River Tees Map
The River Tees has shaped the lives and prosperity of the people of Teesside and the Tees Valley. Many changes have occurred throughout the years, all dependant on the river.

From Teesmouth to its source high in County Durham, the River Tees is 150 Km. long and much of it difficult to walk even if you had the time. However here at Nature's World you can walk the River Tees in part of a day. This is because our River Tees Model is 400m long! It mirrors the original as close as possible and you can experience the fun you could have down the River Tees by clicking here.

Community Orchard
What Are:

• Sheeps Nose
• Keswick Codling
• Cockpit Improved?

The design of the orchard is circular, with harder fruits like cooking apples protecting the softer pears and plums. There are many interesting varieties of fruit with a wide range of properties e.g. tougher skins or stronger flavour. It is important to keep as wide a genetic base as possible as some characteristics of the older fruits may become useful in the future.

Apothecaries Garden
The Apothecaries garden was designed by Phillip Swindells and the earth excavated by Scottish Land. The bricks were laid and the fittings were cast by trainees. The plants were donated by the local authority and the benches sponsored by a local firm. The trees have also been sponsored by local people.

The garden demonstrates a range of herbs which grow in both sunny and shady conditions. Some are decorative, some are used for cooking, others for killing your husband!

The Apothecaries Garden is itself an excellent example of how Nature's World works where sponsorship is sought, everything is recycled and the project provides work or a training opportunity for the long term unemployed.

Dig For Victory Garden
The dig for victory garden at Nature's World is an excellent example of self reliance and self sufficiency, of people using the resources which they already had. It illustrates frugality and a low fibre diet. The garden itself is constructed exclusively from recycled materials, its main feature being the bombed out facade of a terraced house with an array of vegetables current at the time.

Minibeast Safari
This special area contains a variety of different habitats which are attractive to a wide variety of minibeasts.

The habitats include log and leaf piles, carpets and sand and they in turn attract such minibeasts as woodlice, millipedes, centipedes, spiders and worms. The area is used by local school children who come on a 'Minibeast Safari' where they collect different minibeasts and compare the different populations for example.

This sort of area is very valuable to a gardener as it attracts a whole host of useful minibeasts such as worms to improve the soil and centipedes to get rid of pests. The log and leaf piles also act as shelters for animals such as hedgehogs and toads.

Compost Heaps
Composting is part of the natural process of decomposition which is happening all around us, all the time. Anything that was once alive can be broken down by other living organisms to make compost.
For example teabags, egg shells, cardboard and paper will decompose to make compost eventually. About the only things which won't decompose are plastic, glass and metal.

The composting process depends on soil animals like worms and bacteria which eat dead and decaying leaves and animals, reducing them to their constituent nutrients which are then released back into the soil for plants to use and grow.

In nature this process can take a long time but if you provide the decomposers with just the right conditions, as in a compost heap, the process is speeded up and a more consistent, fertile product is produced at the end.

The most important thing with composting is to get the moisture and the carbon/nitrogen balance right. The two main ingredients for a good heap are carbon rich strawy or woody material and nitrogen rich green, leafy material.