events – Page 12 – a spark in your veins

29th August 2014

Shrewsbury Park Bat Walk

Bats have become very popular, perhaps surprisingly given their past unfortunate associations with blood-sucking vampires. Bat walks are consistently fully booked up: both Woodlands Farm and Hall Place had no spare spaces on nightime strolls with bat detectors in the last couple of weeks. And in July the Bat Conservation Trust’s Bat Fest weekend at the Natural History Museum had its busiest year yet with nearly 3000 visitors.

The Friends of Shrewsbury Park‘s bat walks have always been very well attended. This year’s will be held next Friday, 5th September. An e-mail from the Friends gave the details:

We will be providing a bat walk on Friday 5th September. If you would like to attend, please meet in the car park at 7.30pm for an introduction to bats by Kris and Les, and a demonstration on how to use the bat detectors. The walk will last about an hour and a half.
– please wear sturdy shoes and appropriate clothing
– children must be accompanied by an adult
– dogs must be kept on a lead
– please bring a torch.
If you have mobility issues, please contact us so we can 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

Bats’ popularity isn’t confined to the UK. This Saturday is the 18th International Bat Night, an event which started in 1997 and is marked by batty events in more than 30 countries all over the world. The Bat Conservation Trust in the UK is holding a Creative Competition for International Bat Night:

To enter the competition all you have to do is create something original and inspiring that represents how you celebrated International Bat Night. Your entry could be a drawing or painting of a bat you saw whilst on a bat walk, a picture of bat shaped cookies you baked, or a poem or short story inspired by your activities.

The closing date for entries is next Friday 5th September.

Why the increased interest in bats and bat walks? Part of the reason, I think, is that bat detectors have become less expensive, and they are also available for loan for bat walks from the BCT, London Bat Group and park groups so it’s easier to find bats. Also, though, they are such fascinating creatures. They can detect and then capture insects such as midges on the wing using their echolocation – they shout continually as they fly around and use the echoes from tiny insects to “see” where their prey is. They have wonderful wings, constructed from layers of skins over elongated finger bones, hence the name of their order, chiroptera, meaning “hand-wing”. This gives them great agility and control in flight, as you can see in the amazing film footage included below.

1st August 2014

The Fan Museum Open Day

Emily from the Fan Museum wrote with details of their Open Day tomorrow, Saturday 2nd August 2014, a repeat of last year’s successful event. They are aiming to encourage members of the local community who have not visited the museum before to do so. Entry is free (with valid ID such as a driving licence or utility bill) to all residents in the boroughs of Greenwich and Lewisham. This will include:

•   entry to the museum for all Royal Greenwich and Lewisham borough residents
•   Curator-led mini tours throughout the day
•   fan-making demonstrations throughout the day
•   children’s activity trails
•   refreshments in the Orangery: a sample taster of their popular Afternoon Tea

The Museum’s afternoon tea is one of “London’s ten best afternoon teas” according to the Daily Telegraph, which recommends “a satisfyingly hefty hunk of chocolate brownie, moist and filled with white chocolate chunks”. There’s also a chance to see a collection of over 4000 fans, most of them antique. The museum’s building is interesting too: it is formed of two Grade II listed Georgian Town Houses and features a beautiful mural-decorated Orangery where the afternoon tea is served.

The museum’s address is: 12 Crooms Hill, Greenwich, London SE10 8ER and the Open Day starts at 11.00am and is open until 5.00pm.

16th July 2014

Summer Activities and Bat Walks at Woodlands Farm

Hannah, the Education Officer at Woodlands Farm, wrote with details of their Summer Holiday Activities for children and about a series of bat walks at the farm in the next couple of months. The children’s activities are:

Tuesday 19th 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.
Friday 22nd 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 0208 319 8900
Tuesday 26th August Dragonfly Day
11am-3pm £1 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
Wednesday 27th August Science Investigators
11am-1pm and 2pm-3pm £1 per child.
Would you like to have a taste at being a scientist and doing investigations? We will be delving into the world of biology with microscopes, owl pellet dissection and more. Drop in to find out more about science. More information call 020 8319 8900.

Common Red Soldier Beetle, also known as the Hogweed Bonking Beetle, at Woodlands Farm

The Bat Walks are on Wednesday 20th August at 8pm. Thursday 28th August at 7.45pm and Wednesday 3rd September at 7.30pm. Booking is essential, and you’ll need to be quick as places always fill fast: book by e-mail at education@thewoodlandsfarmtrust.org or by phone on 020 8319 8900. You’ll be walking around the farm’s meadows in the dark so you will need to wear sturdy footwear and suitable outdoor clothing and bring a torch. Children must be accompanied by an adult and the walks are not recommended for children under 6. They cost £4 for adults and £2 for children.

Volunteers at the farm have been taking part in the bat Conservation Trust’s National Bat Monitoring Programme recently and in the first of their July survey walks again detected both Common and Soprano Pipistrelles and Noctules. However they didn’t see anything auite as big as Biggles the Pipistrelle, pictured below, which featured at Bat Fest at the Natural History Museum recently. Probably just as well.

15th July 2014

Shooters Hill Park Fêtes

Next weekend in Shooters Hill is going to be busy, with both the Friends of Shrewsbury Park and the Eaglesfield Park Neighbourhood Watch Scheme holding their summer fêtes, as well as the opening of Severndroog Castle and a London Bubble play, Ishbel and I, at Castle Woods.

The Shrewsbury Park Summer Festival is on Saturday, 19th July, starting at 1.00pm. As well as their highly entertaining dog show, complete with competitions for agility, speed and catching biscuits, the Hawk and Hood School of Falconry will be there and there will be opportunities to learn how to safely observe the sun and to help judge the Friends’ photographic competition. There is still just about time to enter the competition, the deadline for entries is tomorrow, 16th July. The Friends web site has details of how to enter:

We invite you to capture images of the Park over the next few months. They can be dramatic, seasonal, humorous, exciting, tranquil, close ups or panoramic– with or without people and wildlife, colour or black and white.
The twelve most interesting photos will be chosen to be included in our 2015 calendar.
Please send your photos to fspdog@hotmail.com with ‘photo comp’ as the subject. It would be very helpful if you also produce a suitable print if possible. Please include your name and a caption, and how best to be in touch with you.

Agility competition at Shrewsbury Park Summer Festival

The following day, Sunday 20th July, the Eaglesfield Park Neighbourhood Watch Scheme will be holding their Community Fête, which will be opened by the new leader of Greenwich Council and former local councillor Denise Hyland at 12.00 noon. The EPNWS Summer Newsletter described the afternoon’s events:

The Eaglesfield Park Neighbourhood Watch Scheme (EPNWS) invites you and your family to an afternoon of fun on Sunday 20 July from 12noon to 4pm in Eaglesfield Park. Take part in the activities, wander around the stands and stalls and meet the people that help make our community great. This is the seventh year that the fete has been held to help promote the benefits of Neighbourhood Watch and foster community spirit. The fete will be opened by special guests, including the winner of the poster competition from Christ Church Primary School.
Some of the activities include a hula hoop demonstration, mini tennis, children’s story telling, face painting and a Punch and Judy show. The Shooters Hill Safer Neighbourhoods Police Team is pulling out all the stops for some fun and exciting activities, with the Greenwich Met Police teams on hand and music from the Police Cadets Drum Corp. You can buy home-made cakes and refreshments, and take part in our raffle to win a pair of tickets to see Disney on Ice in The Royal Borough of Greenwich hospitality box at the 02 on Christmas Eve. The day of fun finishes at the Shooters Hill Lawn Tennis Club which welcomes all the community to check out their new club facilities, with a BBQ and refreshments at the club house from 4pm to 7pm.

There will also be a chance to try some pond dipping in the Lilly Pond hosted by the Friends of Eaglesfield Park.

Let’s hope the good weather continues through the weekend. Last year the opening time for the EPNWS Community Fête was marked by torrential rain!

Stalls at Eaglesfield Park Neighbourhood Watch Community Fête

14th July 2014

Severndroog Castle Opening

Next Sunday, 20th July, sees the culmination of many years of hard work by the Severndroog Castle Building Preservation Trust: the official opening of the restored castle and its new cafe, Castlewood Tea Room. Apart from an Open House day a few years ago it will be the first chance for 25 years for members of the public to see the panoramic view from the top of the castle towards the centre of London.

On the opening day Severndroog will be open from 10.30am to 4:30pm for a tour of the castle, including the viewing platform, and a range of other activities and stalls:

Storytelling Tent from ‘Storytellers in Hope‘, with a program of short stories for all ages. Sit down under the trees beneath the Castle to hear stories inspired by the magical setting

‘Hawk and Hood’ bird encounters, get up close to the magnificent birds of prey

Woodland tours, short tours of Castle Woods

Outdoor barbecue from the Castlewood Tea Rooms team

Stalls from local organisations including the Green Chain.

Castlewood Tea Room has had a “soft opening” and has been open to visitors for the last few weekends, selling tea, coffee, homemade cake, pastries, sandwiches and Marshfield Farm ice cream, but will also be officially opened next Sunday.

After the official opening the Tea Room will be open from 9am to 5 pm every day except Monday and the Castle will be open every Thursday, Friday and Sunday between 12.30 and 4.30. Entrance to the castle will cost £2.50 for adults and £2 for children and concessions. Children under 14 years old must be accompanied by an adult. Visitors will be looked after by a team of volunteers, and the trust is looking for more people to help out. Current opportunities are listed on their web site, and you can also get details by e-mailing them on volunteer@severndroogcastle.org.uk .

I’ll end with a link to the teaser video that Dr. Barry Gray of the trust sent to me a few months ago.

17th June 2014

Poetry at the Treehouse

If you want to escape from the football on Thursday Greenwich Poetry Workshop will be holding a poetry reading in the Treehouse, the cosy, leather sofa-ed attic room at the Greenwich Tavern. It starts at 7.00pm. Suzanna Fitzpatrick, poet and former publicity officer and lambing volunteer at Woodlands Farm, wrote with the details:

All are welcome at an evening of poetry as members of the Greenwich Poetry Workshop present their work in the cosy setting of the Treehouse on the top floor of The Greenwich Tavern. Pamphlets of the poems will be on sale, and attendees are welcome to put their name down for the open mic on arrival and read some of their own poems.
Greenwich Poetry Workshop presents: Poetry at the Treehouse
Thursday 19 June 2014
7pm for 7.30pm
The Treehouse (top floor)
The Greenwich Tavern
1 King William Walk
Greenwich
SE10 9JH
0208 858 8791
email: info@greenwichtavern.co.uk
http://www.greenwichtavern.co.uk/
Nearest stations: Cutty Sark DLR or Greenwich DLR/mainline
FREE ENTRY, no booking required.

There’s more about Suzanna’s poetry in a post about the last Poetry at the Treehouse event.

Who’s playing on Thursday? Oh …

13th June 2014

Christ Church Shooters Hill Summer Fête

Christ Church on Shooters Hill will be holding their Summer Fête on Sunday, 15th June, from 12.30-4.00 pm. As well as a variety of stalls, a barbecue and a bouncy castle the Fête includes an “Auction of Promises” at 1.00pm with some rare and unusual lots to bid for. They were all donated by the congregation and friends of Christ Church, and include an opportunity to go bell ringing at St Alfege Church, a week’s accommodation in a townhouse in a French village and a pair of custom handmade sterling silver and beaded earrings. There are full details of all the lots on the Church’s Facebook page; here’s a summary list:

A week’s accommodation in a townhouse in the South of France
Punk Me Up Buttercup. £100 discount voucher for one of Punk Me Up Buttercup‘s party packages
Bell ringing in St Alfege Church, Greenwich
Pack of BBQ Marinades from Something Saucey
Website Design by Birkbeck College Final Year Student
London Property Company: One hour session providing advice on all aspects of buy-to-let
Two hours ironing
Individual Personal Training in Oxleas Woods.
Group Personal Training Session in Oxleas Woods
One Hour Tennis Lesson with Head Coach Phil Layfield of Shooters Hill Lawn Tennis Club
Two tickets to the English National Opera
45 minute dance classes from Diddi Dance
Curfew-free evening’s babysitting.
Custom handmade sterling silver and beaded earrings
Two tickets to Taste of London
A Boxing Session at Marsh Gym in Welling
Afternoon Tea at Castlewood Tea Room, Severndroog Castle
Family Photography Shoot in Greenwich Park by Art+Love
An hour-long Guitar Lesson
Babygrow set from Red Urchin
Little Kickers Course of 6 Classes. Valid at Christ Church Shooters Hill
Haircut at Salon Newman, Shooters Hill’s premier hairstylist
Three Hour Spring Clean by Cleaning Agency Friends
Set of 4 Mugs from Sweet William.
Wonka Birthday Cake by Rocking Pink Cakes
ActivKids Week-Long Summer Holiday Camp. Valid for Plumcroft School
Fresh Cornish Lobster with salad and white wine for two

If you won’t be able to get to the Fête on Sunday they are accepting sealed bids in advance by e-mail on christchurchshootershillgiving@gmail.com

3rd June 2014

Woodlands Farm Summer Show and Open Farm Sunday

Woodlands Farm‘s Summer Show will be slightly different this year: it’s combined with Open Farm Sunday so it will include farming related demonstrations such as sheep shearing. There will also be Bee Keeping and Wool Spinning Displays, and a dog show. Maureen from the farm wrote with details:

All are welcome at the Woodlands Farm Trust Summer Show on Sunday 8 June 2014, 11am-4.30pm. Come and meet our animals, and enjoy the chance to buy quality local produce at reasonable prices, including home-made preserves, cakes and honey. Relax in our café, get involved in craft activities and games, and enjoy displays of country crafts. Entry is £1 adults and 50p children aged 4-16. Children aged 3 and under go free. All proceeds go towards caring for our animals. A great family day out!

Open Farm Sunday was started in 2006 by LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming) and this year will see hundred of farms across the country open to the public on the 8th as well as Woodlands.

The farm will also be participating in a pollinator survey – counting pollinating insects – which is being run as part of Open Farm Sunday. This is the third year for the survey, which is organised by the NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) and LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming), supported by the British Ecological Society, Bumblebee Conservation Trust and Cotswold Grass Seeds. Participants are asked to spend two minutes counting insects on flowers in a crop habitat, followed by two minutes counting insects on flowers in an adjacent, non-crop habitat. Last year the survey recorded nearly 10,000 insects across the country. Open Farm Sunday have created a video that explains why pollinators are important and how to do the survey.

There will be a wildlife stall at the Summer Show to explain what wildlife and wild plant surveys the farm currently runs; these include Meadow plants, Newt and pond life, Bats, the Opal Biodiversity hedgerow and tree health survey and the Big Butterfly Count. Visitors will be able to find out about wildlife on the farm, and also about how to help with the pollinator survey. Then there will be two public pollinator surveys, one as part of a guided farm walk and another on its own.

The Show is open from 11am-4.30pm on Sunday, 8th June. Let’s hope the weather is good for counting insects.

Even the scarecrows volunteered to help on the stalls at Woodlands Farm's Lambing Day — Even the scarecrows volunteered to help on the stalls at Woodlands Farm’s Lambing Day

2nd June 2014

Shrewsbury Park bird walk

The Friends of Shrewsbury Park will be hosting a bird walk tomorrow, Tuesday 3rd June, starting at 10.30am down at the Garland Road gate into the park. The walk will be led by Park Ranger John Beckham and will check out the bird boxes that were erected last year with help from pupils at Timbercroft School, as well as walking around the old allotment area.

The walk will go ahead whatever the weather, so come prepared and wear sturdy shoes.

Putting up bird boxes in Shrewsbury Park

22nd May 2014

May half term events at Woodlands Farm

Hannah, the Education Officer at Woodlands Farm, sent details of their February half term events for children:

Wednesday 28th May Make a Cress Head
Sessions at 11am and 1pm. £2 per child, accompanying adults free
Come and join us to make a fun cress head to take home. You will have a chance to plant your cress seed and then decorate your head so it has a fun face ready for when his cress hair grows.
Booking is essential, call 020 8319 8900

Thursday 29th May 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

Friday 30th May Ugly Bug Ball
11am-3pm. £2 per child
Join us for a day all about bugs. You can go on a bug hunt or go in search of bumble bees. There will also be a chance to look up close at the parts of different insects using our microscopes as well as become a bug yourself with our antennae making craft!
No need to book, just drop in between 11am-3pm. For more information call 020 8319 8900.

For more information, see our website or contact Hannah Forshaw on education@thewoodlandsfarmtrust.org
We are a farm so sensible shoes and clothing are recommended! We do allow dogs, but please note that these must be kept on a lead and not taken into any farm buildings.

Pond Dipping - Mayfly Larva, Damsel Fly Larva and Phantom Midge Larvae — Pond Dipping – Mayfly Larva, Damsel Fly Larva and Phantom Midge Larvae

Hannah will be combining the children’s activities with two of her set of wildlife surveys for 2014: a newt and pond life survey on 29th May and a Bumblebee survey on 30th. The following surveys are also planned:

11th June, 3pm: Meadow plants
18th June, 2pm: Newt and pond life
18th June, TBC: Bats
25th June, 3pm: Meadow plants
2nd July, TBC: Bats
8th July, 3pm: Opal Biodiversity Hedgerow survey
15th July, 3pm: Opal Tree health survey
22nd July, 11am: Big Butterfly Count

All the information about wildlife collected in the surveys is submitted to GIGL (Greenspace Information for Greater London), formerly the London Biological Recording Project, who “collate, manage and make available detailed information on London’s wildlife, parks, nature reserves, gardens and other open spaces.” The OPAL surveys are part of the Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) citizen science initiative. The results of the bat survey are also submitted to the Bat Conservation Trust’s annual field survey and entered on their Big Bat Map.