Mayow Park gets gleaming new cricket training nets in 2021 to mixed review

 In October 2020 the final decision was made by Lewisham officers and the London Cricket Trust to locate new cricket nets at the western end of Mayow Park, very close to the wonderful and much loved Holm Oak (Quercus ilex for those that appreciate its Latin name).

New nets location overlaid on old nets site

Remains of old cricket nets area

The new structure was completed in July 2021

Brand new cricket nets in their woodland setting

What has changed? 

The new footprint of the nets is 30% longer than, and more than double the width of, the previous one, which had long since been neglected as a cricket training area and morphed over years into a respectfully used community workout space (coming in very handy during the lockdown, used by personal trainers and casual athletes alike).The new facility’s vertical footprint reaches 4 metres high, not including the elevated ground constructed to make a level pitch at the far end. A paved pathway to the nets was also added, perhaps to avoid any muddy shoes treading on the artificial turf.  The nets are angled roughly North-East to South-East and located within a wooded setting, boasting views of very old trees, and (when the weather cooperates) beautiful dappled sunlight. Almost within touching distance are ancient oaks some of which are well over 300 years old. The aerial photo really highlights the woodland feel. A tourist brochure would surely highlight this location as ideal for any number of activities, playing cricket included. 

Change for the better? 

Such brand new training nets will be a joy to cricket fans, seeing not the changed historical landscape but the state-of-the-art sports facility (with five years’ funded maintenance courtesy of the London Cricket Trust). 

Park users have been assured that local schools are keen to have their pupils use the all-weather, all-season net facility and that the majority of net users will be from the local community, in walking distance (hopefully, since the park entrance closest to the nets is in a very residential area with limited parking). Locals may also get to see nationally recognised clubs joining in on the fun. 

In the long term, removing a section of grassy field from Sunday afternoon family picnics and community leisure was deemed worth it with the aim of having healthier and more active local young people (and women too) who it is hoped will now have the means to develop a great love for this quintessentially English game. Mayow Park is one of 50 new and planned locations across London, where the London Cricket Trust is bringing cricket facilities to the people, in collaboration with local councils*. 

*See  https://wisden.com/stories/your-game/club-cricket/the-club-debate-can-the-london-cricket-trust-boost-the-game-in-the-capital  

But a singular view on cricket may miss other important factors that one hopes decision makers also took into account: namely, the social, environmental and visual impacts of the changes (not to mention the long-term costs of upkeep to the nets). To what extent were these factors considered by the London Cricket Trust and Lewisham Council when choosing the location and plans for the nets - and do the benefits outweigh the costs?

SOCIAL IMPACTS:

Someone on one of the local FB groups posted a very succinct summary of their thoughts on 3^rd July 2021, which highlight the social impact of the new nets in a park that already has so much to offer:

“ I think lockdown has shown how much people value the space, to spend time in nature, for their wellbeing, meet friends and family safely, walk their dogs etc. I thought the amenities were sufficient:

2 children's play areas, outdoor gym equipment, 2 sets of picnic tables, a football/cricket (schools pitch) in the centre of the field. A cafe, a thriving community space, tennis courts, a bowling area/  theatre/ event space.

I'm not sure why we couldn't keep it at that? I wonder if it's in danger of becoming over 'curated' zones to the point where people won't have enough space to walk in the park and enjoy being in nature. Especially people who don't have access to their own outdoor space. It's only 17 acres for approximately 28,500 people. I wonder what % of them play cricket?”

Indeed, stats on how many cricket players (current or aspiring) live in the community surrounding Mayow Park would be very welcome!

ENVIRONMENT AND LANDSCAPE IMPACTS:

In the past, park surveys carried out by Mayow Park users indicated very many people value the variety and age of the trees, the gently sloping land, the shade cast by trees on hot summer days. They make this park so special.

So to what extent have these new nets enhanced the treescape and the flow of the park slopes? Realistically views of trees in particular have been negatively affected.

Take a close look at the proximity of the Holm oak to the site. Look around the earth works surrounding the nets as soon as you can and before the evidence is removed. Can you see tree roots sticking out of the uneven, scarred earth? Logic suggests they can only have come from the Holm oak. If anyone wishes to correct this logic, please comment.

Tree roots

More tree roots

But this is only parkland after all, only amenity grassland that has been disturbed, a small price to pay when making way for human improvement, surely? 

Only parkland?

Lewisham Council declared a climate emergency early in 2020. We are already seeing severe changes in weather patterns.

Surely parks should be recognised     for the important contribution they make to help mitigate all the climate change challenges that are being thrown at us?

We can each make individual choices, reflecting our priorities and our desired future. Can the importance of attempting to spread the love of one sport across one parkscape be balanced against damaging an environment that some see as vital for everyone and not just one sporting group?

Only time will tell, when we see how the facilities are used and maintained, the grass will have grown back, and perhaps eyes adjusted to the new view…

The new view from Recreation Rd entrance

Alona and Carin

Cricket returns in 2018

Last year saw a break from cricket in Mayow Park. But the good news it is returning with a new home team, the R.A.S.R.A. Eagles cricket Club. For those keen on cricket, here is the fixtures list:

Lark in the Park 18th June 2016

Photo by Carol: Cricketters having a break

Mayow Park is a 5 minute walk from Sydenham Road but it sits within the Lewisham Council ward of Perry Vale and is the main green space for that ward. The Friends of Mayow Park committee were delighted when we learned that our park was to host the Perry Vale Ward assembly 'Lark in the Park' community event.
It was planned over a few months by Councillors and council officers who contacted various community groups and associations as well as Brown and Green Cafe in Mayow Park.
On 18th June the weather was overcast but generally dry making it ideal for this great event. Cars and larger vehicles were driven into the park at 5mph, lights flashing, and then driven out again according to the regulations, in order to set up. People were unloading banners, chairs, equipment, food, gazebos,  games and piling up a whole host of equipment onto tables to prepare eye-catching displays.
The Perry Vale ward officers and councillors had a small marquee located between the tennis courts and bowls green, by the middle path.
The old bowls green hosted taster sessions for those interested in croquet. However, the grass is cut as amenity grass these days since the demise of the bowls club and I gather that means the grass is too long to play a decent game of croquet.

Photo by Carol: Try playing croquet when you are being pulled away by a toddler!

 Friends of Mayow Park set up a table next to our gardening space, by the raspberry bushes and under the holly tree. It was a good opportunity for us to publicise who we are and what we do as not all visitors were aware that Mayow Park has a Friends group. Some people signed up to go on our mailing list and to be kept informed about meetings and events. We had tree leaf identification sheets available for those who wanted to check out some of our park trees plus information on our orchard.

Photo by Carol. Two of the FOMP committee - Robert holding Harry his dog and Alona sitting  

Here is a list of some of the other organisations that contributed to the day and their activities:

Arthouse	Make a protest workshop - Use creative  resources to make a placard to protest about what is really important to you. With your creations you can Join a parade at the end of the day.
Lewisham Homes	Information stall - to promote Lewisham Homes services
Metropolitan Police	Free Bike security Marking and crime prevention advice & leaflets
Forest Hill Society	Information stall - working to make Forest Hill an even better place to live.
Economic Development team (Fairtrade)	Fair Trade Quiz and samples of Fairtrade projects to try.
Lewisham Police / Police Cadets	Crime prevention stall, general assistance with set up and stewarding
Brent Knoll School	Yr 10 Enterprise Group. Handmade gifts and crafts by pupils
Mike Mad for Fitness	Demonstration of Outdoor gym equipment.  Also volunteer first aider
Let's Talk about Dogs	Let's talk about dogs - engagement with local people on their attitudes to dogs.
Young Lewisham Project	A stall selling recycled/upcycled items made by our young people. Also a Dr Bike service so people can have their bikes repaired.
Sydenham Tennis Club	2 Tennis coaches and croquet club members to run activity tasters
Battersea Dogs & Cats Home & PDSA	Dog microchipping, pet health checks, dog law and outreach
L&Q	Information Stall - help and advice with all aspects of housing
Fusion - The Bridge Leisure Centre	Afterburn and Box Aerobics (Boxercise)
Fusion - Afterburn Academy	Afterburn - (Looking good on the beach!)
Bubble and Bounce	Soft play area
Tumshies	Face painters X 2 - sponsored by Lewisham Homes and L&Q
Teatro Vivo - Usherettes	Usherettes - handing out information, engagement with public
Brown and Green	Provided prize for cake decorating activity
FHBS - Cake decorating	Cake decorating masterclass, and FHS Young Producers Present: “The Big Mix Up” Cookbook-let
Dacres TRA	Committee member attended to engage with public
Forest Hill Womens Institute	Information stall and cakes for sale

The Caribbean Mix cricket team were playing a match on the centre field during the afternoon for those who wanted to sit and relax.

Photo by Carol: Caribbean Mix CC

Photo by Carol: tennis coaching at the tennis courts

Photo by Carol: Dr Bike  in the shadow of one of our ancient oaks 

It was a wonderfully busy day with many people enjoying the activities on offer, chatting, chasing toddlers, eating, smiling.  At 4pm the day of festivities came to an end and stallholders packed up. Many stayed to help  the Lewisham team to load equipment back onto the van.
A number of people commented that his event had felt like a village fete.
For next year I would like to suggest community music and dancing during the afternoon to reflect our multi-ethnic and multi-cultural community: we could have any combination of: Morris dancing and  folk music from around the British Isles, music and dance from the Middle East, the Far East, Mediterranean countries, India, Bangladesh, the Caribbean, the African continent, the Americas, Eastern Europe, Asia and Australasia.

Looking after the cricket square in Mayow Park

Cricket has made a come-back in Lewisham. Two of its parks, Mayow Park and Hilly Fields, have cricket squares.  Special care is necessary to maintain the squares to a high standard for the cricketers. One man who knows a lot about taking care of these sites is Luke Rayment and I had the good fortune to interview him about his work in mid-September 2015. 

Luke has worked for Glendale Lewisham Grounds Management since 2010 as their cricket groundsman and you may spot him working on site during the cricket season.

Luke maintains the cricket squares in both parks in readiness for weekly matches. His role includes cutting the grass to a specified height, rolling the wickets with a roller machine and marking out the lines in white paint.  He also carries out repairs to the wicket which involves spreading loam and levelling out the site each week. 

Prior to working for Glendale, Luke worked for 11 years to maintain the greens at a golf course. During that time he studied part-time at Hadlow College near Tunbridge Wells for his NVQ2 with training in sports turf management. He enjoyed his work but wanted to move on for his personal professional development.  

When he first started with Glendale he worked alongside two very experienced groundsmen and learned a lot from them. He has attended a number of other courses including Level 1 and Level 2 Foundation training through the English Cricket Board (ECB) where he improved his skills to maintain a cricket square. 

He finds this work very satisfying particularly when he can see the impact he makes on the cricket square. He appreciates the positive feedback he receives from Glendale Lewisham managers, one of whom is a cricket fan.  Park users also show their interest with comments about cricket in Mayow Park and compliments about Luke’s work.

Occasionally he is disappointed by thoughtless behaviour from the public, particularly when people walk across the cricket square, play football and other activities which cause damage. They are not aware of the effort and care that goes into maintaining the site. Fortunately in Mayow Park this is rare.

Luke’s work in our park is special and his satisfaction with what he does is wonderful. Now I know why he always looks cheerful. Thank you, Luke. 

Official opening of Pavilion and cafe plus community cricket

Here is another post that should have been written many weeks ago.

The Pavilion building, as people may recall, had an extensive renovation to bring it back into use. The efforts of Lewisham Greenscene have to be applauded. First, the dry rot within the building was far more widespread than had originally been expected, going right into the rafters. Then, just as things appeared to be improving, it was discovered that the foul water drainage ( sewage pipework to you and me) had collapsed a long time before and this would be a hugely expensive job to put right.
Thames Water contractors dug a very deep vertical shaft right in the middle of the front garden to Grow Mayow, the community garden behind the Pavilion . The deep shaft then continued horizontally under Mayow Road to link with the mains sewage system. For a while, the entrance gate by the Pavilion was closed to all park users due to this major work.Without this work there would be no chance of public toilets in the park and using a Portaloo is not the most exciting experience.
Iris and Erika run the community garden so  their garden and their activities were overturned for many months in order for the deep excavations and essential repairs to take place.
With the sewage system back in working order and the work on the Pavilion nearly complete, Lewisham shortlisted for potential businesses to run a cafe on the ground floor of the Pavilion. Twin sisters Jess and Laura of Brown and Green Cafe were chosen and they opened their cafe in early August.
The sports changing facilities on the top floor of the pavilion were kitted out and ready for our cricket home teams.

Finally, on 31st August, came the official opening of the Pavilion, together with the start of  a one-week cricket festival. Here are photos of the official opening with  Councillor Rachel Onikosi delivering a speech, Susan Wise cutting the ribbon, Councillor Alan Hall,  plus the cafe owners Jess and Laura with their children.

 It was good to see a large, supportive crowd of people. Among the gathering was Peter Ranken, without whom the long process would not have started. His interest in cricket, meetings with Mike Gatting and the English Cricket Board, applying for grants to create a cricket square and plans for the Pavilion, paved the way to what is now a valued building, two home cricket teams and a wonderful cafe.
Many thanks to Martin Hyde for these photos.

CRICKET TASK FORCE AT GROW MAYOW 12TH APRIL 2014

Following construction of new water and waste facilities for the restored Pavilion, a volunteer Taskforce from Caribbean Mix CC (CMCC) and London West Indies CC (LWIMCC) will help rebuild raised beds for food growing at Grow Mayow under supervision of Erika Sager and Iris Borgers.

For those of you who have been following the major construction works on the sewer and disruption to the site at the front of Grow Mayow, you will know that its volunteers have a huge task to reconstruct the site and return it to its former glory. Plans are already in hand to rebuild the front area of Grow Mayow. The Mayow cricket taskforce will do their bit to help on Sat 12^th April as part of their on-going commitment to help the park and the community.

This exciting support from our home cricketers has come about through a generous reciprocal arrangement in which Tim Lund (www.lund.co.uk) will commit 12 hours computer programming time to construct a new website for Caribbean Mix CC.

Cricket fixtures 2014 in Mayow Park

Here is a list of fixtures, including Cricket Week which will take place 31st August to 5th September 2014, the last week of the school holidays.

Fixtures:  ‘CRICKET AT MAYOW’ 2014

1)         KRCL Home Fixtures in the following competitions – see heavy type below:

Kent Cricket League, Caribbean CUP Competition,

 2)         Friendly Home fixtures:

HERTS, SUSSEX Senior County XI’s

COMMUNITY XI’s from cricketing nations:

India, Pakistan, Asian, British Tamil Society, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, South Africa

APRIL Sat 26      CM - F            Bow Green                              

        Sun 27     CM - F            Oakfield Warriors-INDIA              

       Wed 30     LWIM-F          Sussex50/60/70+                    

MAY  Tues 13 CM – F           HERTS Seniors: to be played at Streatham Marlborough

Sat 17  CM                 OD CUACO              

          Sat 24    CM                 BOCA Sports                               

         Sun 25    LWIM            SIMBA Caribbean CUP                               

JUNE Sat 7    CM                 HSBC

         Sun 15    LWIM            STARLIGHT – Caribbean CUP                                                

         Sun 22    CM - F            Clapham Nomads                                      

        Sat 28      CM                 STREATHAM MARLBOROUGH

JULY Tues 1   LWI - F           SESCL Asia - tbc                                                       

         Sat 12     CM                 DULWICH                            

         Sun 27    LWIM             Pakistan XI                             

AUG Sat 2      CM                 ORPINGTON                                               

         Sun 3      CM - F            India XI - Dartford                                         

         Sun 10    CM - F            Billericay                                 

         Fri 15      LWI - F           NOMADS-Tony Leslie Mem.             

         Sat 16     CM                 HAYES                                  

         Sat 23     CM                 BLUE STAR                                                 

         Sat 30     CM                 STREATHAM MARLBOROUGH

 CRICKET WEEK

AUGUST     Sun 31     CM - F            Caribbean Ladies XI               

SEPT Mon 1   LWIM             TBA                            

          Tues 2    CM - F            MAYOW CUP MAYOR'S ‘Invitation’ XI's from:

                                                Lewisham, Bromley, Bexley & Greenwich

                                                Residents Open Day

         Thur 4     CM - F            Selsdon                                   

         Fri  5       CM - F            330 Academy 'Irratics' 

          Sat  6      CM - F            BLACKHEATH SELECT           

         Sun  7     LWI - F           East Essex Stallions     

         Sun 21    CM - F            Hawks

         Sat 27     LWI - F           SRI LANKA XI-KREEDA           

         Sun 28    CM - F            Morden           

Cricket activities in Mayow Park.

FOMP received an email with  the following information from one of the members of our home Cricket Clubs:

CRICKET TASKFORCE - Sat 29^th March and Sat 5^th April

A Taskforce of volunteer Players from Caribbean Mix CC (CMCC), London West Indies Mix CC (LWIMCC) and Streatham Marlborough CC (SMCC) started work  on Saturday 29^th March 2014 to maintain and improve the area of the cricket square and immediate surrounding grass land. Today they were clearing up winter debris and spreading fertiliser. Other tasks will include re-seeding the outfield area in readiness for the new season and trimming some low overhanging branches of nearby trees. The season will start on Sat 26^th April CMCC vs BOW GREEN 1.30pm Start.

This volunteer taskforce activity around the cricket square is under the supervision of Paul Harper and Luke, from Glendale Services. This morning Luke was training them He is pleased that the cricket clubs are taking an active role in maintaining the space.

Both Clubs play Kent Regional Cricket League (KRCL)  - METRO 1 Division, as part of the ‘Regeneration of Cricket’ by Lewisham Council in Mayow Park, under direction from Martin Hyde of Lewisham Greenscene.

The Friends of Mayow Park (FOMP) have been kept informed relating to cricket facilities. The cricketers  have a proposal, agreed with Greenscene, for a storage container behind the newly restored Pavilion, housing two heavy rollers which will enable weekly rolling and necessary maintenance of the cricket square.

England Cricket Board (ECB) has made an investment of £50,000 relaying the cricket Square for the development of cricket in Lewisham, with a further investment at Hilly Fields.