The Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre provides educational courses covering a range of topics – and they are offering a Dragonfly ID Course on 11th July 2026 from 10:00am to 1:00pm. The event celebrates National Dragonfly Week – organised by the British Dragonfly Society – which runs from Saturday 4th July to Sunday 12th July 2026.
You can join Meadows Ranger, Ian Cheeseborough, who will guide you on a gentle stroll around the Onny Meadows. The course fee is £8.00 per person, booking is essential and you can find more information here. The Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre and Onny Meadows was the first designated Dragonfly Hotspot in England in an initiative first set up by The British Dragonfly Society.
Dragonflies are topical at the moment and the British Dragonfly Society is encouraging people to vote for the Emperor Dragonfly (Anax imperator) as one of the 18 creatures shortlisted to feature on the new British banknotes!
Here at Folly View Let we are fortunate to have the Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre and the wonderful Onny Meadows just a 10 minute walk away. I have written before about my love of the Onny Meadows, the Onny Meadows Ponds and the wildlife they support – including Dragonflies and Damselflies.
The Onney Meadows are a fantastic place to watch wildlife, especially dragonflies and damselflies in the summer months, and to enjoy the many visitor facilities on offer too.
The image used in the header of this post is from a photograph by James Wainscoat on Unsplash and is used under the Unsplash licence. It might be a photograph of a Damselfly, or of an Emperor Dragonfly, or of a male Southern Hawker (Aeshna cyanea) or even a Beautiful/Banded Demoiselle – why don’t you come along to the Dragonfly ID Course and find out which it is.
