• INTREPID explorers are gearing up for the annual Amberley Cow Hunt on the May Bank Holiday weekend.

Locals and visitors alike can find more than 30 decorated wooden cows along two new routes which go through Amberley and the surrounding common.

Maps and quiz sheets will be available outside Amberley Parochial School, priced £3, and the event is from 1 to 5pm on May 2 and 3.

The event celebrates the release of the real cows on to the commons on May 13.

Money raised will buy equipment for the school and aid the charity Send a Cow, which provides livestock for families in Africa.

  • THE Marie Curie Stroud & District Fundraising Group for Marie Curie Cancer Care are holding an open meeting on May 13 at Ciao Eatalio from 6pm to tell people about what they do and all about Marie Curie.

Being part of the group can make an enormous difference locally by helping to raise the vital funds needed to support Marie Curie Nurses, who provide free care to people with all terminal illnesses in their own homes.

The Stroud & District Fundraising Group organises fundraising activities and collections in the local community, encourages new volunteers to help the charity, as well as supports Marie Curie’s major fundraising campaigns such as the Great Daffodil Appeal and Blooming Great Tea Party.

To join your local volunteer Fundraising Group for Marie Curie Cancer Care, or to find out more about the group and other ways to support the charity, please call Debbie on 07824 479333 or stroudfundraising.mariecurie@gmail.com

  • TEN gardens are opening to visitors over the May Bank Holiday weekend to showcase a variety of lawn designs.

Landscaped and steeply sloping terrain, layered terraces, cottage gardens and compact, imaginative designs in an estate setting are all there to be enjoyed – and there are glimpses throughout the route of the delightful Toadsmoor Valley scenery surrounding the three villages.

The mile-and-a-half trail leads through Eastcombe, Bussage and Brownshill and is open on Sunday, May 3 and Monday, May 4 from 2pm to 6pm.

Organised by the Hilltop Gardening Club, the event will raise funds for the benefit of the NGS-supported charities and three local charities: Breast Cancer Care, Acorns Children’s Hospice and Hope for Tomorrow, the charity that provides mobile chemotherapy facilities.

Admission to all the gardens is £6 and children are admitted free.

You can start your tour and pick up a trail map at any of the well-signposted gardens or at Eastcombe Village Hall, where you will also find toilets.

  • SELECT Festival exhibitions open at the Museum in the Park Bluebell Walk in Standish Woods Friday 8 May - 6pm - 8pm (approx.)

Standish Woods, Stroud Nothing says ‘English spring’ as beautifully as beech woodlands covered in a hazy blue carpet of honey-scented bluebells.

If you want to experience this spring magic and learn about the differences between our native bluebells and the Spanish hybrids which threaten their survival, join us for a gentle stroll through Standish Woods.

Cost: £3/adult, £2/child Members of our Friends’ Scheme only pay £2/adult and £1/child Booking essential as numbers limited Call Stroud Valleys Project 01453 753358