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

Orchard winter pruning workshop

Organised and facilitated by members of our own Friends of Mayow Park (FOMP) group, we ran two workshops  in Mayow Park's community orchard (near the tennis courts) on 24th and 28th February 2023.  

Five people attended session one and six attended session two - eleven people in total.

Both sessions began with a short intro on  tools for pruning and how to look after them. Next came 'getting to know your tree' by looking for damaged, dead and diseased branches on the trees. We talked about  the process of grafting scions, different rootstocks and reasons for mulching.

After the brief theory intro we visited some trees to look carefully at what should be pruned and why.

Then on to the practical pruning, in pairs.   

One of the  FOMP members worked on weeding round the trees and collecting  mulch to lay around each tree.

The two hour sessions did not give us enough time for all the trees but those we worked on seemed very contented after.

Our regular orchard volunteers will continue pruning and mulching over the next two weeks.

Equipment at the ready

choosing which branch to cut

Loppers  being moved to cutting position

A clean cut with sharp loppers

A few trees are not in the best of health. One apple tree has had fungal canker for a few years but seems to be healing some of the wounds this disease caused.

Canker on Crawley Beauty

Unfortunately the Conference pear tree has never thrived. It turns out it has been planted where the ground gets rather water-logged after heavy rain. Now its main trunk is being eaten alive by wood borers.

Any ideas about the creatures causing this damage?

Soon all the fruit trees will have a blanket of wonderful mulch to keep them cosy in winter, cooler in the heat of summer and encourage mycorrhizal fungi that work in symbiosis with the roots of the trees, swapping nutrients and sugars.

cosy comfort of woody mulch

New fox-proof bins

SIX new Broxap plastic litter bins were installed in Mayow Park last week to replace the worst of the deteriorating metal bins. They were funded from Lewisham's Greening Fund that parks and green spaces groups could apply for last year. The rest of the bins to be replaced will have to wait for the next funding round.

One of the new bins

A cold and frosty morning

A crispy, frost-filled view across Mayow Park on 21st January 2023 at 8.42am from the north-east side.

All photos Credit: John Roussety

Sunrise

Dramatic view

Community clean-up in Mayow Park

 Our community litter-picking events in Mayow Park are enjoyable social gatherings with a serious purpose.

We aim to collect as much litter as possible – of course. But we also aim to help wildlife living in the park by removing items that could cause them harm including plastic debris and wet wipes.  This is rubbish left by people, sometimes carelessly, but at other times   perhaps assuming that someone else will clear it up.

Our most recent event on 4^th August 2022 was during the school holiday and a great opportunity for families to join us. The weather was warm and sunny. Ideal. We met near the cafe and agreed which areas are most in need of litter clearance.  We got into groups and off we went.

Our local PCSO Andrea represented the Perry Vale police and worked with some children who were excited to see her as they know her from her visits to local schools.

PCSO Andrea with her team of helpers

We collected 14 bags of rubbish plus bits of garden fencing, metal items and a cushion. There were the usual items such as sweet and food packaging, paper, card, wet wipes, cans, glass bottles, plastic bottles, cigarette stubs and plastic covers from disposable drinking straws. 

Some of the volunteers

One of the volunteers did an awesome job of collecting rubbish in the fenced-off area adjacent to Mayow Road and which is normally locked. Our helpers were 8 children, 13 adults and 1 dog. The photo shows a few of those willing workers.

Thank you to Glendale staff for providing rubbish bags and litter-picking sticks and collecting the rubbish pile when we had finished. Thank you to the park users who volunteered to help and to the parents for bringing children to take part.

 Councillor Susan Wise joined us after the litter pick for entertainment by Nzinga Dance near the children’s playground. This was arranged by Nancy at Lewisham Council. Nzinga Dance is a performing arts organisation bringing African and African Caribbean dance to audiences. The two dancers wore traditional costume, played traditional drums and music. It was tempting for some of the audience to join in with the dancing. This was entertainment for young and old while a few children queued to have their faces painted. What a treat it was.

Thank you to Nancy for these lovely photos.

Audience participation

Nzinga Dance in action

NO BARBECUES IN MAYOW PARK

BARBECUES ARE NOT ALLOWED IN MOST OF LEWISHAM'S PARKS 

That includes Mayow Park. There is no dedicated area in the park for lighting a fire and cooking food. Look for the list of byelaws in the main notice board opposite Brown & Green cafe.

In addition, park users will have noticed a lack of meaningful rain for over a month and the result is . . . the grass is tinder-dry. One small spark (from a barbecue or a cigarette) could start a fire that will spread rapidly through the grass and cause serious damage in the park.

Unfortunately in our park we frequently find that those who bring in disposable barbecues are also happy to dispose of those barbecues and food remnants beside the rubbish bins - so other people have to clear up the following morning. Oh . . . and meanwhile the foxes and other animals have a wild party, spreading the garbage around.

Today the heat across the UK broke records. London saw areas hit 40 degree heat. Fire crews across London and within the M25 were called out to tackle a number of fires in green spaces.

Let's be sensible and look after our green spaces. The message is simple - NO BARBECUES IN MAYOW PARK AT ANY TIME.

The following photos were taken this evening and show how dry and parched the grass is.

Jester takes a mini-break

 Thanks to Tim Walker for this great blog and wonderful photos, sent in on 30th March 2022, amidst great excitement among Mayow Park users.

It was Monday 28^th March when what looked like an enormous bird of prey appeared in Mayow Park. Eagle-eyed newspaper readers quickly identified her as Jester, the missing falcon from London Zoo. National newspapers and TV had reported her daring escape and subsequent sightings in various south west London locations. She has now been absent without leave from the zoo for two weeks. It seems that after trying many other parks, as at Wednesday, she seems happy to stay with us here in Mayow Park.  

She is a crested Caracara falcon, native to the Americas and is a real beauty. She seems happy on the ground grubbing around for worms in the flower beds and across the main field, effortlessly evading occasional crow attacks and uncontrolled dogs by swooping up to the nearest tree. Or she’ll happily walk very close to people, generously offering up photo opportunities. She even spent some time with the outdoor yoga group on the main field.

On Tuesday, after multiple sightings had been reported, two keepers from the zoo arrived. They spent two hours patiently observing and feeding Jester, but she warily stayed just far away enough to evade capture.  They seemed happy that she is healthy and managing well and once she had eaten her fill they said they would come back to try another day. She apparently is more than capable of surviving in our park though, and the zoo asks that people please not try to feed her.

On Wednesday zoo staff were in the park again, saying that she appears to be in good health. They are waiting on some special equipment to catch her and that could be a few days away yet. Wherever she goes, they aim to check on her daily.

After three days here perhaps she will stay long enough for the zoo to find a way to take her home. But meanwhile, it does look as though she’s actually having a very good time here in our lovely park.