This beautiful and constantly evolving sand and shingle spit, one of only two sand dune systems in West Sussex, is home to wide range of wildlife and has been a National Trust property since the 1960s. One of the National Trust’s current projects is to protect the rare Silver Spiny Digger Wasp.  At the moment, a piece of the beach is condoned off to keep visitors from disturbing the wasps’ habitats and signs are in place to describe the creatures’ behaviour. Each wasp has a burrow in the sand and for two summer months the adult wasp emerges to feed on sand flies. At the end of this period it paralyses 10 sand flies, dragging them into the burrow and laying eggs on the first. When the eggs hatch the larvae feeds on one sand fly a month emerging as Digger Wasps the following summer – isn’t nature an incredible thing?

While walking among the dunes in the glow of early spring the bird song is magical as sky larks and sand martins pay heed to the sunshine. It’s popular with walkers and last weekend there were a lot of families and dog-walkers making their way through the different landscapes on offer. The different landscapes really are fascinating – there are marshy mud flats, grassy sand dunes and flat, seaweed and shell strewn shingle beaches. The dunes are created when wind-blown sand is trapped by marram grass, driftwood and seaweed. But as fast as new dunes grow in one place, the sea claims old dunes back, meaning East Head is always changing.

East Head is located around a 30 minute powerboat ride away from Cobnor Activities Centre and the water shelf is so steep just off the shore that it’s rarely a problem to land boats close to the beach, giving easy access regardless of the tide. In fact, East Head’s somewhat easier to get to by boat during the summer months as it’s such a popular holiday destination that the roads on their way to the Witterings and the beaches’ car parks can get jam-packed.

We urge those that haven’t experienced the delights of East Head to make a visit soon. Even if you’re not taking part in any of our outdoor activities that include a trip to East Head groups can talk to us about hiring the Chairboat and driver, or a powerboat and driver, and the driver could take you on a pre-organised trip, just contact sail@cobnor.com for details and availability.

We wanted to meet new people from the local area who work in all sectors so we sent Barry and Pete along to First Friday, Chichester, at the Ship Hotel. While there they met representatives from local security and design businesses who were interested in Cobnor Activities Centre as a venue for corporate activities days. They also met several individuals who were interested in kayaking, particularly the informal kayaking sessions held on Saturday mornings.

At First Friday the Cobnor boys met some people from The Aldingbourne Trust, who are committed to unlocking potential in people with learning difficulties, something that Cobnor Activities Centre is also passionate about.

Cobnor Activities Centre runs Opportunity Knocks every year, a mostly residential programme for people aged 14-40 with learning difficulties that includes activities such as: sailing, canoeing, rides in our Chairboat, orienteering, low ropes, local walks, fishing, circus skills, face painting, Cobnor Cabaret, art and drama workshops, cooking and a fancy dress disco.

We hope to be seeing more people from The Aldingbourne Trust at Cobnor Activities Centre in the future and we’re looking forward to the next networking event already!

Find out more about our scheduled courses and sessions here and for further details on Opportunity Knocks contact: sail@cobnor.com

The fun began on Friday night when guests arrived to listen to music from 7.00pm. but Saturday brought a whole day of activities including sailing, kayaking, canoeing, climbing, abseiling, archery and trips around Chichester Harbour in Cobnor Activities Centre’s specially designed Chairboat. The sun was shining and there was a little breeze, making it ideal weather to enjoy outdoor activities, both water and land-based.

We sent our roving reporter out on the Chairboat so that while those onboard enjoyed a relaxing cruise around the Harbour, almost as far as East Head, she could get some great shots of the passengers enjoying themselves and other guests partaking in Bosun sailing, sea kayaking and canoeing with Cobnor Activities Centre and Wayfarer sailing with CYE. Kate also went out for a spin on our largest patrolling powerboat, Jenny Boone, and while she cooled off with the sea-breeze through her hair she also got some fantastic action shots of families enjoying watersports.

On land, the climbing tower and archery field were popular attractions and those who were at Cobstock to enjoy the music didn’t have long to wait as it all kicked off at 2.00pm. Here are just some of the highlights from the billing:

The Kids Next Door, two local girls and a boy, got huge cheers of support for their great acoustic renditions of some KT Tunstall and Outcast chart-toppers. Redshift were another young  group, all lads this time, with an Indie-Rock edge that contributed to a particularly good cover of the Kings of Leon’s Use Somebody. The Dave Band with their folk vibe boasted two excellent female singers and bongos, which are always a winner in our opinion. They did some beautiful Gabriella Cilmi, hand-clapping Hard -Fi, and a Winehouse-esque Vallerie that rocked the field. 

Later on, there came hearty blues from Dolphin, which gave a chilled out start to the evening and was a favourite with young and old. Also worth a mention is strummer extraordinaire Duncan McKenzie; just one man and his acoustic guitar who impressed the crowd with his talents reminiscent of Rodrigo y Gabriella. The Naked Flames brought us some Feeder, Stereophonics and yet more Kings of Leon. Aimee Lee sang some chilled out classics including Florence and the Machine’s Raise it Up and later on came Tim Sturdy who Kate sadly missed but is guessing that he gave a great performance based on last year. See Cobstock 2009 blog entry.

All this fabulous music and those fun-packed outdoor activities washed down with a hearty organic burger, some delicious sate sticks from the Ca’noodle Thai Taste and a few refreshing ciders with a lot of sunshine (and only the tiniest hint of rain) made for a perfect local festival. Who’s looking forward to Cobstock 2011? We are!