- Scottish Beaver Trial – Olwen Hemmings Education Ranger
This fantastically educational tool was created by Olwen Hemmings for the kids program in the now-concluded Scottish Beaver trial. When I saw the photo I was in awe and wrote Simon Jones to know how it was made. He passed my email along to Olwen and she wrote back this morning.
Hi Heidi
The arch was a bit of a home-made job. I used 4inch thick upholstery foam (from Dunelm Mill, or the like) and doubled it up. Then cut the blocks using a fine toothed Japanese pull saw (a bread knife works just as well). Working out the angles for the blocks was a bit of a nightmare to be honest, and I ended up on the floor with a giant piece of dressmaking pattern paper, a long rule and a protractor trying to make a template!
Once the blocks were cut I sewed covers for them with a durable heavy cotton canvas (just some fabric I had lying around) and the pictures were put on with computer printable iron on transfer paper.
Glad you like them, they do go down well with the children who find them fun and I think they illustrate the ‘keystone arch’ concept very well.
Please feel free to give me a shout if you want to know any more.
Kind regards
Oly Hemmings Education Ranger Scottish Beaver TrialOf course the idea of such blocks at the beaver festival for kids to shape and play with loomed large immediately. As well as having blank ones that kids can paint! (Every cube has 6 sides you know…) And a tall arch that you walk under to enter the festival.
Oh and when I mentioned the possibility that they had a little help coming up with the idea, Simon didn’t deny it. This is the back page of our festival brochure.
And speaking of Amelia, yesterday we arranged for the beaver festival ad to run in the July Issue of Bay Crossings and our beautiful artist once again made it possible. Look for us at transit stations everywhere near the bay. Thanks Amelia!
I also heard from Ellis Myers, the editor of the Mt. Diablo Audubon newsletter, that he wanted an article and photo for the next issue of the Quail on why birders should come to the beaver festival! Perfect! Just the place to run this amazing new photo from Cheryl – thus confirming the coveted title of BBPEW (Best Beaver Photographer in the Entire World).
