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!
Hannah from Woodlands Farm e-mailed to say that the sloes on the farm are ready to be harvested already, a lot earlier than usual, so they have hastily arranged their annual Hedgerow Liqueurs day for Saturday 4th October 2014 :
Join us for a tramp and forage around the hedgerows, followed by sloe gin making.
Bring your own gin or spirit of choice together with at least a one litre, wide neck (>2.5cm) container. Alternatively, Kilner type jars, 1.5 litre, will be available at cost price. Sugar, sloes and wild damsons will be provided by Woodlands Farm.
Book early via the Farm Office, numbers limited
Please dress appropriately for outdoor activities and bring a packed lunch
9.45am—3.30pm
Price £15 (£10 members)
18+years only
You can contact the farm to book a place by phone on 020 8319 8900 or by e-mail on woodlandsft@aol.com
There’s another new arrival to visit at the farm: a British White calf born recently, seen below with her mother Clover.
Clover the British White and her new calf 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.
Biggles the giant Pipistrelle at Bat Fest at the Natural History Museum
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.
Sheep Shearing at Woodlands Farm
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
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.
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.
Woodlands Farm Barn Dances are always great fun, and tickets usually sell out quickly. No skill or experience in barn dancing is required, and little is demonstrated at the dance: the steps and sequences are all called out by the band, the excellent Skinner’s Rats. Maureen from the farm e-mailed the details:
Woodlands Farm is organising two Barn Dances this year, on Saturday 24 May and Saturday 5 July, 7.30-ll.00pm. Live country music by Skinners Rats. Please bring your own food, drinks and glasses. Tickets £12 each. To book either event call the Farm Office on 020 8319 8900.
Unlike previous dances food won’t be provided, so you’ll need to bring your own drinks and snacks. The volunteers at the farm will be working hard to transform the barn, pictured below, into a dance hall before everyone arrives.
The first of this spring’s lambs have already been born at Woodlands Farm, and there seem to be a lot of triplets this year. It’s a busy time for farm manager David Jones and the lambing-trained volunteers at Woodlands. There’s an opportunity to see the new lambs at the farm’s Lambing Day on Sunday 6th April. Maureen from the farm wrote with details:
All are welcome at the Woodlands Farm Trust Lambing Day on Sunday 6 April, from 11am-4.30pm. Come and see our new-born lambs, and enjoy the chance to buy quality local produce at reasonable prices, including home-made preserves, cakes and honey. Relax in our café, enjoy the treasure hunt or get involved in craft activities. Entry is £1 for adults and 50p for children, all proceeds from entry charges and our stalls go towards keeping Woodlands Farm here as a conservation project and valuable resource for the community. A great family day out!
Newly born lamb under a heat lamp
In the week following Lambing Day Hannah Forshaw, the farm’s Education Officer, will be hosting their Easter holiday activities for children. Hannah wrote with details:
Wednesday 9th April – Make a willow snail 11am and 2pm £2 per child
Learn how to weave your own willow snail to take home. This will sit nicely in a plant pot in your garden, but don’t worry this is one snail which won’t eat your plants! Booking is essential, to book call 020 8319 8900.
Thursday 10th April – Guided Farm Tours 11am and 2pm Free
Join us for a guided tour of our animals at Woodlands Farm. Meet our new born lambs and there will be a chance to stroke our chickens and get up close to our guinea pigs Leah and Tandi. Booking is essential, to book call 020 8319 8900.
Friday 11th April – The Woodlands Farm Easter Egg Hunt 10am-2pm £1
Can you follow our trail to find all the eggs hidden around the farm? If you manage to find them all you will get your own chocolate egg to take home. This is a drop in activity so pop in anytime between 10am-2pm.
For more information, see our website or contact Hannah Forshaw on education@thewoodlandsfarmtrust.org
Woodlands Farm is located on the borders of the London boroughs of Bexley and Greenwich. At 89 acres, it is the largest city farm in the UK. Our priorities are education and conservation, and we are part of the Natural England Higher Level Stewardship Scheme. Our education programme attracts visitors from pre-school to third-age groups. The Trust aims to involve local community groups, schools, volunteers and businesses in farming and conservation, helping to bridge the current town-country divide.
We are open 9.30am-4.30pm, Tuesday-Sunday (except Christmas Day). There is no entry charge except for special events, though donations are always welcome.
Nearest tube: North Greenwich
Nearest BR: Welling
Buses: 486 and 89
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.
Children taking part in the Easter activities will be able to use the farm’s brand new education centre which was opened on Monday by Horticulturalist and former Blue Peter gardener Chris Collins with the Mayors of Greenwich and Bexley. The opening was well attended by members of the farm and local politicians including a number of Greenwich councillors and Eltham MP Clive Efford.
The opening of Woodlands Farm’s new education centre by Chris CollinsEwe and her lamb at Woodlands Farm
Hannah, the Education Officer at Woodlands Farm, wrote about the opening of the New Education Centre at Woodlands Farm which will take place next Monday, 24th March. She wrote:
The Mayors of Greenwich and Bexley will be the principal guests and will perform the opening ceremony for the new education building centre at Woodlands Farm, Shooters Hill, Greenwich, on Monday 24th March 2014.
The Farm, which is 89 acres in extent and straddles the borders of Greenwich and Bexley, has provided education and conservation resources for the community since 1996. The education unit at the farm provided for visits from 4,000 school pupils last year, ranging in age from 4 to 18 years, in addition to providing a thriving toddler group and adult education in subjects as diverse as making hedgerow liqueurs, hedge laying and bee keeping.
The building for the new education centre is pre-fabricated and cost £130,000 in total. The principal funders were Natural England, the Government Agency for Conservation and Wildlife Education, with contributions from the East Wickham and Welling War Memorial Fund and the Alan Mills Bequest.
Project Manager at Woodlands Farm, David Jones, said “The new education building will be a great boost to our commitment to offer a wide range of experiences in conservation and farming for the local community.” Education Officer, Hannah Forshaw said “Our previous accommodation was somewhat cramped. The new building gives us much more space and improves our ability to offer great educational opportunities to schools and community groups ranging in age, from nursery children to senior learners.” Woodlands Farm Trust Board member Tony Baker said “It has been a struggle to raise the funds to build this new centre, but the funders, volunteers and members of the trust have been tremendous and have made a dream that we as a Trust have had for many years, become a reality.
Horticulturalist and Blue Peter gardener, Chris Collins will also take part in the opening ceremony.
The opening ceremony starts at 10.15am. If you would like to attend contact Hannah Forshaw on 020 8319 8900 or education@thewoodlandsfarmtrust.org
Maureen from Woodlands Farm wrote with details of a beekeeping course to be run by John Large and held at the Farm:
The course is an introduction to practicable beekeeping for both aspiring beekeepers and for those seeking a real insight into the wonderful and intriguing world of the honey bee. The course includes both fully illustrated ‘theoretical’ and ‘hands-on’ elements, covering the basic theory and equipment required, the life cycle of the honey bee, and the work involved over the beekeeping season, including at least two additional sessions working with the hives in the Woodlands Apiary.
Course Timetable:
Classroom: Wednesday Evenings, 7pm to 8.30 pm, Woodlands Farm, 8 consecutive weekly sessions, commencing 23 April through to 11 June 2014. Maximum 20-30 on course
Apiary: Groups of six – 17/18 May and 14/15 June, weather permitting.
Course Fees:
£120.00 includes use of protective clothing, gloves and hive tools (but not stout footwear) for the ‘hands-on’ apiary sessions.
Apiary only days are £30
Course Supervisor: John Large
To Book Contact: The Woodlands Farm Trust on 020 8319 8900 or email woodlandsft@aol.com
Perhaps the gold that yesterday’s rainbow was pointing to was the golden colour of honey.
Hannah, the Education Officer at Woodlands Farm, sent details of their February half term events for children:
Wednesday 19th February — Wildlife Explorers’ Trail 10am-2pm FREE
Winter is a great time to spot signs of animals as the mud means tracks are more visible and the bare trees allow us to see the birds more clearly. Come to Woodlands Farm to take part in our free trail to spot signs of animals that spend their winter here.
Thursday 20th February – Print yourself a picture 1-3pm £1
Come along for our afternoon of printing. Come up with your own pattern or design and then using special paint and rollers you can print this picture onto paper to take home with you. Just drop in to make your own print.
Friday 21st February — Get Wild in the Woods 11am-1pm £2
Come and join us in the woods as we learn how to survive in the wild. Have a go at shelter building, wild cooking over a fire and learn what animals need to survive.
Age 7+ Booking essential, to book call 020 8319 8900
For more information on these events or to book please contact the Farm on 020 8319 8900 or email education@thewoodlandsfarmtrust.org
Parking is limited so please use public transport where possible.
If you’re on twitter there’s now another way of keeping in touch with what’s happening at Woodlands farm – follow them at @woodlandsft
Young scarecrow at Woodlands FarmNewly born Saddleback piglets feeding at Woodlands Farm
Robins are still my favourite Christmas card picture, so here’s another one from Woodlands Farm to accompany my seasons greetings, and best wishes for 2014. Also Madeleine from the Friends of Eaglesfield Park wrote asking me to thank everyone who has helped with the continued development of the park’s wildlife pond and meadow and to send their Seasonal Greetings. She included an update about the pond and wild flower meadow.
This year the wildlife pond and meadow have flourished. Pond life is well established with water boatman, pond skaters, newts, dragonfly, damselfly, snails and many other creatures to be identified. Frogs are certainly enjoying the pond – we discovered dozens of “froglets” hidden in the long grasses during our tidy up sessions. The water lilies offer good cover and shelter for pond creatures and their flowers are attracting various insects.
The Pond Dipping Platform is providing a great deal of fun and enjoyment. It is wonderful to be able to “get up close” to nature and to hear children asking so many questions (not that we always have the answers – but we do have reference books!).
The meadow had quite a different appearance this year, displaying a greater abundance of tall grasses. Grasses are very important for many insects including beetles and bees. Wildflowers are appearing, and we were very pleased to see a strong patch of pink clover and yellow iris at the water edge, which have attracted numerous butterflies. There is still a lot to do, but it is now possible to see distinct features of the meadow habitat as to what is more suited to sunny/dry or shady/dry or, boggy areas around the pond. Very much a “learning curve”!
Next spring we will begin the seasonal work again. We are planning to reduce some of the tall grasses and will be planting appropriate wildflower plug plants and sewing more seeds. We will keep you updated.
There is no doubt that the Pond Restoration has been worthwhile. We know that our local community value the wildlife pond and meadow and it is very pleasing to see that the wildlife is also now focusing on “the oasis on the hill”.
If you have any news or views about Eaglesfield Park, we are always very pleased to hear your comments. Also, do you have any photos of the ark, or pond area you would like to share, I would be pleased to receive them via my email address.
