DFSC

DFSC
Bristol CC Outdoor Education Centre situated in the village of Parkend in The Forest of Dean

Tuesday 4 October 2016

Autumn 2016 Update

We had such a busy Summer we unfortunately didn't manage a Summer Update. We weren't just basking in the sun like the slow worm we found one day on the front door step, shown below:



Instead we have been busy with lots of new development projects.


Work on the bridge over the stream in our Centre garden is now complete and much easier to use with a wheelchair

 
The surface under our High Ropes Course used to be mainly gravel. We've put in drainage pipes, levelled it all off and covered it in astro turf as shown in video below:



Again this is much easier to negotiate for our wheelchair using visitors and it keeps ropes and footwear clean


Another big development in the Centre grounds is a new Campfire area with seating. This is already being successfully used but has further development planned including the siting of a new permanent built BBQ; a shed housing a further 2 portable BBQ's and a cargo parachute canopy over the whole fire circle. We also plan to raise the fire place on to an altar style stone base to improve safety and visibility. Watch this space...


Another project that has been started involved putting trellis work below the deck. Ultimately there will be planters on top of the gabions with honeysuckle and ivies growing up the trellis. We also plan to water these with a rainwater harvesting system taken from the deck canopy.

The Garden Room and Garden are looking really good now and encouraged a happy couple to have a wedding reception here back in May. We have also just hosted our second wedding reception in Sept and look forward to showing you some photos of this in the future. So if you fancy having a wedding reception with a difference let us know...! We're not registered as a marriage venue but we make a great place to celebrate afterwards!



Tuesday 3 May 2016

DFSC Spring 2016 Update


Spring came early to The Dean Field Studies Centre and we had Daffodils in bloom in January. As elsewhere Spring has then lasted a long time!



We made good use of the cold weather to get lots of indoor jobs sorted like painting the Dining Room & the whole of the First Floor accommodation.


We also got some new carpets laid in some of the bedrooms.



The stairs and landings got a full make over with completely new treads and nosings etc.



All the bedrooms on the first floor now have new ceiling tiles to compliment the modern bright flush fitting LED light units.



The Staff Shower on the First Floor was completely refurbished from floor to ceiling.
 
The world class Forest of Dean Bluebells are just coming into their prime now (they should be at their best this weekend if you can make it over to see them) Summer is just around the corner and we're now on to a list of outdoor projects that need doing.

 
First on the list is a new bridge over our stream in the Centre Garden.


Subscribe to our You Tube Channel to see the latest videos we have published. This one is of doing our Zip Wire and a Ropes Course Swing with a wheelchair user.