Watchtree Nature Reserve welcomed Wigton Rugby Union Football Club for a special training session.
The reserve, near Wigton, is a haven for wildlife and a popular destination for outdoor enthusiasts.
Its wide trails and cycle training area made a perfect training area and the event included handing drills, fitness, strength and conditioning mixed with some fun games of touch rugby on one of the fields.
Thirty-five players attended the session, including the senior men’s team, Colts, under 16s and the ladies’ senior team.
Following the training session the team enjoyed a social evening of food and gelato catered for by the Watchtree team.
The session came about as Watchtree Nature Reserve manager, Ryan Dobson, is also involved with the rugby club.
Having hung up his boots last year, Ryan is now concentrating on developing the facilities at Lowmoor Road and is currently leading a project to install floodlights on one of the training pitches.
The floodlights project is now on the final push to reach there £85,000 project target having successfully raised £72,000 through grants.
A Crowdfunder has been launched, with support flooding in from the local community.
Ryan said: “It was great to see the team out at Watchtree, working hard in the sunshine and enjoying some refreshments afterwards.
“We had aimed to include some volunteering tasks in the session, but our own gang of volunteers are far too efficient and had most of the suitable tasks all completed!”
David Warwick, senior men’s coach, added: “We’re a month into pre-season training now and the team have all being working hard in preparation for the upcoming season.
“The session at Watchtree was a great opportunity to keep things interesting and have a change of scenery whilst maintaining the intensity of training.
“Ryan does loads of great work for our club, and we were keen to do something in return to show our support.”
The senior men’s team have several pre-season friendlies planned this summer including Garstang and Annan at home on August 17, Carlisle away on August 24 and Langholm at home on August 30. The season opening games take place on September 7.
Donate to Wigton Rugby Club’s fundraiser here: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/shine-on-wigton-rugby
