summer volunteering in our orchard

 18th May 2026, will it rain or won't it? 

The weather forecast seemed unpromising, cloudy and rain likely in the morning. But the orchard trees were looking forward to a bit of TLC and we didn’t want to disappoint.

Eight volunteers arrived, ready to check tree health, to look for pests and diseases.

We looked for apple ermine moth caterpillars chomping away in curled leaves covered by their webbing. The webs protect them against any would-be predators looking for a meal of their own. We didn’t find any but will keep looking.

We looked for powdery mildew and found plenty. 

The volunteers will prune these and dispose of diseased leaves carefully, away from the trees, and clean the pruning tools to avoid spreading the disease.

photo A. Sheridan: powdery mildew

One volunteer spotted what looked like a small fluffy ball – a sign of woolly aphids. These are sap-sucking insects, hiding in cracks in bark or in old pruning cuts. When anyone picks at the fluffy featheriness you will find inside small purplish aphids.

Photo A. Sheridan: woolly aphid

Some trees showed signs of pests mainly at the top of the crown, with many leaves looking ragged due to holes and brown/ black spots round the edges. 

Two possibilities for this:

• Either caterpillars like Apple Ermine moth munching the leaves 
• Or Apple Scab which is a fungal disease. 

We’ll keep an eye on this. No photos as the leaves were too high in the crown.

While looking we also found lichen. Don't worry, lichen doesn't harm the trees. It is said that lichen is an indicator of good air quality. 

Photo A. Sheridan: lichen on apple tree

MAYOW PARK FOR WILDLIFE IN 2025

Mayow Park is a site of importance for nature conservation within the borough of Lewisham. The Friends of Mayow Park take that responsibility seriously in their activities.  

ORCHARD: During 2025 the  Friends held orchard pruning workshops, volunteers removed unwanted grasses round those trees and planted bulbs which should produce a floral display this year. Fruit blossom on the trees attracted bumble bees and other pollinating insects. Ladybirds were busy eating aphids. Lady’s Smock (a small delicate flower) made its annual appearance in late March. The orchard trees produced many fruits with some left on the ground for wildlife.  We worked with Glendale in autumn to cut back scrub (mainly brambles and ivy) behind the orchard to allow grass to grow – grassland is an important habitat for invertebrates.

POND: Built with help from Froglife, The Orchard Project and local volunteers, the pond was first constructed with a liner in March 2025 but later in the summer it was re-shaped as a natural clay pond surrounded by a wildlife friendly dead hedge. Over time we hope it will attract dragonflies, frogs and other creatures. Nearby we have created a bee bank for wildflowers to attract pollinators and we would be so happy to see many different types of butterfly.

ANIMALS: We held two evening bat walks in 2025 –enjoyable for all ages. We regularly see crows and magpies, sometimes jays, hear the occasional woodpecker. Common birds include robins, blue and great tits and many parakeets. We have been lucky in recent months to watch the activities of a pair of Egyptian geese that have visited us from time to time.

TREES: With many old and veteran trees, over time their limbs die and they can present potential hazards to the public.  During the past year (2025) tree surgeons cut down dead trees and removed heavy limbs from other trees with safety a priority. Trunks were left lying on the grass for park visitors to use as additional seating and as habitats for insects and fungi. Do visit and look at the different fungi that grow on dead wood. Can you name any?

Before surgery

After surgery Nov 2025

IN OTHER NEWS: Friends of Mayow Park (FOMP) have a new Chair. At the recent Annual General Meeting,  (January 2026) the Friends elected Robert Hero as Chair. We are delighted. Robert has a keen interest in the park and  knows many park users. He cares about the wildlife, the upkeep of the park and the way that humans treat the park. He is an animal lover and walks his dogs in the park almost daily.  He and the FOMP committee will plan for activities to make the park the best it can be, working closely with Glendale, the company that manages the park for Lewisham.  Robert intends to reach out to more park users and encourage them to join us so that FOMP will become a strong and influential park user group.

And to finish off, here is a fungus beauty on an oak log on 20th Jan 2026

warty jelly fungus (Exidia glandulosa)

Blossom time

 Mayow Park is at peak spring blossom time. Cherry blossom, hawthorn, fruit tree blossom. We mustn't forget the wild flowers including dandelions, cuckoo flower, daisies, forget-me-not and lesser celandine. All of these provide pollen for bees and other insects that fly from flower to flower. 

Here are some photos from today in the park.

The pink cherry blossom on the ornamental cherry trees - a joy to behold. They have lined the path edge below with their pink petals.

Nearby the hawthorn bushes are showing off their blooms

A short stroll to the orchard for the apple and quince blossoms

At ground level there are wild flowers to attract pollinators too:

cuckoo flower

daisy

dandelion

Forget-me-not

lesser celandine

Come and visit while the park is blooming.

All photos: A Sheridan

11th April Bat walk

 We were lucky as the bat walk took place on a warm, dry evening,  a perfect night for bats to hunt and feed on flying insects. We had hopes of seeing bats and we were not disappointed.

We had permission to take people around Mayow Park starting at dusk and the gates were kept open till the walk finished.

Iain Boulton, our bat expert, gave an introduction about bats in general, about bats in the UK and pipistrelle bats in Mayow Park specifically. 

One of the FOMP committee had drawn a diagram showing how bats have 5 fingers, the thumb at the top and four that connect to their wings. Bats are the only mammal that can truly fly.

Iain showed how to use a bat detector to 'hear' pipistrelles, our local bats. He explained that to 'hear' bats we tune the bat detector to the best listening frequency for the type of bat. For common pipistrelles we set the detector to around 50kHz

Most of the visitors didn't have a bat detector but Iain brought some to lend out. 

It wasn't long before we heard the bats (using the detectors) and saw them flying around catching  insects in the air. The moon looked down on us through the trees.

It was a wonderful evening. 

As people left to go home, many gave us donations and we were able to donate £37 to the Bat Conservation Trust.

All photos; A Sheridan

Litter pick - a great success

 The weather was perfect for a litter pick in Mayow Park, sunny and dry.

This event in Mayow Park was organised by Pippa from Friends of Mayow Park (FOMP) and Alice from Climate Action Lewisham (CAL) as part of the annual national  Great British Spring Clean by Keep Britain Tidy.

Park users came to help prompted by Pippa's publicity poster on the park gates

Young and old, individuals, family groups, came willingly to do their bit for the park . FOMP and CAL provided litter picks and gloves and some people brought their own. Teams spread out through the park and into the wooded areas. 

Photo: A Sheridan

Items found included plastic bottles, drinks cans, food wrappers and containers, which had been expected. Larger items included a clothes airer and a child's scooter. But also unfortunately a few nitrous oxide canisters were found in the woods and these were kept separate from the general litter bags. In total some 25 bags were filled.   

Photo: A Sheridan

How many people gave their time? 16 adults, 12 children and 3 dogs came to help out. Thank you to all those people. Below are photos of some volunteers.

Photo: Pippa Moss

Photo: Pippa Moss

Glendale sent one of their staff to remove all the bags. What a lovely, helpful man he was.

Photo: Pippa Moss

Photo: Pippa Moss

This proved to be a great multi-generational event, such as success, the first we have held for several years.  But it is sad to reflect that such events are needed up and down the country to keep our green spaces clean and safe for the community.

Pond for the orchard

 The Orchard Project and Froglife were keen that we enhance the orchard for wildlife by adding a pond. See The Orchard Project and Froglife here.

The plan was to create a small pond that would be part of the Blue Chain project which started in Spring 2024 and will continue for 3 years. 

With support from Eszter, Lewisham's Ecological Regeneration Manager, from Emily of Nature's Gym, and from Glendale managers, we agreed to locate the pond behind the orchard  to improve our developing wildlife area. Volunteers recently built a stag beetle loggery and there is a pile of felled trees from tree surgery last year. Together they form a clearing where previously it was a dense secondary woodland. 

Rose introduces the workday

The pond was built by a team of  ten hardworking volunteers on 20th March 2025, facilitated by Rose from Froglife and Lizzy from The Orchard Project. 

Lizzy planned this event to the last detail:  Underlay and pond liner had been purchased in advance.  The necessary tools were  provided. Sandwiches, snacks, hot and cold drinks arrived for lunch. 

Volunteers arrived. Everyone set to work to dig out the pond.

Work starts

Pond dug with shelving

Underlay and liner fitted carefully

The spoil dug out to make the pond was piled up to create a butterfly and bee bank, seeded with suitable wild flower seeds.

Butterfly and bee bank

What else? How to get water to fill the pond! There is no easily accessible water supply nearby but we overcame that problem thanks to support from a Glendale manager. (Glendale are the contractors who manage the park for Lewisham Council). 

We had arranged with a Glendale manager that a bowser of water would arrive when it was time to fill the pond. All went to plan. We will have to work out a water supply solution for the future.

Water supply to the pond

A final touch from volunteers was to roll a felled trunk down to the pond to create seating.

New seating for visitors to the pond

Some of the team

We were lucky with the weather, best described as wall-to-wall sunshine.

We received confirmation a few days later that our small pond will be part of the 100 London Blue Chain ponds project. 

Tool care 14th March 2025 workshop

 After all the orchard winter pruning, it was time to turn our attention to the tools we use  and their condition. Some of the secateurs and loppers we brought along were rather rusty and not as sharp as needed for a clean cut when pruning our orchard trees.

Gavin from The Orchard Project agreed to lead a workshop on tool maintenance. This took place on 14th March at the croquet club room. The ten people who attended were a mix of orchard volunteers from Mayow and other Lewisham orchards along with croquet club members, all keen to improve our tool care skills.

Gavin talked about the equipment  for cleaning and sharpening. He showed us how to take apart secateurs in a systematic way so that it can be put back together correctly. He showed us some of the many types of tool cleaning and oiling resources available commercially, some of which are more nature friendly than others. We learned about a lanolin-based oil which is made from sheep's wool and is more benign to plants. Most of us had previously heard of, or used, WD40.  But, looking at the ingredient list, we understood that it contains chemicals we should avoid in an organically-managed orchard. 

We were keen to practice our newly-learned skills though not everyone could stay for that.

Chatting at the end of the session and afterwards, we unanimously agreed it had been a very helpful session. We went home with lists of items to buy to get our tools back to their best.