John Ray Trust hosts family garden event in Braintree

Braintree charity the John Ray Trust welcomed the families to a popular town green space to engage in summer garden activities, from crafts to learning about nature.

John Ray was a Christian English naturalist from Black Notley who lived in the 17 century, widely regarded as one of the earliest of the English parson-naturalists.

Inside the Braintree and Bocking Public Gardens, the Trust’s garden was established in 1986 and features a range of plants that would’ve been familiar to John Ray in the 1600s.

Learning - Reggie and Stanley enjoyed making their butterfly mosaics (Image: John Ray Trust)

At the event, families took part in an educational trail around the garden where they discovered more about John Ray’s work.

Children made butterfly mosaics inspired by Ray’s study of the life cycle of insects, planted seeds to take home, and explored geological layers with sand.

The John Ray Trust has the support of Braintree Council and works with local schools, also running university grants and prize schemes.

Group - The team from the John Ray Trust, which creates fun and educational events (Image: John Ray Trust)

Jennifer Rowland, chair of the John Ray Trust, said: “It was great to see so many families taking part in our garden trail and enjoying our crafts and activities.

“Visitors were amazed to hear just how much of the natural world John Ray studied and how many ‘firsts’ Braintree’s science hero had in the field of natural history.

“Thank you to our volunteers, councillor Walters and to all the families who came along for making the day such a success.”