A GENTLE stroll through the grounds of Hartlebury Castle will teach visitors about the variety of wildlife there.

The County Museum will be running a new series of informative walks and talks this year, following the success of last year's Bat Walk.

The first event is called Tree-mendous, which takes place on Sunday, April 25 at 11am, finishing at 1pm with a lunch at the Castle Kitchen Café.

The walk will be led by Rod Pomery, a retired head forester at the National Trust, who will be identifying and talking about the different tree species in the grounds of the Castle and the wider importance of trees to mankind.

The second event sees the return of the popular Bat Walk, which takes place on Tuesday, May 11, starting with a meal at 7.30pm and an informative presentation about British bats from the Worcestershire Bat Group.

Following the presentation, visitors will be led on a walk around the castle grounds and use detection equipment to search out the bats for themselves.

Further eventss planned later this year include a look at 18th century costume, an illustrated talk on Bishop Hurd and the Hurd Library, and a behind the scenes tour of the museum's stores.

Rachel Robinson, visitor services officer at the museum, said: “Our Bat Walk last year was a sell-out and has inspired us to run a new series of walks and talks. We hope they will prove as popular and are really pleased to be able to offer this new service to our visitors with tickets now on sale.

"The tree walk is a new venture for us and will offer a great opportunity for people to hear and learn from a real expert as well as enjoy a healthy walk, a nice lunch and a chance to meet new people."

Tickets must be booked in advance. For more information or to purchase tickets contact the museum on 01299 250416 or visit the website.