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!
Maureen from Woodlands Farm sent details of the Farm’s Summer Show which takes place this Sunday, 30th June from 11.00am to 5.00pm. She wrote:
The Woodlands Farm Trust Summer Show is on Sunday 30 June 2013, 11.00am-5.00pm.
Come and meet our animals, and enjoy the chance to buy quality local produce at reasonable prices, including home-made preserves and cakes. Attractions include Progress Dog Training Class and Fun Dog Show, Falconry Display by Icarus, Ferret Racing by Ferret Friends and live music by Skinner’s Rats (have a go at barn dancing), get involved in craft activities and games. Take a break in the farm’s Café.
Entry is £2.50 adults, £1.50 concessions and £1 children aged 4-16. Children aged 3 and under go free.
All proceeds go towards caring for our animals. A great family day out!
There will also be regulars such as Jambs Owls, the Very Green Grocer and a chance to see the farm’s animals. Should be a very entertaining event.
Sheep Shearing on Open Farm Sunday at Woodlands FarmWoodlands Farmhouse
The Great Get Together/Armed Forces Day festival will be a sadder event this year following the murder of Lee Rigby just near the Royal Artillery Barracks. However this opportunity for members of the public to show their support for “the men and women who make up the Armed Forces community: from currently serving troops to Service families and from veterans to cadets” is sure to be well attended. Last time it was held, two years ago, some 15,000 people attended.
The festival is organised by the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the Army and runs from 11.00am to 6.00pm on Saturday, 29th June at the Royal Artillery Barracks. It should be an excellent day, the Armed Forces Day web site lists the events and activities:
On Saturday 29 June the Royal Artillery Barracks will be hosting one of the UK’s largest Armed Forces Day events. The event is combined with the Great Get Together Festival – a large and vibrant community celebration. The array of attractions will include a military and vintage vehicle display zone, historical re-enactments, walk round entertainers, a live music stage, charity and commercial stalls, animal displays, lazer quest, zorbing balls, fairground rides, sports taster sessions and many other things for all ages to see and do. At the heart of the event is a large arena with a thrilling programme of spectacular military displays and marching bands, along with stunt car shows, bird of prey demonstrations, and more. Entry to the event is free. Visitors will be able to park in dedicated parking areas for a small charge. The event is organised by the Royal Borough of Greenwich in partnerhsip with the Army at the Royal Artillery Barracks. When it was last held in 2011 it attracted between around 20,000 people
Amongst the stalls in the marquees will be one from Shrewsbury House who are publicing the many and varied activities that happen at the house, including the fact that they are now licensed to hold civil and marriage ceremonies there.
Artwork by Kalea Moore, Christ Church Primary School, year 5
The Eaglesfield Park Neighbourhood Watch Scheme (EPNWS) Community Fête looks like it will be even better than ever this year. It takes place this Saturday, 15th June from 1.00pm and, as well as over 30 stalls, the attractions include the Kings Troop Royal Horse Artillery. As the EPNWS Summer Newsletter says:
This is the sixth year that the fete has been held to help promote the benefits of Neighbourhood Watch and foster community spirit. The fete will be opened at 1pm by Borough Commander Detective Chief Superintendent Richard Wood, poster competition winners from Christ Church Primary School and resident John Pead in memory of his wife and fellow EPNWS co-ordinator Annie Pead who died suddenly in February.
There are over 30 activities and stalls this year. New attractions include a puppet show, model trains and the Kings Troop Royal Horse Artillery. Other activities include mini tennis and golf, children’s story telling, face painting, pond dipping, hurdles and frisbees. Greenwich Met Police teams will be on hand as well as the Eltham Fire Brigade. Pets at Home Charlton will be providing pet care advice and Woodlands Farm will be bringing some of the farm animals, and there’s much more.
Celebrating the opening of The Lilly Pond 15 June 2012
Saturday will also be the first anniversary of the grand opening of the restored Eaglesfield Park Lilly Pond, and the Friends of Eaglesfield Park will be host a display of photos about the changes to the pond and an opportunity to try pond dipping. Madeleine from the Friends wrote:
We will be holding a Pond Dipping Session at the Neighbourhood Watch Community Fete on 15th June, between 1 pm – 4 pm. So do please come and see us. We will supply the equipment.
We will have a photo display which will show the pond and meadow through the stages of restoration, grand opening and various events. The pond life is beginning to establish and photos show what we have found already and those yet to be discovered. It will also provide details of the meadow preparation and the flowers and plants we hope to attract (and those we don’t want). The butterflies and insects are important and they are also detailed in the display. We haven’t forgotten the birds. As we gather information, we will add to our on-going “Life at Eaglesfield Pond”.
The Friends of Shrewsbury Park are holding their Summer Festival this Saturday, 8th June, starting at One O’Clock. Previous festivals have been great fun, especially the very popular amd well-attended Dog Show Extravaganza. Dogs, and their owners, compete to find the dogs with the best of characteristics such as obedience, beauty and speed.
There are some great pictures of the last Summer Festival on the Friends’ Gallery pages.
Julie e-mailed with details of a Family Charity Fun Day In Memory of Lee Rigby to be held at the Meridian Sports and Social Club, Charlton Park Lane, London SE7 8QS on Sunday 23rd June, starting at 1.00pm. All proceeds from the day will go to Lee Rigby’s family through the charity The Fusiliers Aid Society.
Barry Gray from Woodlands Farm e-mailed with details of two events at the farm in the next couple of weeks: The Big Lunch on Sunday 2nd June and a week later Open Farm Sunday on 9th June. He wrote:
The Big Lunch on 2nd June is part of the national Big Lunch and a chance to bring a picnic lunch to the farm and eat it in a traditional hay meadow amongst the butterflies, bees and wild flowers. If it rains we have a large barn available to eat lunch in.
The idea for The Big Lunch originated with the Eden Project and is part-funded by the Big Lottery Fund. It started in 2009 with the aim of getting as many people as possible to have lunch with their neighbours once a year, helping to create more cohesive communities. Last year 8.5million people took part.
Barry continued:
The second event is Open Farm Sunday on 9th June. This is the chance for the community to visit their local farm to find out how it works. Because Woodlands Farm is focused on conservation and traditional low impact farming methods there will be lots of opportunity to take guided nature and birdsong walks, activities for children, meet some of our rare breed cattle, sheep and pigs, see machinery in action and much, much more!
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 on the 9th, including Mudchute Farm and Stepney City Farm as well as Woodlands. Woodlands Farm is open from 9.30am to 4.30pm.
On Saturday 25th May, Ian is leading The Thames Path Super Walk which is a seventeen and a half mile hike. It starts from Slade Green Railway Station, near the very end of the Thames Path, and goes along the Thames to the Cutty Sark in Greenwich. As the walk 4 life web site describes it:
… you will receive the almost magical experience of seeing the great river flow from salt water estuary to the heart of urbanity. The contrast really is exceptional for we’ll begin by Dartford Creek, famed for its birdlife and with barely a building in sight. Then the pre-esturine river, fringed by salt-loving flora and onto the post-industrial landscape of Woolwich and Charlton. Very gradually the office blocks of central London come into view with an ever improving sunset behind them. We finish besides one of the most famed examples of the built environment on the planet, Wren’s magnificent work at Greenwich.
The Super Walk starts at 10.00am and is expcted to take about eight hours. Bring food to eat on the way as there may not be time for a fixed lunch break. If anyone wants to join the Thames walk today they can call Ian on 077 998 101 78 and he’ll tell you where they are up to.
The Sunday walk is much more local being from Belvedere to Shooters Hill along the Green Chain. There’ll be a little diversion at Cleanthus Road as we’ll walk down the hill to Eltham Common to regain the Green Chain at Eltham Common. This will give us a chance to see Severndroog Castle and the views on the way round to the Oxleas Wood Café where the walk will end.
On this walk hikers will pass through some stunningly beauriful ancient woodland – it includes Lesnes Abbey, Bostall and Oxleas woods. Perhaps there will still be some bluebells to see on the way. The walk starts at 1.00pm on Sunday 26th at Belvedere railway station.
The walks are part of Walk London‘s “Spring into Summer” event. Both are free and there is no need to book. The walk leader, Ian Bull, can be contacted by e-mail, ianbull@btinternet.com or phone, 020 7223 3572 for more details.
Hetty and her lambs, the last lambs of 2013 at Woodlands Farm
Hannah from Woodlands Farm wrote with details of their May 2013 half term activities for children and their next barn dance:
Tuesday 28th May — Brilliant Bees!
10am-2pm £1 per child, accompanying adults free
Join us for a day of bee related fun and activities. Plant wild flowers to take home to encourage bees into your garden or go on our ‘Bee-scene’ trail to see if you can spot bees and the plants which are so important for their survival. Learn about the Farm’s own honey bee hives. This event is from 10am-2pm, so just drop by to find out how brilliant bees really are.
Wednesday 29th May — Pond Dipping
1 hour sessions starting 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 essential, call 020 8319 8900
Friday 31st May — Woodlands Farm Trust at Danson Park
11am-3pm FREE !
Join the Woodlands Farm team at Danson Park and meet our animals, have a go at milking a cow, join in arts and crafts and lots more. We will be between the play area and the Stables Restaurant, so just drop by and join the fun.
The farm barn dances are always great fun, and are held in a real barn with the brilliant Skinner’s Rats playing and calling the steps. Details below:
Woodlands Farm Barn Dance
Saturday 25th May.
7.30pm – 11pm: Live country music by Skinners Rats. Tickets are £12 and this includes a ploughman’s supper. Please bring your own drinks and glasses. Booking is essential, to book call 020 8319 8900.
Madeleine from the Friends of Eaglesfield Park wrote with the latest news about the pond, and about a Pond Dipping event this Sunday, from 10am to 12.00 Noon. This will be combined with the first weeding and tidying session of 2013 for the wild flower garden around the pond.
Madeleine wrote:
Finally Spring (and the sunshine) have arrived and we can continue the development and tidy up of the pond and meadow. The pond life seems to be flourishing, including newts, frogs, water boatman, water skaters, dragonfly with plenty of other interesting creatures we have yet to identify! The meadow has “greened up” well, but we need to reduce the invasive “weeds” and grass so that the wildflower seeds planted last year have a better chance of survival. We also have more seeds to sow and will be adding further plants. By now it is “old” news that there are up to a dozen ducks that regularly visit the pond. I also understand that bats have been seen hunting around the pond. We would like to thank everyone for their support and hard work in transforming this once forgotten part of Eaglesfield Park into a beautiful focal point for wildlife and the local community.
We are meeting on Sunday 19th May between 10.00 am and 12.00 noon to carry out litter picking, weeding and planting and would very much appreciate your help – whatever time you can spare would be a valuable contribution. Sorry, but could you bring your own tools (spade, fork, trowel, builder’s bucket) and don’t forget to wear old clothes, wellies and gloves. It won’t be all hard work though, we intend to have a bit of fun! We will be POND DIPPING as well.
So, why not bring the family to try POND DIPPING and help identify the various pond creatures. We will supply pond dipping nets and information for identification.
We do hope you will pop round to see us.
Whilst writing, some news in brief:
– We are still working with Royal Greenwich and the Lottery Fund and hope to have new signage in and around the Park in the very near future.
– IT access is currently being updated and we will keep you informed. Meanwhile, if you have queries or comments, I am happy to help.
– We are in the early stages of planning park events.
On a personal level, I have lived on Shooters Hill all my life and have been a member of Friends of Eaglesfield Park (FOEP) since it was set up in 2006. I remember the pond as a beauty spot that everyone visited but which over the years became overgrown, a dumping area and eventually a dried up scrub. In fact many people did not realise the pond had ever existed! I do hope you agree with me that the restored wildlife pond and meadow is a wonderful opportunity to study nature in a tranquil setting. If you would like to know how you can help the FOEP, please get in touch. We really could do with some extra help!
The pond is looking good at the moment. I notice that a new tree has been planted where the Mulberry that fell over during the pond work used to be. I hope it’s a replacement Mulberry!
Bats are just amazing creatures; flying mammals that are superbly adapted to their nocturnal lifestyle. And much maligned – they are not vampiric blood-suckers, swooping down to latch onto a jugular vein. Admittedly a few Central and South American bats do feed on the blood of livestock such as pigs and cattle, but they lap up the blood coming from the cut they make in their prey’s vein rather than sucking it out. Even this has a good side: a drug has been developed from the enzyme in the bats’ saliva that prevents the blood clotting, which may, one day soon, be used to treat people who have had a stroke. A scientist with a sense of humour has called the drug Draculin.
The Friends of Shrewsbury Park are bat lovers. Their bat walk has become an annual event, and the next one is on Friday 17th May, meeting at 8.00pm at the car park off Plum Lane. Last year’s walk took place on one of the few dry spring days, and attendees were rewarded with detection and sightings of a number of hunting pipistrelles. Hopefully the long, cold winter hasn’t had too much effect on the bats and this year’s walk will be similarly successful. The walk will pass by the bat boxes the Friends constructed and, with council assistance, attached to trees in the park last year. Sometimes it is a year or two before boxes are inhabited, and bats move between different roost sites at different times of the year, so it will be interesting to see on Friday if the park boxes have any occupants.
Putting up bat boxes in Shrewsbury Park
Bats are a priority species in the Royal Borough of Greenwich Biodiversity Action Plan, which says in the species action plan for bats:
Many bat species roost in loft spaces in houses and this sometimes causes people concern, as there are many misconceptions about bats:
• Bats are not rodents, and do not gnaw at wood, wires or insulation.
• All British bats consume insects and therefore their droppings are dry and crumbly, they do not putrefy like mouse droppings.
• Bats do not nest and therefore do not bring bedding material or insect prey into roost spaces.
• Bats are clean, and spend many hours grooming.
• No species of British bat feed on blood.
Aims for Greenwich:
• To protect and enhance the present population through increasing the provision of roost sites in Greenwich.
• To protect and enhance linear landscape features and wildlife corridors for bats to commute between roost and feeding sites.
• To increase the abundance of insect prey available for bats.
Pair of Pipistrelles under a thumb
A good way to find our more about bats is to go along to the Bat Fest organised by the Bat Conservation trust and the Natural History Museum, which this year runs over the weekend of 1st and 2nd June at the museum in South Kensington. Volunteers from the London Bat Group will be on some of the stands. Last year it included various batty activities for children, some more detailed technical stuff about echolocation and a series of Nature Live talks. Also there was the marvellous Jenny Clark, a bat carer who has converted part of her home in Forest Row, Sussex into a bat hospital. She brought along some of the rescue bats that couldn’t be released back into the wild because, maybe, they were unable to fly or had been hand-reared from babies. It was a rare chance to get close to live bats, and to learn how cute and fragile they are, and that they purr when stroked.
If you share my fascination with batty matters, take a look at these Youtube videos of bats in action. First, on BBC’s Top Bat, a sequence showing Daubenton’s Bats hunting at Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire.
I just love this video of the Long Eared Bat silently stalking moths using its hypersensitive hearing.
