Winter pruning at Gosling Sike Feb 7th 2026

Our 2026 winter pruning workshop will be on Saturday, February 7th at Gosling Sike, Houghton

Our (members only) winter pruning workshop will kick off the 2026 programme and will be at the Cumbria Wildlife Trust's site at Gosling Sike, Houghton.

The workshop will run between 10.30 am to 3 pm. Please gather in the small meeting room on the site. We will then go to the orchard where there are a range of trees of different ages.

Bring your own lunch, warm and waterproof clothing and strong footwear. Cake to share is always welcome! We will have use of the small meeting room to eat lunch and to retreat to if the weather is momentarily inclement - please remove outdoor shoes on entering - but please be aware that it might be a bit noisy as there will be drummers next door.

There will be an opportunity to try out some of the NCOG pruning equipment but please bring your own secateurs and pruning saw if you have them (no powered saws!). We will try to spend a bit of time talking about tools and tool maintenance as well as the art of pruning. Please also bring garden or other protective gloves as the antiseptic spray is quite aggressive.

Booking is essential so that we can contact you in the event of any changes in plan - please sign in to "My NCOG" and book.

DIRECTIONS:

For more information about Gosling Sike, please see here: https://www.cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk/nature-reserves/gosling-sike

Houghton Road
Houghton
Carlisle
Cumbria
CA3 0LD

OS Map Reference
OS 1:50,000. Sheet No. 85
Grid reference: NY 410 588

Getting there
By car:
From M6 junction 44, take the A689 east. After 1km/0.5 miles, turn right onto Houghton Road. Drive through Houghton and Gosling Sike is approximately 200m/215 yds further on the right, after The Croft farmhouse.

From Carlisle centre take the A7 north. Turn right on the B6264. Follow the road for just over 1km/0.5 miles and turn left on to Houghton Road (by the pub), sign-posted to Houghton. Gosling Sike is on the left-hand side, just after the turn off for the housing estate on the right. Car parking is available at Gosling Sike.

A Pod Point Electric Vehicle charging station is on-site and visitors are welcome to use it..

By bicycle:
Gosling Sike is 2km/1.25 miles from National Route 72 Hadrian's Cycleway.

By public transport:
A main line train service goes to Carlisle. Buses run from Carlisle to Houghton and stop near the entrance.

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Contact: Mark Evens / Chris Braithwaite

Member booking

Session detail

Session	Start	End	Available
Winter pruning 7-2-26	07/02/26 10:30 am	07/02/26 3:00 pm	Yes