Ye who have a spark in your veins of cockney spirit, smile or mourn acccording as you take things well or ill;— Bold Britons, we are now on Shooter's Hill!
Mayplace Lane near the bronze age barrow on Plum Lane
The Friends of Mayplace Lane will be holding a tidy up and planting session on Sunday from 11.00am, meeting in the Lane just down the hill from Plum Lane. They would welcome any help from local residents.
As well as picking litter and other larger rubbish, the Friends will be planting bulbs and trees. They have secured a donation of small saplings of various colours from the Woodlands Trust, including silver birch, rowan, hazel, dogwood and wild cherry. Some will be planted in the lane and others in gardens backing on to the lane.
The Friends are keen to encourage wild flowers and animals, and to deter fly tipping. They have had some success in attracting wild life as several hedgehogs have been seen in the lane and in gardens backing on to the lane, sharing the area with foxes as shown in the photo below from the Friends’ Facebook page.
Hedgehog and Fox in garden backing on to Mayplace Lane
The weather for the weekend is forecast to be “Fine and dry with settled conditions,” so a good weekend to get out into our local parks. Both Shrewsbury Park and Eaglesfield Park have community activities this weekend.
On Saturday the Friends of Shrewsbury Park are having one of their regular tidy-up sessions. Kathy wrote with details:
If you can spare an hour to help clean up the park by picking up rubbish and cutting back brambles, please meet this Saturday at 11am at the Garland Road entrance to Dothill. Please bring your gardening gloves and secateurs.
Then on Sunday the Friends of Eaglesfield Park have things going on all day. In the morning they have one of their clean-up sessions at the lilly pond, assisted from 11.00am by Youth Volunteers from NCS (National Citizen Service), then after lunch another free Tai Chi session led by Tai Chi teacher Chew-Yeen. Following the Tai Chi, Chew-Yeen has organised a “cake sharing” for a donation of £2 in support of MacMillan Cancer Nurses. We’ll need to bring our own flask of tea or coffee
The details are all on the Friends’ blog, but the key times are:
10.30 am – Monthly pond and meadow tidy up and weeding.
11.00 am – 3.30 pm Youth volunteers from NCS (National Citizen Service) weeding and community survey.
1.00 – 2.00 pm Tai Chi session.
September is the start of the breeding season for bats and also when they start to build up their fat stores for the winter hibernation, so hopefully there will be plenty of them around for the Shrewsbury Park bat walk on Friday. Kathy from the Friends of Shrewsbury Park e-mailed the poster and details of the walk:
Please find poster attached giving details of the Bat Walk on 11 September, starting at 7.45pm in the car park.
It is free to you as you are a member of the Friends of Shrewsbury Park. You will see that we have decided to charge non-members for the walk. If non-members join the Friends, then the walk will be free to them. By charging non-members, we will increase the funding towards our drinking fountain. If they join, then we will increase our membership.
We will have to spend a few minutes at the beginning of the walk checking membership.
Just a reminder, if it is raining, the bats will not be out, nor will we.
Fingers crossed for a dry evening.
This is the last local bat walk for this year as far as I know. Lots of bats have been detected and sighted on all the others, let’s hope Friday maintains the record.
Brown Long Eared bat from Jenny Clark’s education team at Batfest 2015Serotine bat from Jenny Clark’s education team at Batfest 2015
Bats are getting more and more popular, and there are lots of opportunities to see and hear native bats. The next local bat walks are hosted by Woodlands Farm. Hannah, their Education Officer wrote with details:
Thursday 20th August 8pm, Thursday 27th August 7.45pm, Thursday 3rd September 7.30pm
Join us for a bat walk around Woodlands Farm. We have a number of different bat species living on the farm so this is a great opportunity to find out more about bats and see what we can find. You will need sturdy footwear, suitable outdoor clothing and a torch. This activity is not recommended for children under 6. £5 per adult and £3 per child. Booking is essential. To book call 020 8319 8900.
A good number of bats were detected at the farm as part of the Bat Conservation Trust’s National Bat Monitoring Programme in July, both common and soprano pipistrelles and some very clear noctules. Let’s hope they all show themselves in the bat walks, but even if they don’t there’s something magical about walking the farm’s woods and meadows in the half light.
Not too far away from Shooters Hill, there are also bat walks coming up at Hall Place on Tuesday 25th August and Thursday 27th August in their beautiful gardens along the river Cray, and on 11th September Thames Water Crossness have a bat walk around the nature reserve north of Eastern Way. Their walk along Southmere Lake last week was one of the best I’ve been on for visibility and variety of bats, despite the persistent rain. Quite a few noctules and serotines were seen swooping over the water, and pipistrelles darting just overhead around the lakeside trees. They don’t expect the walk in the nature reserve to be quite as spectacular.
Also on 11th September the Friends of Shrewsbury Park will be holding their second bat walk of the season. The perfect place for a lark in the park in the dark, hopefully enlivened by the heterodyned sound of echo-locating bats and the sight of them flitting just above head height.
Finally for bat fans there is annual Bat Fest at the Natural History Museum on 29th and 30th August, starring the marvellous Jenny Clark MBE and her education bats. Here is a video of Jenny at her bat hospital talking about bats in her own inimitable style.
Woodlands Farm has been very busy over the summer so far, and there’s more to come over the next few months. As well as being the (secret) host for ITV’s new show Flockstars, there was the opening of the Henri Le Worm community garden by Raymond Blanc and also Rosie the Gloucester Old Spot gave birth. Next week the farm’s summer activities for children start, and a series of walks around the farm is planned, including three bat walks.
Hannah, the Education Officer at the farm, wrote with details of the summer activities for children:
Tuesday 11th August Orienteering 10am-2pm £1 per child
Can you find your way around the farm without getting lost? Try our different orienteering courses to see how good you are at navigating. No need to book, just drop in.
Thursday 13th August Pond Dipping Sessions at 10am, 11am, 1pm and 2pm. £1 per child, accompanying adults free
Come and see what you can find hidden beneath the surface of the water. Using nets we will delve into this mysterious world.
Booking is essential, call 020 8319 8900
Tuesday 18th August Felt Making Sessions 10am-12pm £2 per child.
Did you know that felt is made from sheep’s wool? Join us at Woodlands Farm as we make some amazing felt flowers, butterflies and other animals using just wool. This is a fun and messy activity which everyone can enjoy. No need to book, just drop in.
Wednesday 19th August Be a Farmer for the Day 10am-12pm and 2pm-4pm £3 per child, accompanying adults free
Ever fancied seeing what it is like to be a farmer? Join us as we have a go at feeding and weighing our animals as well as walking our fields to check all our animals. This event is only suitable for children over 8 years. It is essential to book, call 020 8319 8900
Thursday 20th August Gruffalo Day! 10am-12pm £3 per child, accompanying adults free
Inspired by Julia Donaldson’s classic book join us as we journey into the deep dark wood in search of a gruffalo! This activity will involve a walk into our woods which is about 20 minutes and not suitable for buggies. It is essential to book, call 020 8319 8900.
Tuesday 25th August Gruffalo Day! 10am-12pm and 1pm-3pm £3 per child, accompanying adults free
Inspired by Julia Donaldson’s classic book join us as we journey into the deep dark wood in search of a gruffalo! This activity will involve a walk into our woods which is about 20 minutes and not suitable for buggies. It is essential to book, call 020 8319 8900.
Wednesday 26th August Dragonfly Day 11am-3pm £2 per child
Drop in for a day all about these fantastic insects. Go dragonfly spotting, follow our trail or make your own dragonfly to take home. Just drop in, for more information call 020 8319 8900
Thursday 27th August Pond Dipping Sessions at 10am, 11am, 1pm and 2pm. £1 per child, accompanying adults free
Come and see what you can find hidden beneath the surface of the water. Using nets we will delve into this mysterious world.
Booking is essential, call 020 8319 8900
Efts (baby newts) at Woodlands FarmNewt at Woodlands Farm
Everyone at Woodlands was sworn to secrecy about the celebrity guests and barn full of border collies that came to film parts of the new ITV series Flockstars , a kind of celebrity “One Man and his Dog”. Maggie e-mailed the story:
Woodlands Farm was delighted when the producers of a new reality TV show decided that this was the perfect place for their stars – dogs and sheep as well as people – to get to know each other and work on their skills before the grand finale in the Flockstars Showground down in deepest Kent.
For the six weeks that the crew were with us they needed peace and quiet, as well as our lovely fields, so the staff and volunteers at Woodlands Farm on Shooters Hill were all very discreet about what was happening here and made up some wonderful excuses to people who asked why we had so many sheepdogs in the barn. We did our best to provide a relaxing atmosphere for the celebrities and their shepherd mentors while carrying on keeping Woodlands Farm going.
We enjoyed having them all here – it was so quiet when they went! Our own farm sheep and cows may well feel differently as they now have all their fields back!
Just to mention, the celebrity shepherds competing are DJ Tony Blackburn, former Eternal singer, Kelle Bryan, Brendan Cole from Strictly, Fazer aka Richard Rawson, Lesley Joseph from Birds of a Feather, TV presenter Amanda Lamb, Corrie legend, Wendi Peters and the ten-time Paralympic Gold medallist, Lee Pearson, CBE. You’ll also see some stunningly brilliant dogs, striking sheep and pretty challenging geese and ducks. And did we mention those young, but experienced shepherd mentors, Welshman Ioan Doyle, Scotland’s Emma Gray and England’s Ed Hawkings?
Full details of Flockstars, which starts on ITV on Thursday 30 July and will run for eight weeks can be obtained from the ITV press release , available now, which was embargoed until today. See http://www.itv.com/presscentre/press-packs/flockstars
The programme is on Thursdays at 8.30pm. It’s not quite as bad as the reviews make out, and the farm looks really good.
Raymond Blanc opens the Henri le Worm community gardenRosie the Gloucester old Spot and her two piglets
The farm’s next monthly walk is in September, and then they take place each month for the rest of the year:
Sunday 20 September—Autumn Equinox Walk
Sunday 25 October—Mid-Autumn Walk
Sunday 22 November – Short days, cold winds
Sunday 20 December – Pre-Christmas Walk
Local group Divest Greenwich, who are campaigning for the Royal Borough of Greenwich to move £17million of their pension fund investments out of fossil fuel companies’ shares, are holding a launch event at St Alfege’s Church Hall on Thursday, 2nd July at 7.00pm. Why should Greenwich do this? Well, if we are to avoid catastrophic levels of climate change most of the reserves that fossil fuel companies hold, which provide the basis for their share prices, must not be burnt for energy. Divestment will have the twofold advantage of protecting the pension fund from consequent drops in fossil fuel company share prices as well as making a stand against the powerful lobbyists of the petrochemical industry. Thomas Greenwood, who wrote to tell me about the event, succinctly summarised the case for divestment:
The Greenwich Pension Fund has around £17 million invested directly in fossil fuel companies and more invested indirectly. Such investments carry a high degree of risk on ethical, financial and scientific grounds and the Pension Fund’s investments therefore expose the people of Greenwich to those risks.
Already, hundreds of institutions around the globe have committed to divesting from (ending their investments in) fossil fuel companies to the tune of billions of pounds, including the Church of England and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. The Royal Borough’s Pension Fund can add significantly to this movement.
The reason we consider divestment such an important issue is because if global warming is to be limited to 2°C – the threshold for irreversible climate change – up to 80% of known carbon reserves must be left in the ground. Available evidence indicates that fossil fuel companies intend to burn enough reserves to push global warming far above 2°C, as they insist on searching for further reserves, often in the globe’s most ecologically sensitive areas. Around the globe, the first five months of this year were the hottest on record. We urgently need to act.
The Pension Fund has a fiduciary responsibility to maximise returns which can be met whilst divesting. In April 2015 MSCI, the world’s leading stock market index company, found that investors who divested from fossil fuel companies would have made an average return of 13% a year since 2010, compared to the 11.8%-a-year return earned by conventional investors, including in the years before the fall in oil prices. Moreover, if decisive action is taken by governments to limit climate change and a large amount of carbon reserves are left in the ground, shares in fossil fuel companies are likely to drop significantly in value. As such, pension funds currently investing in fossil fuels risk exposure to this ‘carbon bubble’.
We believe our local government has a responsibility to divest from an industry that’s destroying our future. By remaining open to investments in fossil fuels, the Royal Borough of Greenwich is supporting the power, influence and activities of the fossil fuel industry. We would like to see the Royal Borough of Greenwich lead the way on sustainability and cease to invest in activities that are damaging for the environment and human race.
Divest Greenwich’s launch event will take place on Thursday 2 July from 7.00-8.30pm in St Alfege Church Hall.
The launch event will include a screening of the film Do the Math which is narrated by Bill McKibben, who is the author of a dozen books about the environment, including “The End of Nature” published in 1989. He is also the founder of climate change campaigning group 350.org. Another of the directors of 350.org is Naomi Klein whose book “This Changes Everything” documents how fossil fuel companies use their money and influence to campaign against climate change, but also the successes that campaigners against fossil fuels are having around the world. As easily extractable fossil fuel reserves have been used up extraction companies have had to move into more dangerous technologies, such as deep water drilling and fracking which have larger potential impacts on wider areas of the countryside and many more people. The only good thing about this is that it has increased and broadened the number of activists campaigning against these developments.
They’re celebrating the summer solstice at Woodlands Farm this weekend with a barn dance on Saturday and a midsummer meander through their marvellous meadows on Sunday. Hannah from the farm wrote with details:
Midsummer events at Woodlands Farm
With the summer solstice coming up this weekend there are opportunities to celebrate at Woodlands Farm. On Saturday 20th a riotous barn dance starting 7.30pm until 11pm. The band is the famous Skinners Rats and a good tune is guaranteed. Bring your own choice of food and drink. Tickets £12 per person.
On Sunday 21st June a chance to take part in a fabulous guided walk through our stunning hay meadows. Walk starts at 2pm and finishes in time for high tea, with scones, sponge, finger sandwiches and refreshing tea, all it costs is £10 per person.
Book tickets by calling the office on 020 8319 8900 or email admin@thewoodlandsfarmtrust.org
Woodlands Farm Trust Chair, Barry Gray says ‘The events this weekend are a chance to have fun and see Woodlands Farm at its best in high summer at the time of the solstice. We are looking forward to seeing many of our friends at this event’.
The farm’s barn dances are great fun, as you can see in their photo below. No experience is necessary as Skinners Rats call the steps as well as playing the tunes. Recent dances have seen an abundance of stetsons, gingham, denim and boots, though I did wonder if the blow up cactus and mule were taking things a bit too far at the last dance.
Barn dance at Woodlands Farm
The BBC are forecasting good weather for Sunday so the farm’s meadows should be at their best. You will be able to see a wide variety of wild flowers with ancient names such as mouse ear, sheeps sorrel, goats beard, tansy, lesser trefoil, common vetch and grass vetchling. If you’re lucky I’m sure your guide will point out the Rapier missile resisting corky fruited water dropwort. Then, if you’re really interested in wild flowers, there’s a chance to help with a meadow plants survey next Wednesday 24th June, at 3.00pm.
Woodlands Farm‘s Summer Show is combined with Open Farm Sunday again this year, so it will include farming related demonstrations such as sheep shearing and a vintage tractor display. It takes place on Sunday 7th June between 11.00am and 4.30pm. Maureen from the farm wrote with details:
All are welcome at the Woodlands Farm Summer Show. Come and meet our animals, and enjoy the chance to buy quality local produce at reasonable prices, including home-made preserves and cakes. Relax in our café, get involved in craft activities and games, and enjoy displays of country crafts. Entry is £1 adults, 50p children. All proceeds go towards caring for our animals. A great family day out!
Since Open Farm Sunday started in 2006 over over a thousand farmers have opened their farms to the public for a day. This year hundreds of farms will be open on Sunday 7th June. In London, as well as Woodlands Farm, this includes Stepney City Farm and Kentish Town City Farm. Open Farm Sunday is organised by LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming).
Woodlands Farm’s 2014 Summer Show
The farm will also be participating in the pollinator survey which is being run as part of Open Farm Sunday again this year. The pollinator survey is one of a series of ecological surveys that the farm will be repeating this year, following the same approach as in 2014. Others already lined up are an amphibian survey on Tuesday 16th June, a meadow plants survey on Wednesday 24thJune, two bat surveys in July, a dragonfly survey on Wednesday 8thJuly and the Big Butterfly count in August. If you’re interested in being involved in the surveys contact Hannah Forshaw, the farm’s Education Officer, on education@thewoodlandsfarmtrust.org.
The Friends of Shrewsbury Park‘s bat walks have become so popular that this year they will be holding two. The first will be held next Friday, 15th May, and the second later in the year on 11th September. An e-mail from the Friends gave the details:
Hang out with the bats
Shrewsbury Park 15th May 2015
Meet in the car park off Plum Lane at 8.00pm for an introduction from bat-wise FSP members who will lead this adventure through the park at sunset using our eyes, ears and bat detectors!
– Wear sturdy shoes and appropriate clothing
– Children must be accompanied by an adult
– Walk lasts about 1 ½ hours and torches are helpful
– Dogs must be kept on a lead
– If you have mobility issues, please contact us on fspdog@hotmail.com and we will help you to participate. The trail is a mixture of paved path, gravel and grass.
If it rains, neither the bats nor us will be coming out!!
Biggles the giant Pipistrelle at Bat Fest at the Natural History Museum
If you’re interested in bats then there will be lots of other chances to see them during the summer months. You can get really close to bats at the annual Bat Fest held at the Natural History Museum. This year it will be held over the August Bank Holiday weekend, 29th and 30th August from 12-5pm. One of the many highlights is Jenny Clark and her education bats, as the BCT website says:
Sussex Bat Hospital – One of our most popular attractions!
Learn about the work of Jenny the bat carer a.k.a. ‘BatLady’ who will bring her bat lodgers in for the day. These bats have been previously injured but sadly cannot be released into the wild. However, they live a comfortable life with Jenny who caters to all of their batty needs.
Jenny, who was awarded the MBE in the 2015 New Years Honours List for her services to bat conservation, brings along examples of most of the UK bat species and shows them off to visitors.
There will also be a number of other bat walks in the local area during the coming months. Woodlands Farm and Hall Place haven’t published the dates for their bat walks yet, but Crossness Nature Reserve have. The Bexley Wildlife blog has the details:
Fri 14th Aug, 20:15 – 22:30
BAT WALK– A walk round Southmere Lake and Crossness Southern Marsh, south of Eastern Way, identifying bat species with the use of bat detectors. Daubenton’s bats will be putting on a show over the lake, and Pipistrelle bats – and hopefully other species – will be hunting over the marshes. Feel free to bring children along. Bring a torch if you have one and you might want to wear some insect repellent. Sorry, there are no refreshments provided for this event
PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT THIS DATE MAY NEED TO BE CHANGED. PLEASE BOOK ON IF INTERESTED IN ATTENDING AND I WILL UPDATE YOU IF THERE IS A DATE CHANGE – THANK YOU
Meet 20:15 at the Southmere Lake/ Lakeside Complex car park off Belvedere Road (SE2 9AQ)
Fri 11th Sept, 19:00 – 21:00
BAT WALK– A nocturnal walk around the nature reserve north of Eastern Way after sunset, identifying bat species with the use of bat detectors. Hopefully we’ll see some other nocturnal species too. Bring a torch if you have one, and you might wish to wear some insect repellent.
Book for these by contacting Karen Sutton, the Biodiversity Team Manager at Thames Water Crossness Nature Reserve by phone on 07747 643958 or Email: Karen.sutton@thameswater.co.uk.
If you can’t wait to see some bats here is a video of a pipistrelle bat in the hand. Remember though, if you do find a bat you shouldn’t handle it, but follow the BCT guidelines for containing it and contact the Bat Helpline on 0345 1300 228 or email enquiries@bats.org.uk.
If you’re interested in the ecology and history of Oxleas Woods then make sure you go on the Bluebell Walk through the woods and Woodlands Farm on Sunday May 3rd. Hannah from the farm wrote with details:
Enjoy a leisurely walk through ancient Oxleas Woodlands on the bank holiday Sunday May 3rd. The walk is led by staff of the Woodlands Farm Trust and starts at the historic Severndroog Castle on Shooters Hill and end at Woodlands Farm. Barry Gray, Chair of the Woodlands Farm Trust said ‘Oxleas Woodlands are a riot of new growth at present, with bluebells, wood anenomes, wood violets and many other plants coming into flower. Perfect for a walk describing some of the interesting ecology, history and uses of Oxleas over the years’.
The walk starts at Severndroog Castle at 1.30pm and ends at Woodlands Farm, and should take between 1 ½ – 2 hours. Why not get to Severndroog early for a guided visit and a coffee or brunch in the café. The café at Woodlands Farm will be open for further refreshments at the end of the walk.
The last time this walk took place we saw not only bluebells but many other wild flowers, including Stitchwort, Ladies Smock, Wood Sorrel, Wild Garlic and Wood Anemones. We learned about and saw plants that are rarely seen outside ancient woodland, such as the Wild Service Tree and Butchers Broom – species that would be threatened if a road was ever built through the woods. You can see photographs of the plants and wild flowers of Oxleas Woods in a Flickr album here. We also walked by the historic cants of coppiced Hazels and Chestnuts deep in the wood and heard about their place in medieval life.
Very highly recommended.
Bluebells in Oxleas WoodLadies Smock in Oxleas Wood
