In the first of a regular series, Oakwell Hall ranger Les Hughes reveals what's happening at the Birstall country park this week - inside and out:

IT’S BEEN a hectic time here at Oakwell Hall Country Park in the run-up to the festive season.

Staff, volunteers and members of our friends’ group have spent an enjoyable few weeks decorating the Elizabethan hall and preparing for events such as the ever-popular Christmas Craft Fair, held last week.

And the seasonal decorations the team lovingly crafted to sell at the event once again proved to be a vital fundraiser for the dedicated volunteers group.

All these jobs have had to be done in between the routine maintenance work that is part and parcel of the upkeep of the 110-acre country park – gardening, keeping paths clear, removing weeds from our wildlife ponds, dealing with fallen trees and raking up huge mounds of fallen leaves.

In fact, now the leaves have fallen, visitors have the perfect opportunity to spot one of the park’s larger, and most colourful residents – the jay.

A member of the crow family (corvids) it’s amazing how this shy woodland bird with the black, white and zingy-blue wing markings can keep itself hidden.

It’s a fairly common bird but quite exotic looking and recently an excited visitor came rushing over to tell me he’d caught a glimpse of some wild parakeets near the hall. It was only when he described what he’d seen, I realised he’d spotted a pair of jays!

If birdwatching isn’t your thing, then you might have a more eerie encounter as you walk round the hall grounds as darkness falls this month.

Yesterday marked the 335th anniversary of the tragic death of Capt William Batt, a member of the controversial family that formerly lived at the hall. Legend has it that the grounds are now stalked by the ghost of the unfortunate captain.

Victorian writer Elizabeth Gaskell in her Life of Charlotte Bronte, takes up the tale: “Captain Batt was believed to be far away; his family was at Oakwell; when in the dusk on a winter evening, he came stalking along the lane, through the hall and up the stairs, into his own room, where he vanished. He had been killed in a duel in London that very same afternoon.”

Forthcoming events at Oakwell include Art in the Barn, in the Visitor Centre Barn, from January 11 to February 2.

There are still places available for exhibitors to take part in our popular annual art exhibition and sale, featuring the work of local artists.

Email oakwell.hall@kirklees.gov.uk if you would like to exhibit.