Keele University Arboretum

14/08/2026

I am sure you have all seen the government alert about fires. Please take when you are out and about.

13/08/2026

Amazing to see so many people gathered together to watch the eclipse yesterday. Not a single cloud obscured our view. The eerie light quality was quite magical. Everyone was comparing solar viewing devices and sharing eclipse glasses. Wonderful sense of community.

11/08/2026

Partial Solar Eclipse viewing event on Keele campus

Where: Playing fields, Barnes Hall Road. What3Words ///rarely.punt.shuts

When: Wednesday 12th August

Time: 6.15pm-8.05pm

We're set to experience a partial solar eclipse on Wednesday as the moon passes in front of the sun, and we'd love for you to join us for a community event to witness it together.

Join us on the sports fields on Barnes Hall Road, opposite the Islamic Centre, for a safe and family-friendly viewing experience.

The eclipse will begin around 6.15pm, reach its peak at 7.10pm, and end around 8.05pm. We'll have solar telescopes available for safe viewing, eclipse glasses to borrow and share, and friends from Newchapel Observatory joining us.

From 5.30pm-8.30pm, you can also enjoy refreshments, cupcakes and crafts, including the chance to make your own solar eclipse viewer.

Please note: This event is weather dependent and will be cancelled without notice if conditions are unsuitable, such as overcast skies or rain.

09/08/2026

Mr Asari finally got to don his graduation robes this weekend for a special ceremony in Japan in which he received his honorary degree certificate from Keele University for his work on flowering cherries. The event has been reported across Hokkaido in Japan.

Thanks to our Japanese lecturer Mr Toshihiko Kitagawa for facilitating this and translating in the Zoom meeting the following day.

07/08/2026

Today we welcomed the Shropshire and Staffordshire Lichen Group to the campus. They did surveys of epiphytic lichens growing on trees. The grove of sycamores on The Covert yielded ~25 lichen species and there was much excitement at the discovery of a specimen that has only been reported a few times in Staffordshire! Some specimens will require microscopy and chemical testing to verify their identification. This is the first of what we hope will be many trips onto the campus by the lichen group. Want to get involved? I will pop some contact details of the group in the comments.

Collecting baseline biodiversity data is really important. If you are a special interest group that would like to come to Keele campus then do please get in touch.

15/07/2026

What a day for the arboretum we had yesterday! Two key players in the creation of our National Collection of flowering cherries received honorary Master of Science degrees. Huge congratulations to Chris Sanders VMH and Masatoshi Asari for this much warranted achievement in "recognition of their lifelong dedication to ornamental flowering cherries that has changed how we view Sakura blossoms and fostered a cherry friendship between Japan and England." It was a priviledge and a honour to deliver the oration. Naoko Abe, who received Mr Asari's award, and Toshihiko Kitagawa (Keele Japanese lecturer) will be presenting the certificate to Mr Asari in person in Japan in August. Thanks to Toshihiko for taking these photographs.

09/07/2026

Have you walked down Central Drive and smelt a delightful fragrance? Its coming from the pendulous clusters of pale yellow flowers on the Silver Lime (Tilia tomentosa). Honeybees that pollinate the flowers are drawn in by the strong sweet smell which saturates the air.

Did you know? Some bees can not digest the sugars in the nectar causing them to become comatose in a toxic reaction!

07/07/2026

Next weeks Graduation celebrations are particularly special for the arboretum as two cherry experts - Chris Sanders and Masatoshi Asari - will be receiving honorary degrees. They have both played in their own ways a massive part in the campuses National Collection of flowering cherries. More on that next week. To find out a bit of their backstory click on the link below.

An F1 doctor, an internationally renowned biophysicist, and a leading Japanese expert on cherry blossom trees are among the guests set to receive honorary degrees at Keele University’s summer graduation ceremonies this year.

30/06/2026

Keele University has hosted a series of Strategic Conversations to engage staff, students, and the community in shaping a new institutional strategy. Alongside this staff were invited to submit Strategic Ideas. One such idea put forward by Sarah Taylor and Ian Stimpson is to restore the historic and culturally significant amphitheatre in Terrace Woods. This idea has now been published on a public accessible version of the Open Journal so that we can engage with the wider community. We want to hear your thoughts on this. Below is a link so you can find out more and submit your comments.

We propose to restore the “amphitheatre” in Terrace Wood so it can be used as an outdoor laboratory and multifunctional event space.

19/06/2026

Magical to see a Little Egret on the upper lake by Keele Hall this afternoon. Thanks to Dave Emley for confirming my ID. Here are some blurry photos of it taken on my phone it's become a regular visitor. Anyone else seen it?