Dig out the boots and join one of the Spring Walks and Talks planned: Birds, trees, flora foraging and bats!
Full details for each walk will be up in the park notice boards, emailed to members and on this site as they come up.
All walks are now free but donations to support park projects are gratefully accepted.
This photo is of the eager Bat-seekers that came along for our annual Bat Walk 7 September. Les had more bat facts for us and as usual a pipistrelle buzzed the crowd prompting the walk to start!
We explored the different environments in the park, getting our night vision sorted out and enjoying the pleasant weather. A tawny owl followed our progress for awhile (looking for mates not humans) and bats came out to display their aerobatic skills while gobbling their evening meal!
Thank you to everyone who managed the pre-booking. Please keep an eye out for another walk in May if you missed this one. And thanks for the donations on the night, these go towards a second bat detector.
If you would like to borrow the FSP detector for a week please follow link http://fspark.org.uk/…/Terms-and-conditions-for-loan-of-FSP-bat-detector.docx
Have a look at the Bat Conservation Trust website for loads more about these important creatures. www.bats.org.uk
It’s time to adjust your night vision for the now annual Bat Walk. After a short intro – next to the notice board by the Plum Lane car park – Les Clark will lead the walk through the woods and glades where the bats hang out. Bat detectors supplied!
This time we ask that you book your free place in advance using;
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bat-walk-tickets-48480937790
A maximum of 50 people allows everyone to get the most out of the experience. If you don’t have computer access please drop a note through the door at 189 Plum Lane with your name and phone number.
Wear suitable footwear (maybe bug spray too) and bring a small torch if you have one. The walk is approximately 1 1/2 hours. Dogs are welcome if kept on a lead.
FSP and Woodlands Farm have collaborated to offer a relaxing ramble through these two diverse green spaces. It will be a meandering walk discovering varied habitats, plants, wildlife and atmospheres.
Walk begins at the car park entrance to Shrewsbury Park on Plum Lane and includes the woods, Dothill allotments and nature reserve. We then follow Barry Gray through the Dothill gate to Woodlands Farm taking in more woods, hedgerows and the hay meadows in full bloom. Endpoint is the café with refreshments available! You can retrace the route to the Park or take the 89 or 486 bus back up the hill.
Cost: £2 – Children up to 16 go free. We will be walking through fields containing ewes and lambs, so sorry, NO DOGS allowed on this walk.
Wear sturdy shoes and clothes for the weather on the day. Any questions about accessibility etc. please contact werfs@gmail.com
The weather gods were smiling on Sunday 13 May, as we gathered in the park to look at bee behaviour around the blossoming flowers, ably guided by local Apiarist, John Large.
The idea was to mark some foraging honey bees, with a view to finding them in the apiary hives later, but the bees proved (mainly) elusive.
We then departed for Oxleas Wood Apiary, where after a short, but informative talk, beekeeping suits and gauntlets were passed round, preparing us to get up close and personal with the bees.
Opening up the hives identifying the Queens, and seeing the way the pollen, nectar, honey and bee larvae were stored was a real eye-opener.
Later on, we even got a chance to taste the amazing honey – a great day with a very sweet ending!
Thanks go to John Large – find out more about his Beekeeping courses and Apiary Days now.
If you’ve ever wondered how you’d survive if you were stranded in the woods over a weekend, our local foraging expert, Kevin Godby is the man to ask.
On Sunday 6 May, 26 residents gathered, eager to learn more about foraging. Amongst the edible plants were, black mustard, nettles, ground elder and ash keys (samples of which Kevin had pickled last year). See a list of our Foraging_Finds
As the group munched their way through the park, he talked about how the first communities would have used foraging to supplement their diets, eating small amounts from each plant. It is an important thing to note, as this would stop any digestion problems from eating too much of a particular plant.
Kevin works for Greenwich Co-operative Development Agency, delivering the Growing Greenwich project at 5 locations in Greenwich Borough. It allows local residents to attend free, drop in gardening sessions and is part of the Good Food in Greenwich network.
To find out more about Growing Greenwich please contact:
Kevin Godby on 020 8269 4880 or email Kevin on Kevin@gcda.org.uk
Update: Kevin has some recipe advice for fellow foragers:
The cherry plum jam I made had less sugar than ‘proper jam’ as it is kept in the fridge. To make it I squeezed out the stones as I worked through the pile of fruit and cooked in a preserving pan.
The hogweed omelette would have been tastier if I had ignored the poor advice online that says frying brings out the flavour. If I were doing it again, I would use a smaller amount of the youngest fresh leaves, chopped fine, perhaps steamed for a couple of minutes to soften, and stirred into the egg just before cooking.
I based my pickled ash keys on the parts of several recipes I liked the look of but this one is a decent starting point, the main thing is to boil them and discard the water a few times to remove the bitterness before making the vinegar. Use cider vinegar and brown sugar. I didn’t include ginger as I didn’t want it to overpower the other flavours. Some recipes add curry type spices which doesn’t appeal to me. The harvesting timing is crucial, they need to be quite small and not be at all stringy when tasted raw from the tree, but soon the bunches of keys will be hidden by the leaves until they suddenly become too big.
Link to recipe for Rowan Jelly (ignore the waffle that precedes the recipe, and can use ordinary apples instead of crab apples).
Enjoy!
Meet at Garland Road entrance This free walk will take about 1.5 hours and finish at the car park off Plum Lane.
Kevin Godby of GCDA leads the walk, suitable for beginners or those who want to revisit his Autumn foraging trail of last year in a new season. You will learn to identify around 18 common forageable species, be shown where they grow and taste some of them too!
You may also bring along something to take home the things you come across, if you wish. A small teaspoon might be handy too…
Please wear suitable footwear and be aware we will be walking uphill. This walk is aimed at adults. If you have questions about the route re mobility please contact werfsp@gmail.com so we can help. No dogs, please.
This is an all-weather walk!
Our Bird Walk was a success (despite grey skies) with an enthusiastic group of members plus some visiting RSPB spotters invited by Stuart. Between them all 23 different species were identified. The visitors were impressed by the habitats and birds Shrewsbury Park has to offer.
Nicky Wilson of RSPB Bexley wrote a wonderfully detailed and interesting report and graciously agreed to share it, so I’ll leave you to reading it yourself on this link. Thank you so much , Nicky!
Come join this FSP walk led by Stuart Banks, resident RSPB member, for an hour or two discovering what’s going on as the nesting season starts. The birdsong is growing every day!
The full route will be somewhat up and down but leisurely. Sturdy shoes and binoculars would be helpful. Email werfsp@gmail.com and we may be able to help with accessibility. Bus 291 stops at the gate.
Free to members, £2 for non-members.
Sorry no dogs, please.
This is a RAIN or SHINE walk!
