fun tree dressing event 30th November

With 40 people over the morning - adults and children - we had a great session.
Pippa's tree trail saw families exploring the orchard to find labels with letters to make a sentence.
Messages  to the trees, written on ribbons of fabric or leaf-shaped card, were hung on branches. Refreshments were available, including mulled wine.
The morning ended with singing songs relevant to the event, led by Dave.

Visitors

decorated trees

one decorated tree

singing with Dave

GREAT BAT WALK

We had a truly enjoyable bat walk this evening (20th September).  It was a mild evening with a clear sky. Sunset was around 7.15 pm. Moths and other flying insects were active - a good sign as they are food for bats.

Thanks go to Dr Iain Boulton for once again leading a bat walk in our park. While he was explaining about bats and their behaviour to the gathered crowd, one pipistrelle flew over our heads, right on cue. It flew in a loop and back behind the cafe building, seemingly not bothered by the throng of people.

We walked over to the orchard and our bat detectors started cracking as they picked up the sound of bats. We watched as bats few above us. The joy of the park at twilight was only slightly marred by sounds of the planes flying high overhead.

Thank you to to all the wonderful people who came to spend time in the park after dark, when the park is normally off-limits and locked up. Thanks also to Glendale, who manage the park, for agreeing to extend the opening time.

We had a total of 87 people with 52 adults and 35 children, according to the numbers on the sign-in sheets. One couple even spoke in praise of the children who were there. The children were excited and were running around  but interested and well behaved.  We had great feedback. Friends of Mayow Park are planning more bat walks for 2020

Photos thanks to Freda Darr.

LARK IN THE PARK 2018

Mayow Park is located in Perry Vale ward in the London Borough of Lewisham. The annual Lark in the Park community event will take place this year on Saturday 30th June. Free entry. All welcome.

BAT WALK coming up in April

The bats of Mayow Park have had to endure a long, cold winter. We hope the weather will warm up in time for our bat walk on 13th April. This is a dusk walk, when the bats should be out hunting for flying insects.

This year park users are celebrating 140 years since the official opening of Mayow Park as a public recreation ground. We are also celebrating 25 years since Friends of Mayow Park (FOMP) was formed; it was originally called Mayow Park Users' Group (MPUG). 

Come to Our Tree Dressing Day on 2nd December 2017

We are planning to have another Tree Dressing  Day, similar to the one we held in December 2016.
Here are the details.

For more information on Tree Dressing Day and the work of Common Ground who initiated this in 1990 to become a national event see https://www.commonground.org.uk/tree-dressing-day/

Apple Day 14th October 2017 with FOMP

It has been months since our last post. If anyone would like to write a blog for us on green spaces in general or Mayow Park in particular, do send an email. We would love regular contributors and some of your photos to make this blog more active.

Our latest news is that we are planning Apple Day in  Mayow Park community orchard on 14th October,  a free event in celebration of orchards. 
We are very excited that we will be launching our new orchard sign. It was designed with illustrations from St Michael's Primary School eco-committee at the end of the summer term. The poster below gives a taste of what we are planning. If you'd like to help or want to know more you can send an email to friendsofmayowpark@ymail.com 
Hope to see you there.

Upcoming events March-April 2017

We have a number of activities organised by Friends of Mayow Park.
Friday 31st March is our popular bat walk: meet at 7.30pm by the Mayow Park cafe entrance - opposite Burghill Road.
Thursday 6th April: Nature's Gym session with a focus on wildlife and conservation. Meet near the cafe.
Saturday 22nd April: The Big Dig. We will plant in the Triangle herb bed.
Tuesday 25th April: Friends of Mayow Park quarterly general meeting at Dacres Wood Field Centre 7pm

Let us know if you can join us for any of these events.

Tree Dressing 2016 - preparing our event

What is Tree Dressing about? Why hold it in Mayow Park?

We all know that trees are important and that we should not take them for granted. Customs around the world include tying ribbons, writing messages on fabric, hanging objects and more. The celebration brings the community together to appreciate the trees around us. Mayow Park has some ancient trees but also a young orchard. Lots to celebrate.
Some people who heard about our idea wondered why we would be doing  Christmas decorating as that was what tree dressing meant to them. They were surprised that our celebration was not intended to be a Christmas event as it cuts across many customs and cultures. It pre-dates Christianity  as trees have been valuable to people for all time.Tree Dressing is celebrated all over the world  among many cultures at different times of year. A charity called Common Ground pulled customs together and revived Tree Dressing into an English cultural event. They started this  in 1990 for the first weekend in December.
But people are very busy at weekends at this time of year so how could we attract them to our event? We came up with more ideas: a story teller? singing round a tree? Try to ensure the date does not clash with other local events in Sydenham and Forest Hill. So the date chosen was Sunday 4th December 2016 from 10 am to 12.30 pm. The site we selected was the orchard. One volunteer brought lots of coloured fabric strips and helped to set up. Another brought string for tying objects to the trees and tree guards. A musician with young children brought his guitar to enhance our sing-along.  The Orchard Project through Helping Britain Blossom arranged additional publicity and a photographer.

beech leaves

 
So our ideas grew and preparations were made, permission sought and forms filled. (To be continued . . . )

Bat walk on 16th September 2016

The day began with heavy rain and remained damp so there was no certainty the bat walk would go ahead.  Our last bat walk in April was washed out, although everyone enjoyed walking through the park in the rain after dark, so we all wanted to see bats this time. Luckily, by 6 o'clock it was clear the rain clouds were blowing away though the sky remained cloudy.

We met up near the pavilion at 7.15 pm,  had a brief introduction to the bats of Britain, a summary of our route through the park and a reminder of any potential hazards.
The event was led by Dr Iain Boulton.  Iain showed us how to use the bat detectors and off we went.

First stop was the 'balcony' overlooking the bowls green and our bat detectors detected bat activity. As our eyes got used to the dark of the trees and the lighter background of the sky we could see the fast flitting of the bats. Better still was when we moved past the bowls green to the space between the green and the tennis courts. With trees along the back of the Bishopsthorpe gardens behind us, the hedge of the bowls green to our right and a number of older trees around, we saw a number of bat silhouettes sweeping against the night sky. According to the bat detectors, we were watching pipistrelle bats.

Moving on along the path between the orchard and tennis courts we could hear more bat activity and saw some bats flying around above the orchard.

These amazing flying mammals have to work hard now to fatten up before they go into hibernation mode for the winter. And where will they hibernate? The old trees in and around Mayow Park have many hollows and some of these are small enough for bats to roost safely away from disturbance from other tree animals in the park. some of the houses nearby may also provide a suitable habitat under the roof tiles.

Reviewing the evening, Iain guessed that we saw around 5 or 6 pipistrelle bats but it would have seemed more because they swirled to and fro.
There were 27 people in total including 7 younger children.
Iain is looking forward to 2017 and has promised another walk next spring. Thank you Iain for helping us to appreciate some of the wildlife of Mayow Park.

A bat walk for September 2016

There was a bat walk on 2nd April 2016 led by Dr Iain Boulton. It was popular and drew a good crowd of adults and children BUT the steady rain persisted so the bats stayed away. Despite that most people said they enjoyed their time in the park after dark. Bats have been seen flying in the park near the bowls green at dusk so we know they are out there.
After the event, Dr Boulton said he would be willing to lead another walk so . . . we plan to try again on 16th September, from 7.15 pm to 8.30 pm. As before, we will meet by the Mayow Park cafe, close to the main entrance in Mayow Road.

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.

June 2016 Mayow Park tree walk part 1

On 5th June the Friends of Mayow Park held their first ever family-friendly tree walk, aimed at adults and children alike. A total of 18 adults and 10 children attended the walk.
Mayow Park has quite a few unique and unusual trees within its boundary but this 90 minute walk was only able to take in a few, an introduction to what the park has to offer.
Our walk started near the cafe and first stop was the dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides), a magnificent conifer that sheds its leaves in the winter - so it is a deciduous tree.  It is a fast growing tree and possibly only about 50 - 60 years old. Wouldn't it be great  if someone would  research park records to find out exactly when it was planted and its origin?

Dawn  as she looked in early April before her leaves grew back

Photo of  Dawn on 22nd June 2016

Jon showed us a method of calculating the height of this tree by using a home-made clinometer. This measured the angle from the person holding the clinometer to the top of the tree, then measuring the distance in metres from the person to the tree, drawing a triangle and then using a process of  mathematical calculations. Our calculations gave a height of 20.7 metres high though we should really try this again a few times for accuracy.
The girth of this tree was measured by Mike with the help of some children and came to 3.9 metres.
We gathered round the tree and felt its bark.

distinctive bark of the Dawn Redwood

Next stop was the weeping silver birch - another ornamental tree. When it was planted or why is another piece of research for someone.

weeping silver birch on 2nd April without its leaves.

The photo above (taken with permission of the parent)  is of a girl I spoke to in early April who explained this was her favourite tree as it felt like a spirit tree. In June, with the tree in leaf, it creates a small sheltered area where I have seen people sitting and enjoying the space. See below.

The same weeping silver birch on 22nd June 2016

We also looked at the nearby row of native silver birch trees. These were planted approximately 8 to 10 years ago (I am guessing) when the bowls cabins had been installed  for the bowls club that was active at the time. The cabins were (and still are) rather unattractive so the silver birch trees and the hedgerow bushes were planted to green the space and create a visually more pleasing view.

This row of silver birch partially hides the cabins

It seems that silver birch trees can be used to improve the soil for other plants. Its deep roots bring up nutrients into the tree and leaves and these are recycled onto the soil surface when the tree sheds its leaves. Of course other deciduous trees do the same, so I have yet to find out what is special about the nutrients in silver birch leaves. A distinctive feature of silver birch is the bark, which peels away like paper, making it easier to identify the tree.

To be continued . . .

Tree walk Sunday 5th June 2016

FRIENDS OF MAYOW PARK

FAMILY TREE WALK

SUNDAY 5 JUNE 10.30-12 NOON

Come and join us to help find out more about the trees in Mayow Park and have fun with your family at the same time.

Activities on the day include:

 1. Meet our special trees: Find out about the ancient oaks, monkey puzzle, dawn redwood, weeping silver birch, holm oak (the climbing tree), plus share stories, myths and legends about the trees.

2. Nature detectives: Identify trees by their leaves.

3. Orchard identification: Find out about the 11 trees planted in 2012.

4. Bark rubbings: Paper & crayons provided.

5. Tree measuring: Using different methods, we’ll  record the height and girth of some of the trees for the park’s record.

Meet us at our table at the Triangle by the café at 10.30 to get your activity sheets and join us on a guided walk.

For more information email: friendsofmayowpark@ymail.com

Lark in the Park 18th July 2015

Thanks to the Perry Vale ward assembly there was a successful 'Lark in the Park' community event in Mayow Park today. It was organised by Sarah Lang, the coordinator for Perry Vale ward.
Mayow Park sits within Perry Vale ward, at the boundary with Sydenham ward. It is great that Perry Vale has this one park within their ward and it is a much loved park regardless of artificial Council ward boundaries.

stall for Perry Vale Assembly

The Young Lewisham Project  http://www.younglewisham.org.uk/    had a stall selling hand-made items such as furniture, made by young people. They were also providing a cycle maintenance and safety check. It was good to see that all the Perry Vale ward councillors were there, mingling with other park users.

Young Lewisham Project with PV  Councillors

YLP talking to visitors at  Lark in  the Park event

Face painting proved very popular, with parents and children waiting patiently in a queue. As well as story telling and a teddy bears' picnic, there were plenty of other activities to keep children happy.
As always, the cafe was open and doing a roaring trade in hot and cold drinks.
It was good to see the ice-cream man at his pitch near the children's play area. He has been at our park for quite a few years and is another pair of eyes and ears, helping to keep the park a popular and safe space for people to enjoy.
And  the Caribbean Mix cricketers were also playing a match today. So the park was really buzzing with people.

What a lovely day for a lark in the park.

Bird walk 12th April 2015

At 8am on a sunny Sunday 12th April 2015 eleven people gathered for a bird walk round Mayow Park. Our last bird walk in March was a cold and miserable day with few birds but today was much better,  good visibility and plenty of bird song to guide us. The trees are not yet in full leaf, making it easier to spot the birds. Many thanks to Paul Barrett for leading the walk.
Here is a list of birds we saw:

• hedge sparrow/ dunnock (a pair) 
• great spotted woodpecker on tree near tennis court)
• parakeets
• magpies
• song thrush
• wren (pair)
• great tit
• blue tits (particularly in and around the cherry tree in bloom by the rose beds near the Silverdale entrance)
• long tail tits (pair)
•  robins
• starlings
• wood pigeons
• stock doves
• chaffinch male (two in different places)
• blackbirds (pair)
• jay (pair)
• crow
• herring gulls (flying overhead)
• mistle thrush
• nuthatch (pair) in rockery area in front of bowls site

These photos show some of the trees where birds were present though the camera did not get to shoot them. The third photo shows  two parakeets at a hole where they are nesting.

we saw birds in these two oaks

Plenty of blue tits in this blossoming cherry tree near rose beds

Can you see the parakeets half way up the right hand trunk?

male chaffinch somewhere in this tree

Activities weekend 14th & 15th March 2015

The weekend of 14th & 15th March will see two events arranged with the friends of Mayow Park.

On 14th March Nature's Gym volunteers will work to tidy up the Triangle beds and lay more wood chip on paths.  Nature's Gym volunteers have helped us in Mayow Park over the past few years, originally planting bulbs around the Dawn Redwood tree. They also planted the now-established hedgerow along the wall of the bowls cabins in an effort to make that wall less visible.
Come along to say hello or help from 11am to 2pm. Meet near the cafe. Do wear suitable clothes and shoes for gardening work.

On 15th March we will have a bird walk around the park, led by a local amateur ornithologist. You may have heard the birds getting more chatty recently and seen some carrying nest-building materials in the beaks or a robin with a tasty worm. Learn more about the birds of the park.
Meet at 7.30am near the cafe. The walk will finish in time for breakfast at the cafe, should you wish,  and you can be home in plenty of time to celebrate Mother's Day.

successful THREE ORCHARDS WALK

The three orchards walk (Albion Millennium Green, Mayow Park and de Frene orchards) was a successful event to show our local orchards. The Forest Hill Society environment committee volunteers worked hard to design the flyer and publicise it.
Rain threatened but held off until   the last stage of the walk. 
Steve Grindlay provided a link between the three sites with his historical insight into the area.
Refreshments at De Frene (a site run by local charity Sydenham Garden) were much appreciated although the pizza oven took a long time to heat up sufficiently.
Photos and more detailed write up to follow.

THREE ORCHARDS WALK saturday 19th October 2013

Visit three orchards in Forest Hill and Sydenham.
Meet at Forest Hill station at 11am,
On to Albion Millennium Green for tree planting and toasting the trees  11.30am.
Then to Mayow Park orchard to meet orchard volunteers, toast the trees, do apple bobbing 12.30pm
Finally on to De Frene orchard (a plot run by Sydenham Garden) for refreshments,  including pizzas made in the earth oven, and activities for the family, 1.30pm.

Remarkable Race in Mayow Park part 2

Crowds gathered in Mayow Park on 7th July 2013, many seeking shade from the sun. They cheered on the drivers in their remarkable machines, as they bravely competed to be the winner. Thank you to the Sydenham Arts Festival for creating such a fun event in Mayow Park!

Mayow Park hosts remarkable race

Imagine a unique scene: the 'Remarkable Race of 1913' took place on this day in Mayow Park, exactly 100 years ago, with the strangest vehicles you ever saw in your life. Here are some of the vehicles, looking splendid, a while before the race on 7th July 2013.