hereford and Worcester last week! The children had recorded a short radio report about their blackberry picking trips to Smite Farm. Emmy and Jack from Tibberton narrated the report – they sounded clear and confident and we were very proud of them. … More Great Blackberry Pick on the Radio!
“I have enjoyed learning about what life was like 100 years ago in the war. School was very different and there were lots of punishments. I think I would like to go to school now because the teachers were very strict 100 years ago! I really enjoyed picking the blackberries and making the jam … More What the children have enjoyed and learnt during the project
We all enjoyed making crumble with the blackberries we collected. The children picked pears from the tree in their school garden and together with these and some bramley apples made a delicious crumble that filled the school with a smell that made all the other children and teacher’s mouths water! We all helped to weigh … More Blackberry, Pear and Apple Crumble
Following a successful pick of this year’s crop of blackberries at Smite Farm yesterday, the children have today turned their blackberries into some very delicious jam! All the children helped wash and weigh out the blackberries, cook them, add the sugar and pour them into individual jars. They have each designed and made their own … More Blackberry Jam
Liam and Eric from Hindlip School found more than fruit when they went blackberry picking with their class. Eric: ‘This morning Orange Class picked loads of blackberries. I saw a grasshopper and there were loads of other insects. The brambles were very prickly and stuck onto my shirt! I really enjoyed my morning.’ Liam: ‘When … More What we found in the blackberries!
A fantastic morning in the sunshine doing what local children did 100 years ago! The Year 3 & 4’s from Hindlip First School visited Smite farm to go blackberry picking. First we learnt that in 1917 the children at Hindlip picked around 700 kg of blackberries under the Ministry of Food scheme. This is in our … More Hindlip children blackberry picking at Smite Farm
Amongst country people in the British Isles, there are many superstitions about blackberries. The strongest of these is that you should never pick a wild blackberry after the 29th September, which used to be Michaelmas Day. This short film gives an idea of why that might be…
Are you interested in local history? Would you like to help unearth documents, records and photos relating to the Droitwich area in World War 1? We are looking for people who would like to join our new research group, based at Droitwich Library. Don’t worry if you’ve never done anything like this before – there … More Blackberry Volunteers – We Need You!
Picking blackberries is a glorious sensory pleasure, almost more rewarding than the fruit itself. In 1966, Seamus Heaney wrote about this physical joy in ‘Blackberry Picking’, as part of his collection, Death of a Naturalist. Here is a pdf teaching resource from BBC Ireland, for use in the classroom when studying this poem: Blackberry picking_Heaney_BBC Ireland
First question we need to answer is – what was the Great Blackberry Pick? And how many children were involved? Professor Maggie Andrews from the University of Worcester told us that there were so many food shortages during 1917 and 1918, that schools stopped lessons for two half days in the autumn to gather blackberries. … More How did blackberries help the war effort?
