New chairperson for Friends of Mayow Park

At January's Annual General Meeting (AGM) th Friends of Mayow Park (FOMP) elected a new Chair to lead the group. Robert Hero introduces himself and his aspirations for the future below.

As Chairperson of the Friends of Mayow Park, I’m inspired every day by the community that loves this space. One area where we’ve seen real progress is litter control. Working with Glendale Park Management and Lewisham Council, and adding some of our own bins, the park is cleaner and more welcoming than ever.

Photo R. Hero : One of the new bins

We have several exciting projects underway. Replacing trees lost to age or storms helps the park remain a green oasis, and we have established a developing wildlife pond, providing a home for insects, and amphibians while making the park even more engaging for families.

Photo R. Hero: cherry blossom

Looking ahead, we hope to restore the Victorian drinking fountain, a historic feature that will shine again in time for our 150th anniversary in 2028. That year will be a chance to celebrate the park’s history, its thriving wildlife, and all the improvements the community has helped bring to life.
We plan a month of events and activities to bring everyone together. From the restored fountain to our flourishing trees and wildlife pond, 2028 will be a celebration of Mayow Park and the people who care for it—a milestone to inspire the next chapter of our park’s story.
Robert

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)

My litter picking adventure by Matilda

 The Friends of Mayow Park committee found out that some of our younger park users care enough about the park that they decided to do something about the litter problem. Read Matilda's report below. Would you be willing to take part in Matilda's suggestion for a monthly litter-pick?

We welcome posts from children who want to improve Mayow Park for everyone to enjoy.

My name's Matilda and I live very close to Mayow Park in Adamsrill Road. It's my favourite park because I know all of the names of most of the dogs, everyone in the park says hello to you, and there are lots of places to explore.

But recently I noticed that there has been more and more horrible litter being dropped, particularly in the areas where me and my friends like to explore, in the trees along the sides of the park.

So I decided to do something about it. First of all I asked for a litter picking stick for Christmas, which I got, and then I got a group of friends together who were also annoyed at the litter. This group was made up of twins Rosanna & Zander, Jessica, Prue and Barnaby.

Matilda's Christmas present

We collected 5 big bags of rubbish just from one side of the park alone, in the beautiful green trees, and 2 refuse sacks full. 

I think there should be one day a month when everyone who enjoys the park should come and pick some litter up, at least one bag. You don't even need a litter picking stick, my Grandad says you can use a stick with a nail in the end.

A small selection of rubbish collected

Oh and also, please stop walking on the lovely flowers, my brother is 2 and gets very upset and recently started an argument with a grown man about it!

Matilda. 6.

New tree map and leaflet (Oct 2020)

 We, the FOMP committee, have just finished producing a very smart 6 page leaflet with a map of the park on the other side. There was a previous map but it was produced some 20 years ago! We feel really proud of this new map/leaflet which will debut in the next issue of the Sydenham Society News as a pull-out centre spread.

We owe so much to Jody McLeish, who designed the whole thing for us. He knows the park from when he lived here but is now living in Kent. (He also designs the Sydenham Society News.)

Using the map people can find out the names of some of the fantastic trees in Mayow Park. For some tree types there's also further information. I loved learning about the Tulip Tree especially. The map includes images of some of the birds often seen in the park too. 

In the leaflet we've given info on the history, facilities and the FOMP group.

Of course people will have opinions on what it could have included but we do hope readers will learn something new from it and appreciate the work that's gone into producing it (and in Jody's case I'm sure a lot of patience as it took a fair few proofs for us to finally sign it off).

It's been wonderful to see the old out-dated map reproduced looking so smart (with the typos gone!) and the basic text we typed up transformed into smart panels with photos.

We can't wait to see how it now looks printed inside the SydSoc magazine. Only compliments allowed...hours of volunteers' time lovingly went into it! Anyway we are confident you'll want to grab a copy! 

Additional copies will be printed within a few months for distribution to the wider community.

Text: Pippa. Photo: Alona

Autumn in Mayow Park

27th September 2019 and the park is moving into autumn. Today was sometimes sunny and warm and sometimes heavy showers. Our park photographer Ron Packham has been out in Mayow Park to see what is stirring. Here are two of his photos.

Collecting food to store

The squirrels have been very busy during the last couple of weeks. Ron has caught on camera how these animals collect conkers in readiness for winter. They dig holes to bury their horde but often seem to forget where they buried their larder

Dappled light after rain, looking towards the tennis courts

This lovely photo taken by Ron looks like an autumn painting with its dappled shades of green and brown. The view is looking east towards the tennis courts along the path from Recreation Road.