What's On Out There? The Bill's Mother's Links & Listings Post - April 2025

What’s On Out There? Links & listings for everyone in the Outdoor City. Please share, and subscribe to keep up.

Peacock butterfly on Blackthorn

Our What’s On Out There guide shares events and news in brief, with links and short news stories as they come in. We aim to provide a useful service for everyone who cares about the wild outdoors of Sheffield (and the northern Peak District).

These posts have been read by thousands of people over the last two years, so if you find all this interesting or useful, help keep the service going by sharing, and subscribing.

Reader subs are the only way we can cover the costs of this social enterprise. We’re now just half a dozen paying subscribers away from our target of 305 wonderful people who chip in a mere £4 a month to show they like what we’re doing.

Along with supporting a new kind of local journalism (when we really need it), our full subscribers get the whole What’s On Out There post with over a month of listings, and news and useful links as they come in. And lots more.

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WOOT comes in two versions:

Free Trial Readers: Brief roundup of the next week’s listings, emailed out once a month.

Full Subscribers: All the above, plus over a month of listings in the web version, the full news and links service, regular online updates, and a bonus What To Look For feature about wildlife to see this month, along with access to the whole archive of 220+ features, and special features every now and then. The first update for full subscribers is tonight.

Use the free Substack app (or just reload in your browser) to see the latest version of this post, and feel free to share (below) with all your friends and colleagues.

Promoters & Organisers: We can only publish your outdoor events if you tell us about them. Email us at bbobillsmothers@gmail.com as follows: Subject line - WOOT Event, with an email containing a 1 line event description, Include - day & date, and an online link so readers can find out more details.

And taking out a full subscription or two (as over a dozen local organisations have, so far) would be a very helpful way to keep this service running.

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Also Out There (News & Links)

Grouse Moor Parliamentary Debate - A petition from Chris Packham & others calling for a ban on driven grouse shooting is now over the 100,000 signatory figure needed for a debate in parliament. Sign here. The more who sign, the more likely it is this debate will actually happen, it’s hoped.

Sheffield Environment Weeks - Six (or so) weeks of summer environmental events this year are listed by the organisation that started its work 40 years ago.

Peregrine Cam: Watch the (sometimes gory) progress of the Sheffield University Peregrine Falcons, thanks to the university and Sheffield Bird Study Group.

Counting The Days Without A Road Death - A new Bluesky account is recording the days without a death on Sheffield’s roads. The tragic death of a 62 year old pedestrian on Carlisle Street last week means we are now on 17 days (by Sat 26th).

Right To Roam - Sign the petition asking the government to make good its intention to bring England and Wales into line with Scotland for countryside access.

What Is Wild? - Upcoming conference from Landscape Conservation Forum & South Yorks Biodiversity Research Group, about the human influence on modern and ancient landscapes, especially woodland. Free evening talk by author Mark Cocker and others on Weds 7th May

Small Park Big Run - Entries now open for the city’s famous running endurance event, in support of women’s education and health and play facilities for children in Palestine

Moss on an urban wall getting ready for spring

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April / Early May

Tues 22 April - 30th May - Festival of Debate

Fri 25th - SRWT Volunteering - Greno Woods

Sat 26th - RSPB local group walk - Sheffield General Cemetery

Sat 26th - CycleBoost Learn to Ride sessions, Heeley (Booking required)

Sat 26th - SRWT User Forum - Moss Valley walkabout meeting

Sat 26th - Parkwood Springs conservation volunteering

Sat 26th - Sheffield CTC Cycle Ride - Roaches Audaxes

Sun 27th - Yorkshire Rose Womens Cycle Rides

Sun 27th - Sheffield CTC Cycle Ride -Over Haddon

Sun 27th - Dawn Bird walk at Parkwood Springs

Mon 28th - Wardsend Cemetery Bird Survey

Mon 28th - Fri 2nd May - Daily health walks in parks and green spaces from Step Out Sheffield, 10 am start

Tues 29th - Friends of Ecclesall Woods volunteer & footpath repair session

Tues 29th - SRWT Volunteering - Carbrook Ravine

Weds 30th - Longshaw Social Walk

Weds 30th - CycleBoost Learn to Ride & Cycle Confidence sessions - Hillsborough Park (Women only sessions, booking required)

Weds 30th - Shirebrook Valley - Volunteer Session

Thurs 1st May - Green City Action Grimesthorpe community allotment

Thurs 1st - SRWT Volunteering - Moss Valley Woodlands

Thurs 1st - CycleBoost Learn to Ride & Cycle Confidence sessions - Greenhill Park (Booking required)

Thurs 1st - Graves Park Climate Resilience Project: Birds walk

Fri 2nd - SRWT Volunteering - Wildlife Gardening at Stafford Rd

Sat 3rd - Mon 5th - Open Up Sheffield Art Weekend (1)

Sat 3rd - Sheffield CTC Cycle Ride

Sat 3rd - CycleBoost Learn to Ride sessions, Heeley (Booking required)

Sat 3rd - Friends of Whirlow Brook Park volunteer session

Sat 3rd - Parkwood Springs conservation volunteering

Sat 3rd - RSPB local group walk - Padley Gorge (early morning birds)

Sat 3rd - Mon 5th - Open Up Sheffield - Artist’s Studios Open Weekend (1)

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Our full listings, with updated links and stories as they come in, are below for full subscribers, who also get all of our features, our archive of over 220 fairly interesting posts, and the warm glow of knowing you’re supporting the new local journalism for less than the price of a pint of beer a month.