11/03/2026
The Adventures of Jim & Jen: The Willow Mission 🌿
Yesterday I spent the afternoon with Jim, also known as The Canoe River Cleaner
here on Facebook with the intention of collecting some willow for the upcoming bird-nesting workshops at Jen’s Den.
🐦⬛Because nesting season is beginning, we’re very mindful about what we forage and when. Willow is a wonderful natural material for crafts and nest-building activities, but once birds begin nesting it’s important that we step back and leave those spaces undisturbed.
💚What I thought might be a quick couple of hours turned into a much longer wander, because Jim has an incredible knowledge of the landscape and the wildlife that lives here.
At one point Jim explained how the water systems work beneath our feet. Rain falling on the Lincolnshire Wolds moves underground through the chalk, which acts like a natural reservoir. The water becomes trapped beneath layers of clay, building pressure below the surface.
Where there are breaks in the clay, the water rises up to the surface.
And apparently, according to Jim. this process forms blow wells, which are unique to our area.
😅I did try to write this down exactly as Jim explained it… although I suspect I’ll still need another field lesson to fully understand it.
Afterwards we headed back to Jen’s Den for a cup of tea and a chat. I shared some of the ideas behind the work we do here , creating a calm, neurodivergent-affirming space where people can connect with nature and themselves — and Jim shared more about his conservation work on the waterways.
🌿It was one of those lovely exchanges where we both came away with a little more knowledge than we arrived with.
And just to note
Jim is amazing and genuinely one of the most knowledgeable people I’ve ever met.
(He did actually tell me to write that. I suspect he was joking… but probably not!😅
I’m putting it in anyway.)
🌿“Nature outside.
Warmth, tea and reflection inside.
That’s the rhythm of Jen’s Den.”
📍 Lincolnshire Wolds / Cleethorpes
