August 2021

As partners in the Living Well Sefton Neighbourhood Partnerships project, we are organizing curiosity and green discovery walks.

Inviting participants to join us to help to search for points of interest and hidden gems such as fruit trees for foraging, green spaces to enjoy, wild plants and forgotten landmarks to create urban walking trails around Bootle with environmental themes.

The first Bootle Green Mappers Walk took place on 16th July when the group searched for hidden commonplace and not-so-commonplace Bootle flora and fauna, exploring from Oriel Road to Derby Park. Unexpected finds included trees from the Mediterranean and as far away as the Caribbean.

On 9th August, hunting for hidden green gems in Bootle for this green mapping walk, our group took a route through parks and along the canal.

Encouraging learning, walkers with a smart device were encouraged to download an app called ‘Picture This’ to use during the walk to identify plants we might find.

Adding purpose to our curiosity walks, we are plotting our walkers’ discoveries to generate maps for each walk meaning the trails can be available for local residents to explore Bootle. Using open-source software – umaps- this digital format enables the addition of descriptive narrative, photos and audio recordings to create a truly interactive experience.

Our environmental treasure hunts are being created by the community for the community.