News and Events in 2019

December 2019

Keele Wildlife Society has thanked students and staff who came out to help plant hundreds of trees on campus to help combat climate change.

tree planters

Over the past two weeks, volunteers planted 300 native trees around the woodland and lakes near Keele Hall with biodegradable guards and stakes, as part of an initiative run by the Woodland Trust. The planting sessions were held as part of Tree Charter Week and Woodland Trust’s Big Climate Fightback, a campaign designed to combat the climate crisis by encouraging people to plant trees to help mitigate the impacts of climate change.

planted trees

Keele Wildlife Society President, Alana Wheat, said: “Thank you to those who came along last week and this week and planted a tree. We really appreciate it and we hope you enjoyed the experience as much as we did. We planted a sum of 300 native trees! Special thanks to Lewis Smith, Keele Wildlife Society Events Coordinator, Green:Keele, SOS UK (formerly NUS Sustainability) and Keele Estates & Grounds for supporting the society in this project. Please keep a lookout for projects in the near future!"

Keele Wildlife Society has thanked students and staff who came out to help plant hundreds of trees on campus to help combat climate change.

Trees planted include native species;

Field Maple (Acer Campestre)
Silver Birch (Betula Pendula)
Downy Birch (Betula Pubescens)
Aspen (Populus Tremula)
Wild Cherry (Prunus Avium)
Bird Cherry (Prunus Padus)
Common Oak (Quercus Robur)
Rowan (Sorbus Aucuparia)
Dog Rose (Rosa Canina)

They are generally dotted all around the first, second and close to the third lake.

Contributed by Alana Wheat; photos by Lewis Smith.

October 11

On a very wet day Dave Emley led a select group on a wildlife walk from Chancellor's to Keele Hall. We were lucky to encounter the first Redwings of the winter when a flock of 50+ were feeding just below Keele Hall.

April 13

Plant Heritage Visit

A group from Plant Heritage was led around the cherry collection by Graham Lees, Dave Emley and Peter Thomas.

April 3

Cherry walk April

Dave Emley and Peter Thomas led a group of 20 around some of the cherries in our National Collection. Very enjoyable if a little damp! Here we are looking at Prunus x yedoensis 'Somei-yoshino'; the most widely-planted cherry in Japan.

March 14

Lunchtime walk March 2019

As part of the Green Festival week, Dave Emley led a party to the Memorial Garden to look at some early cherries; plus a few other things! The party is seen here admiring Prunus 'Pink Giant'.  Photo by Zoe Robinson.


January 9

The new arboretum website has been launched. With over 550 pages and 800+ images it is a large site by any standards. It contains details of the National Collection of Flowering Cherries as well as pages on all our flora and fauna as well as two virtual nature trails. Enjoy!!