MAYOW PARK PLAYGROUND is open

 In time for the school holidays, the newly rebuilt playground in Mayow Park is open.  Well done to the people from Kompan, the company that won the tender to rebuild. Thanks go to Glendale, the contractor that manages the park on behalf of London Borough of Lewisham.  Thank you to Lewisham's parks department for agreeing to this project. And let's remember that the project would never have got off the ground without the tenacity and determination of Friends of Mayow Park (FOMP). 

FOMP volunteers with young children started a consultation process SIX years ago with other parents. This led to research into most suitable (but not necessarily cheapest) equipment to meet the needs of children - different ages, different physical and different learning needs.  We visited other parks. We looked at equipment from different play providers. One parent offered to work on funding applications - she had a vested interest as she lives nearby and wanted equipment for her children. The pandemic put plans on hold for two years . . . 

We look forward to feedback from  those older children who have waited patiently for this positive outcome.. 

Toddlers up to 11 year olds will be able to climb, slide, spin, balance, explore, create imaginary stories and become pretend characters as they play in and among the new equipment.  

There are still  things to sort out  including a few metres of missing fencing along the back where a tree fell, A bench will be added in time, which will be paid for and donated by Friends of Mayow Park. 

Hopefully other issues that may arise will be small and easily sorted. 

PHOTOS: Note that the four 'mushrooms', the spinner and the circus box office have been retained.

the mushrooms have been kept

The circus box office is still there

And here are a few more photos.

Playground update 11th Dec 2023

 A few photos from today. The equipment is taking shape. 

Latest playground progress photos

 Photos taken on Thursday 7th December 2023 - equipment installation has started. The photos say it all - the playground is beginning to take shape.

Playground rebuild Nov-Dec 2023 part 3 - sharing the news with local children

 The nearest primary school to the park is Adamsrill Primary School.

Sandra the Kompan project manager arranged for Adamsrill School Council students to visit on Monday 4th December. Fifteen pupils from year 1 to year 6, with two members of staff, came to meet Sandra and the construction team, to ask some very good questions about the facilities which would be installed.At this point they could only see a building site but some of the design plans were available on the fences. 

Above all, they wanted to know how long the rebuild would take and they were pleasantly surprised to learn that if the weather is not too harsh and if equipment safety inspections take place, then play could resume before Christmas.  Such good news.

Playground rebuild Nov-Dec 2023 part 2

 After the Covid lockdowns and the re-opening of public spaces, it took time to build momentum and to start the funding applications process again. That same parent with fund-raising ambitions was willing to try again. Other parents came together to offer support but time was the real barrier for working parents. We were fortunate that Lewisham’s park department offered communities a funding opportunity for green spaces and children’s facilities, using the levy they charge developers on building developments.

Our bid to Lewisham was successful but we needed matched funding to achieve a whole-playground rebuild.  Veolia*, the waste management company, had funds  that we were eligible to apply for. . .  And success!

 With sufficient funds sourced, Lewisham could now approve the process for demolition and rebuild. Glendale’s managers put the project out to tender and Kompan** won the contract.  Their overall design included most of the wishes of the parents including access for children in wheelchairs and for children with sensory needs. Some children expressed further wishes to keep a few bits of much-loved play equipment in the under-5s section.

The designs - based on the survey results

And after all the build-up, finally on 29^th November 2023 the demolition started.

 Additional wishes voiced by some parents and which would have been ideal but not practical included new toilet facilities. There are toilets at the eastern side of the park beside the café; but infrastructure to lay water and sewerage services to the western side of the park would not be feasible at this time.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Veolia community funding    https://www.veoliatrust.org/funding/

** Kompan     https://www.kompan.com/en/gb  

Playground rebuild Nov-Dec 2023 part 1

 The suspense had been mounting. Six years after Friends of Mayow Park carried out our first online and face-to-face paper surveys on the children’s playground (started in 2017) , it looked like our dreams might actually happen.

2017 Summer: we started our survey designed to continue for months, no hurry, so we could reach more parents. Overwhelmingly, a new playground was the wish. Some of the equipment (swings in particular) had been there decades. The large wooden multi-climb  frame had arrived in the late 1990s and we estimated most of the other equipment came from that time too. High time the kids got quality equipment. Necessary repairs to some equipment were ongoing.

repairing the popular see-saw

What did parents want?

• Activities for toddlers including imaginative play, using sight, touch and sound
• Activities for those aged 5+ to play with friends
• Activities to challenge children up to the age of 11
• And activities should include balancing, climbing, swinging, pulling, sliding, sharing, twisting, jumping, a little bit of risk-taking, a sensory trail,  team-work, a space to sit on the grass, seating for adults.

What did the children want? They wanted more of the same sorts of equipment but better and more imaginative, with space to run around.

Clearly this was going to be an expensive ask. A group of parents came together to start the process but progress was so slow in those early stages that it seemed the project would flounder. One parent came forward willing to apply to big funders and made a start on applications. Quite impressive research went into applications and we had a quiet confidence of a  successful  outcome.

We were supported by Glendale, the firm that manages most of Lewisham’s parks. The Glendale managers wanted us to succeed, to be able to access funds. Lewisham’s parks department also gave advice and help.

But then came two years when everything stopped . . . and we all remember the effect that Covid 19 had on communities everywhere.

Dog Show in Mayow Park - a new first for the Friends of the Park

   We had a wonderful dog show today (Sunday 24th September) in Mayow Park. It was a real community event and the weather held out for us.

Glendale put a proper ‘ring’ up for us (well it was a fenced square but you know what I mean!) - we really appreciated their efficiency in putting it up and taking it down for us on a Sunday.

Pam Mulvaney Brown, who runs the Narvik Dog Training School, came to judge for us with her colleague and friend Kim. They were a fantastic team and chatted to each owner before asking them to walk around the ring.

We had around 60 entries to our five categories with the most popular being ‘Best Behaved’. The dogs in this category had to demonstrate they could run to their owner when called and then sit nicely.

'Best Trick' was really fun with dogs spinning, dancing between legs and playing dead!

I operated a slightly unreliable megaphone but it did the job and sorry if anyone got tired of hearing my voice. As well as announcing the categories, it was important for me to share that it was our first dog show and was to celebrate 30 years of Friends of Mayow Park.

We didn’t know how the timings would work out but actually we ran ahead of time as everything seemed to run smoothly. We made a small profit  - nearly £150 - from the small fee to enter each category and from spectator donations. Thank you everyone.

Every dog who entered got at least a small rosette and some biscuit treats. The 3 winners in each category got a ‘Winner’ rosette and were entered for the 'Best in Show'. A wonderful dog called Cora won the special 'Best in Show' medal.

It really was a fun few hours with many amazing volunteers all wearing the new Friends of Mayow Park tabards which made us look very smart - thank you to Robert Hero for these.

Also thanks to Whites Pet Store who donated some treats and Best in Show prizes. It was a wonderful way to celebrate all our marvellous (and clever!) dogs in the park.

 

Pippa Moss

PS from the editor: 2023 has been a milestone year for Friends of Mayow Park. As Pippa says above, 30 year anniversary of FOMP.

The fledgling group started at a meeting in Sydenham Library in March 1993, with support from Lewisham Council and initially named Mayow Park Users' Group. That seems a long-forgotten time before social media.

Over the years there have been many changes in the park, mostly positive, and the group has grown thanks to the strength and influence and involvement of the local community. Working together with Lewisham Council (the land owners) and Glendale (the park management contractors), a lot has been achieved. May that continue long into the future.

The Dog Show, the ceramic bat hunt (see a previous blog) and the bat walks have been key events for the Friends group during this year. The Dog Show must surely be the highlight of our celebrations, drawing in so many dogs, dog owners and spectators. It was a real joy to see. Ed

Some of the team before the show

Some of the team again - with Pippa 

Cute dogs

Best in Show

Best in Show with runners up

And one more photo as the event is about to start:

Pipistrelle bats catching moths on 9th September 2023

 We gathered at dusk in Mayow Park.

Dr Iain Boulton welcomed everyone to another Friends of Mayow Park bat walk. People gathered round to hear his introduction to the bats of Mayow Park.

He explained that all UK bats eat insects,  that they are flying mammals and seek out flying insects using echolocation. Mayow Park has common pipistrelles living in and around the park. To find out more visit  this bats website.

Iain brought his bat detectors and explained how to use them  before giving them out to participants. The evening was warm and humid, moths and other insects were flying, so we were hopeful of hearing and even seeing some of the pips of our park.

We were not disappointed. As we walked towards the orchard some excited children heard the bat calls on their bat detectors and . . . some were quick enough to see these speedy flyers. Soon adults and children spotted these small animals hunting around the orchard.

Lots of thank yous:

• thank you to all the people who came out on a Saturday evening
• thank you to Iain for giving your time and sharing your knowledge of bats
• thank you to Glendale (who manage the park on behalf of Lewisham Council) for keeping the park gates open so we could hold this event
• thank you to our volunteer stewards

Bats for the Sydenham Arts - Artists' Trail

 Friends of Mayow Park organise occasional bat walks at dusk and we have experienced excitement at seeing these flying mammals.

But never before have we had the joy of unusual bat visitors hanging out in the park for weeks at a time.

If you have visited Mayow Park recently you should have spotted some of these multi-coloured ceramic bats and wondered how they got there. 

They are the work of ceramic artist Elena Howard. 

Elena created a bat hunt, encouraging park users to search around the park to see how many colourful bats they can spot. And that's not all - she  created characters and stories for some of the bats and a competition inviting people to be creative on a batty theme.

Although some of these bats went absent without leave shortly after arriving, most have stayed and seem quite content in their green space home. All ages have been able to enjoy the hunt. 

The competition has now finished and Elena has chosen winners who will each receive their own unique ceramic bat. As the bats have taken up permanent residence in the park, do visit and say hello to any that you find.

All photos by Elena Howard. To find out more visit:  https://www.elenahoward.com/    

The GoodGymmers came to mulch 29 August 2023

You don't expect volunteers to run to an orchard and spend 45 minutes on weeding and mulching on an evening during the working week.... and then run off again.  But that is just what eleven members of Bromley GoodGym did when they visited Mayow Park orchard for an evening session. 

They showed such amazing team work and the trees enjoyed the attention.

In no time some members were removing tree guards and pulling up weeds, while others went off to fill two wheel barrows full of  wood chips to mulch round the base of trees.

In 45 minutes they took care of SIX trees. That's fast work.

Why bother to mulch round the fruit trees with wood chips?  Here are some good reasons:

• The wood chips encourage mycorrhizal fungi to grow- beneficial fungi that live in the wood chips and work with the tree roots. They take sugars from the tree and give nutrients back from the soil . . . how cool is that?
• Wood chip mulch holds moisture in the soil round tree roots so there is less need to water, particularly good in summer
• The wood chips slow down water into the soil particularly after heavy rains, so the tree roots are not sitting in wet
• They protect plant roots from extreme cold in winter
• They protect plant roots from too much heat in summer
• As they rot down they help improve the soil

All photos are from BromleyGoodGym. Thank you for your help.

BATS IN THE NIGHT 21 April 2023

Outdoor events can cause weather worries for organisers, commonly ‘will the weather force us to cancel?’.

But a bat walk must factor in the needs of bats too; they are not keen on inclement weather. They prefer mild, still evenings with plenty of flying insects for supper.

Friday 21^st April began very wet and cold. Should we cancel the event? 

The BBC and the Met Office offered assurances for brighter weather by the late afternoon. And that is how it turned out.

The weather improved rapidly. By 8pm when people started to gather at Mayow Park, it was a still evening with clear sky, full of flying treats for bats. 

The meeting point

Iain's intro

     Using a bat detector

Dr Iain Boulton opened the event with some entertaining batty facts. He certainly knows his bats. He brought some bat detectors to lend out to walk attendees, showing us how to set them to around 50 kHz, the frequency for the pipistrelle bats we would hear or see in Mayow Park. The detectors, not much bigger than a mobile phone, catch the sounds made by bats flying above our heads and translate those sounds at a level that humans can hear.

Even before we started the walk, at least one bat was detected between the pavilion and guardian oak tree which stands majestically at the park gates.

Walking slowly in the park, first in half-light then dusk, with the trees standing as silhouettes against the fading light, children moving with torches, an occasional bird flying past and all the time listening for the bats: this is a magical, calming sensation.

                                                                on the walk

The pipistrelles flew out for us at three locations along the south side of the park, along the path between Mayow Road an Recreation Road, while Venus shone down on us from high in the night sky.

A lovely evening. Thank you to all who joined us and to Iain for leading us.

TOTAL ATTENDING 52 + walk leader

36 adults + 12 children + 4 volunteers + Dr Iain Boulton, our walk leader

All photos courtesy of Pippa Moss

Mayow Park - photos by D Roberts

 A range of photos showing a variety of interesting topics in Mayow Park

meadow flowers

parakeets pairing up

a solitary parakeet

pine cone

greenery with dandelion

shades of green

general view

autumn leaves

busy park