This annual event was held at Carsington Water this year and many Trust members were among the 1500-strong crowd who turned out to hear a wide range of speakers including Iolo Williams and Chris Packham.

The Trust was instrumental in organising the event locally and probably the highlight of the whole afternoon was when a group of local children, aided by Chris, read out the poems they had written about the plight of the hen harrier.

Indeed some members of the audience were moved to tears! The children, coached by a local poet and writer, had written about harriers and drawn some super images of the birds a few weeks beforehand such that a small booklet called Skydancer could be produced and put on sale to raise funds for the cause.

That booklet is now available via the Trust’s online shop (https://dwtshop.org.uk/product/sky-dancer/  ) or at its ‘real shops in Derby, Belper and Bakewell. So whether you made it to Carsington or not, do support their brilliant efforts by buying a copy (£3 is the minimum you need to find).

Among the speakers were Tim Birch (DWT), Hardyal Dhindsa (Derbyshire Police Commissioner) and Ruth Tingay of Wild Justice, the campaign group who instigated the event.

Chris Packham subsequently announced that he had started a petition on grouse shooting and within three days it had reached 50,000 signatures!