Wild South London

WILD SOUTH LONDON Issue 1, Spring 2014

Protecting London’s wildlife for the future

Welcome Welcome to Wild South London, the new seasonal newsletter from London Wildlife Trust’s South London team. We hope enjoy reading about all the work ongoing in the area as much as we have enjoyed doing it.

Contents The Centre for Wildlife Gardening

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Growing Out

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Potted History

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South London Reserves

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Sydenham Hill Wood

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Wild About Thamesmead

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Wandle Estates Community Outreach Project

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London Wildlife Trust protects the capital’s wildlife and wild spaces, whilst engaging London’s communities through access to our nature reserves, campaigning, volunteering, and education.

We rely on the support of thousands of people to continue our work. Membership costs just £2.50 a month - and makes a real difference to our work. We also have lots of volunteering opportunities. For more information, see www.wildlondon.org.uk.

Front cover image: John Walsh

The Centre for Wildlife Gardening Originally an old council depot, the Trust’s Centre for Wildlife Gardening in Peckham is now a favourite spot for local families, gardeners, and wildlife watchers. Home to an award-winning visitors’ centre, CWG provides a base for a range of school visits, events, and volunteering opportunities, with its demonstration wildlife garden and range of mini habitats providing an inspirational garden environment.

Practical work We have tackled some fairly hefty tasks so far this year at CWG. The large pond has been completely relined, during the wettest winter on record, having been left untouched for around fifteen years. Since the relining and thinning out of the remaining trees, the pond is thriving; it is full of newts, toads, tadpoles, pond snails, and pond skaters. We have even had a visit from a pair of mallards!

Additionally, thanks to the Pat O’Reilly Trust and volunteers from Southwark Council, led by Maurice Soden, we have built a bird screen and deadwood bird perch in the meadow using a sycamore tree that fell victim to this winter’s storms. Again thanks to the Pat O’Reilly Trust, we are turning our entrance walls ‘green’ with vegetation. After being painted white by Growing Out volunteers, the walls are now ‘mute gold’, thanks to some of our regular volunteers, and the drive has been planted out with some young native climbers which, as they grow, will create a natural green entrance to the Centre.

Upcoming tasks we are hoping to undertake over the next few months include creating a dune habitat near the sandpit, replacing and adding to the signage around the site, creating a new stag beetle stumpery and clearing the gravel beds to allow access to the woodland area behind the pond. We will also be planting out the CWG example bed, and replanting and reinvigorating the container garden.

School visits The Centre for Wildlife Gardening runs a formal curriculum-linked learning programme for primary schools and also undertakes visits to local schools. Since the beginning of March, we have had school visits booked in almost every Tuesday and Thursday. Schools have been turning up despite the recent rain to hunt for minibeasts and catch newts in the pond. One school loved their visit so much that a group of Year 4 children came back to volunteer at the Centre, helping with weeding, sweeping, cleaning bug pots, and tidying the minibeast area. Schools bookings are coming in fast, and we are looking forward to a busy summer term.

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Family learning The Centre for Wildlife Gardening also helps to provide informal and fun learning opportunities for adults and their children, run on behalf of the Southwark Adult Learning Service.

Six one-day courses have taken place so far this academic year, growing more and more popular each time. Some have been run in partnership with the Southwark Day Centre for Asylum Seekers (SDCAS) and we plan to experiment with longer courses later in the year.

Public events On 16th April, we had a very successful Frog Day at the Centre. The children loved getting their faces painted, listening to stories under the willow bower, and playing amphibian-themed games. The adults picked up some useful tips on attracting amphibians into their gardens, and on wildlife gardening more generally.

Upcoming events - Marsden Road Play Out Day, 4th July, 4pm-7pm, Marsden Road and the Centre for Wildlife Gardening.

Join us at a special evening opening and discover more about the Centre’s fantastic wildlife. All ages welcome!

- Nature’s Film Maker’s, 6th July, 9am-5pm, Centre for Wildlife Gardening - The Centre for Wildlife Gardening’s Big Summer Event, 10th August, 10.30am-4.30pm, Centre for Wildlife Gardening. Join us for a spectacular summer event, great for all the family, with activities, a beekeeper, and a fancy dress competition!

Education and family learning contact details and volunteer information Sylvia Myers, Volunteer and Education Session Leader Phone: 020 7252 9186 Email: smyers@wildlondon.org.uk Practical volunteering times at the Centre for Wildlife Gardening are Wednesday afternoons (1.00-4.30pm) and Sunday (10.30am-4.30pm), with occasional extra days for larger tasks. We welcome all levels of experience, but volunteers should be able to work fairly independently, as hands-on staff supervision is not available at all times. Volunteers for formal and informal education activities and other family events should ideally have some previous experience of working with children and some basic wildlife knowledge.

For more details about volunteering at the Centre for Wildlife Gardening or about any of our upcoming events, please contact Sylvia!

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Growing Out Project overview Growing Out is an exciting project that works with adults with mild learning disabilities. Each week we work with groups of around ten young adults to build their skills in gardening and practical conservation work. On the project, participants learn about wildlife and food growing, and pick up practical gardening and conservation skills. The project offers participants a chance to work outdoors, make new friends, and discover London’s green spaces, whilst gaining valuable skills they can transfer to other volunteering and work opportunities, both within the London Wildlife Trust and beyond.

Based at the Centre for Wildlife Gardening every Monday, the East Reservoir Community Garden on Wednesdays, and Camley Street Natural Park on Thursdays, Growing Out hosts up to twelve participants, each selected and referred to us by partners including City and Islington College, The National Autistic Society, Lambeth College, and Southwark Council.

Growing Out is funded for three years by the Big Lottery Fund. During this time we hope to engage with over 100 participants, who will each work with us for over 200 hours!

Recent news This winter, Growing Out was busy getting the Centre for Wildlife Gardening ready for the spring, repainting walls, cleaning tools, re-making woven willow edging round the site, digging in green manures into food growing beds, and harvesting our parsnips to make a delicious parsnip and leek soup. We managed to pull a staggering 50cm long parsnip!

As the months have got warmer, Growing Out has turned its attention to the compost heaps, digging over, chopping up, and sieving over four tonnes of compost. If you live locally, please drop by and, in return for a donation, you can pick up a bag of south London’s finest compost to use in your own garden!

One of our participants has also been busy researching and planning the creation of a butterfly garden at the Centre for Wildlife Gardening, which we hope will be ready for the summer.

Growing Out contact details and volunteer information Jeannine Moros Noujaim, Project Officer Phone: 020 7252 9186 Email: jnoujaim@wildlondon.org.uk For more information about the project and its work, please contact Jeannine.

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Potted History Project overview Potted History is a gardening and reminiscence project for older people in Lambeth, Lewisham, and Southwark. It is particularly aimed at those experiencing isolation, the early stages of dementia, and other conditions which may benefit from light exercise, regular social contact, and being outside in nature.

Recent news Our programme of gardening and reminiscence groups held at residential care homes and day centres across the area continues, including recent work at Time and Talents, Rotherhithe, Sternhall Lane Surgery, Peckham, and Windmill Lodge Care Home, Brixton. We also hold a weekly group at the Centre for Wildlife Gardening, and always welcome new members. Recent participants have enjoyed their experiences, telling us how much they have enjoyed meeting new people, making friends, and spending time outdoors.

On Sunday 4th May, we held an Older People’s Open Day at the Centre for Wildlife Gardening - all age groups were welcome! People left us their memories of gardens they had known and loved, planted seeds, explored the garden, and joined in a fantastic felt-making workshop run by local artist Carol Grantham.

Visitors were also treated to homemade biscuits, lemonade, and beautiful sunshine all day!

Upcoming events Future Older People’s Open Days are being held at the Centre for Wildlife Gardening on Wednesday 27th July, 12pm-4pm, and on Sunday 5th October, 11am-3.30pm. All are welcome; please contact us in advance if you would like to bring a group.

Potted History contact details and volunteer information Joanna Ecclestone, Potted History Project Officer Phone: 020 7252 9186 / 07891 004 154 Email: jecclestone@wildlondon.org.uk Volunteers can get involved in all aspects of this project! We do not require any specific experience, but a cheerful, empathetic, and patient approach and an interest in nature are ideal. Please contact us if you are interested in joining the project.

We are always looking for venues for future groups, so if you know of anywhere that might be interested in hosting Potted History (for example, a community centre, place of worship, or residential care come), please let us know! Likewise, if you are interested in referring yourself or someone you know to the project, please contact us.

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Sydenham Hill Wood Project overview The Trust’s work at Sydenham Hill Wood involves practical habitat management of Sydenham Hill Wood and Cox’s Walk, improving public access to the site, working with volunteers, and engaging with the local community.

Recent news Spring has seen Sydenham Hill Wood burst into life. A bat roost survey in April discovered a possible maternity roost, and a cuckoo was heard at the beginning of May cuckoos had not been heard in the wood for four years. Jackdaws have been spotted building a nest on the Dulwich Wood boundary, the first evidence of the species breeding in the Dulwich Wood complex for over seventy years, and chiffchaffs, blackcaps, firecrests, buzzards, and numerous species of butterfly have also been seen.

Main tasks for volunteers have included path edging, cutting back vegetation along main paths, carrying out butterfly transects, stockpiling timber, and conducting pond surveys, following the completion of the Ambrook and Dewy pond project in March. The new pond dipping platform will be open for school groups and public events during the summer. Volunteers were also involved in hedge planting on Burbage Road in Dulwich Village this spring. Over twenty metres of hedgerow were planted, thanks to funds from the Dulwich Society, and responses have been very positive, with residents praising the volunteers’ “fantastic efforts” in transforming the site “from an unloved area to something of value”.

Recent events have included a highly successful Dawn Chorus Walk in early May, which drew in a considerable number of attendees and a pleasing level of donations, and four education sessions have taken place so far this year, including 150 school children! Funding for the site has been confirmed until April 2016.

Upcoming events - Bat, moth, and owl prowl, Friday 4th July, 9pm We regularly run walks around the wood - look out for further information or contact Daniel, as below.

Sydenham Hill Wood contact details and volunteer information Daniel Greenwood, Conservation Project Officer Phone: 020 7252 9186 / 07734 599 728 Email: dgreenwood@wildlondon.org.uk 7

South London Reserves Overview The Trust manages 18 different reserves across south London, in various locations including Croydon, Bromley, Bexley, and Lewisham. We undertake a range of practical conservation work and liaise and work with graziers and local London Wildlife Trust groups.

Braeburn Park At our latest nature reserve in Braeburn, a huge task has been to remove the dense scrub along a deep sand bank. Cutting was completed by volunteers in early March, working with a contractor part of the time. This involved everyone getting drenched during many hours of extremely wet and inhospitable weather. Invertebrate surveys have started and will continue across the site this summer. Clearance of dense bramble and other vegetation along paths has been underway in preparation for a footpath and other access improvements around Braeburn. Volunteers are helping construct new paths and steps to make the site more accessible. Security fencing is due to be installed at the south-west entrance, partly to help restrict access by intruding quad bikes, which damage the ground.

Bramley Bank Pond As part of Phase 2 of the pond restoration, large numbers of native aquatic plants were successfully planted during a corporate day on 13th May, in spite of heavy showers, mud, and outbreaks of thunder. The pond is already starting to look vibrant but there are still more plants to put in; the dragonflies should start arriving very soon‌ A temporary fence has now been partly installed to reduce footfall - and dogs! - in the planted-up area, with posters explaining the temporary exclusion area to the public.

Bramley Bank Heathland A new interpretation sign has now been installed following the extensive ground scrape (using a contractor’s digger), major scrub clearance, tree work, and heath laying during last November/ December. Heather was cut and harvested from nearby Addington Hills, taken by our vehicle to Bramley Bank, and laid over the scrape by many hard-working volunteers, who worked in all weathers to bring Phase 2 of this restoration project to a close. In time, heather should start recolonizing this remnant of South London heathland.

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Hutchinson’s Bank Damaged steps have been rebuilt at various points in the reserve, but a lot of work still remains to be done when time allows - all are invited (perhaps on a Sunday workday) to help with this. The views across the shallow valley are great. Working with a local group, volunteers helped clear large areas of dense, mature scrub and trees on Great Shepherd’s Field as part of the ongoing chalk grassland restoration last winter - sheep were brought in to graze the slopes afterwards. Volunteers have cleared many metres of dogwood and other species along the top footpath, making it easier to access different parts of the reserve. Small blue butterflies are now appearing here during regular transect walks, along with grizzled skippers and other species known to Hutchinson’s over the years. Small scrapes using a digger have been carried out .

Timber benches are being made with the help of volunteers and will be installed at vantage points on the reserve, as well as at nearby Chapel Bank.

Further news At New Cross Gate Cuttings, steps have been rebuilt at the north end over a period of months, along with revetment repairs where a length of path was subsiding down a bank. Some work still needs to be completed. Meanwhile at Riddlesdown, work continued until February to open up two clearings which have been choked by scrub for several years. Dense hawthorn and several large trees have been felled here to create one open clearing. Mature hazel stands will, it is hoped, be coppiced on rotation in future. At Saltbox Hill, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Dartmoor ponies are now in one of the two paddocks, to be followed by some goats, to help keep down scrub regrowth. We are working in partnership with the Downlands Countryside Management Project. At Threecorner Grove, volunteers repaired a long stretch of public bridleway after it was washed away during heavy storms. The old, crumbling steps at the Centre for Wildlife Gardening have also been replaced.

Upcoming events - Hutchinson’s Bank Open Day, Sunday 20th July.

In partnership with Downlands Countryside Management Project, with moth exhibits, butterfly walks, ‘meet the sheep’, talks, and information.

South London reserves contact details and volunteer information Shaun Marriott, Reserves Officer (South) Phone: 07710 194 268 Email: smarriott@wildlondon.org.uk Workdays are generally on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, with some Wednesdays and Sundays.

Volunteers usually meet at CWG, where the vehicle leaves for the site. Pick-ups can be arranged at certain points en route if this is more convenient. It is always good to check before going, as this helps plan the work and keep everyone busy/happy. Many reserves can also be accessed using public transport.

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Wild About Thamesmead Overview London Wildlife Trust first managed Tump 53 in Central Thamesmead in Greenwich back in November 1985, and now we have funding from the People’s Millions to reopen this wildlife gem, an area important for wildlife and for those who live and work nearby. The site is a mosaic of open water, reedbeds, woodland dominated by hawthorn and elder, and a meadow. Historically, Tump 53 was used as part of the old Woolwich Arsenal, the central large banks enclosing a storage building surrounded by a brick wall (now listed) and moat to help confine blast and fire in the event of an explosion.

Recent news Our first open day was held on 12th April. 233 people attended and numerous volunteers signed up, so the day was a great start to the project. 80 pre-school children visited the site during two visits in early May from the local Acorn & Arnott Pre-School, taking part in a life-cycle and scavenger hunt. Children from other pre-schools have also visited for pond dipping, a special school has visited from neighbouring Kent, and several primary schools are booked in for the coming weeks. Wildlife sightings so far include fox cubs, common blue butterflies, ghost carp, and red-eyed damselflies.

Work on the site is ongoing, with workdays on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and some Saturdays. New volunteers continue to sign up, and volunteers have worked hard to edge woodland paths with logs, clear algae off the pond’s surface, and undertake general maintenance work. We have started a butterfly survey, and hope that, in the near future, the site will be open for public access three days a week - there is lots to explore and discover at Tump 53.

Wild About Thamesmead contact details and volunteer information Jane Clarke, Project Officer Phone: 07837 576 786 Email: jclarke@wildlondon.org.uk The main volunteering workdays are on Fridays, 10am-4pm. The site is half an hour from North Greenwich tube (Zone 3, Jubilee line) by bus 472 (Stop A). Please contact Jane is you are interested in volunteering or would like to know more about the site.

Photos: Trust Thamesmead

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Wandle Estates Community Outreach Project Project overview This project is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund as part of the Living Wandle Landscape Partnership Scheme. We aim to revitalise the Wandle as an identifiable, high -quality asset to south London residents through engagement with social housing communities near the river and to ensure that they are involved in and benefit from activities.

Recent news We are aiming to promote awareness of the Wandle and the Living Wandle Landscape Partnership scheme amongst local social housing communities through a range of engagement events and activities for both landlords and residents on four target estates. By identifying and supporting numerous ambassadors from local social housing landlords and resident communities, we will be able to gauge and strengthen awareness of, attitudes towards, and use of the river by local communities in order to establish a baseline for wider engagement activity. Identifying what the Wandle does, did, and could mean to these communities ensures that these issues are well-matched with other Living Wandle activities, and by designing and delivering training for ambassadors, we will ensure that they feel confident and able to represent their communities and engage in future developments. Our knowledge of the river has continued to increase.

London Wildlife Trust staff along with the Living Wandle team and a number of key environment agency staff have walked substantial stretches of the Wandle and staff have been in touch with other Living Wandle partners, working to promote our social history and film project. Registered social landlords adjacent to the Wandle have been contacted to organise meetings with key staff and arrange visits and so forth.

Project contact details and volunteer information Andy Willmore, Community Outreach Officer (Wandle Estates) Phone: 07891 004 098 Email: awillmore@wildlondon.org.uk For more information or to get involved, please contact Andy.

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www.wildlondon.org.uk Get in touch with us: London Wildlife Trust Dean Bradley House, 52 Horseferry Road, Westminster, London, SW1P 2AF Phone: 020 7261 0447

Protecting London’s wildlife for the future

Email: enquiries@wildlondon.org.uk Registered charity number: 283895