Environment, Events, Organised walks

Tree Identification Walk

Local  enthusiastic amateur, John Denton, will lead us on a walk through the park – introducing you to local flora and fauna, you’ll learn more than you ever dreamt of about the trees in the park, how they’ve survived and thrived, how old they are and much more!

Sunday 28 April at 2pm

Meeting point : Notice Board by the car park. Binoculars and magnifying glass would be handy.  Sturdy footwear would be an advantage.

No dogs please.
Rain or shine, we’ll still go ahead

Read and download John’s  Trees Key and Tree Classification in advance of the walk!

Trees Map

Environment

January Bulb Binge

Thank you to Royal Greenwich Parks and Open Spaces for the 2000 free bulbs given to FSP in November. And to Woodlands Trust for the shrub saplings.

They are all planted at last, thanks to the efforts of a select team of members on the last Saturday of January.

New shrubs and daffs by Garland Road

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guess where we planted the last few…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you Zena, Paul and Clive (photographer).

Kris –  Management Committee

 

Environment, Organised walks

Spring Walks 2019

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.

Bird Walk- Sat 16thMarch

Tree ID Walk – Sun 28th April 2pm

Bat Walk – Fri 3rd May,   8.15pm

Foraging Walk – Sun 12th May, 2.30pm

All walks are now free but donations to support park projects are gratefully accepted.

 

Environment, Events

Results of the Park Survey announced

As you will remember we circulated a survey in October after the AGM to find out what you wanted us to spend the fundraising proceeds on in the coming months.

We received 80 responses.

The Picnic Table idea came out on top by quite a margin at 42% followed by the gym at 27%.

The ‘other’ category was for people to add their ideas. The most popular once these were added up was ‘additional park benches’ 3 (4%).

We will update you with progress on securing the picnic tables when we can.

Uncategorised

Quiz On The Hill #2 A Success!

Our Second Quiz on the Hill held at Shrewsbury House last night (9/11/18) was even better than the first held in February.

Quizmasters Geoff and Dee set the bar very high and caught us out with some fiendishly clever questions. From ‘cats and other animals’ to ‘news this week’ they kept us on our toes.

The winners after eight rounds were Team MSP who received some mini bottles of red, and looked delighted!

The scoreboard at the end of the evening looked a bit like this:

We look forward to the next quiz, so watch out MSP, we’re after your crown!

We’ll let you know how much we raised through the tickets and raffle when we have added it all up.

Events, FSP Calendar

AGM 2018 Summary

For those of you who couldn’t attend, here is a summary of the business part of the meeting.  The talk by Andy Brockman that followed it  was very interesting  and brought up questions for discussion. He has forwarded links for those of you who’d like more info …

Chair’s welcome by Kris Inglis

Kris ran through the year’s events so far and thanked all who had taken part or been involved in the organization

Maintenance of bird and bat boxes by members has been completed due to natural wear and tear as well as damage by other birds and squirrels. All ladder work is done in partnership with the council.

Kris mentioned a tree identification walk that local Beavers group have taken part in. It is hoped that Beavers, Cubs and Scouts will help with some grounds maintenance in the park and which will in turn enable them achieve badges to recognize their efforts.

A Brighton parks group had heard about our water fountain installation and have been in contact to find out about the fundraising aspects and process.

Kris ended by asking that Friends of the park continue to respect and appreciate the space and encourage others to do so.

The management committee was introduced. All agreed to re-stand and were voted in unanimously*. If anyone is interested in joining the committee they are welcome to come along to a meeting and decide whether they’d like to contribute.

Treasurer’s Report

Sonja O’Sullivan circulated and spoke to the annual accounts, taking questions at the end. A Parksfest grant from the council for the summer festival helped pay for a number of things but the underspend will be returned in due course.

A discussion covering the promotion of the event and the need for a generator followed and the management committee agreed to take the feedback on board.

New activities for next year were detailed and welcomed.

The committee will canvass opinion on the next improvement project for the park via email.

The business meeting over, our guest speaker Andy Brockman spoke on addressing heritage crime locally.

This is the Police UK Crime statistics site which will show what is going on in your area.  Just enter the post code you are interested in.

https://www.police.uk/search/?next=policing%3Aforce%3Aneighbourhood%3Acrime%3Aindex

This is the page for the Shooters Hill Neighbourhood Team [As you can see they cover Shrewsbury Park, Eaglesfield, and Oxleas].

https://www.police.uk/metropolitan/E05000227/

This looks at the issue of Heritage Crime in broad terms,

https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/caring-for-heritage/heritage-crime/tackling/

This is a guide to reporting a heritage crime [the same principles apply to a wildlife or environmental crime too]. https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/caring-for-heritage/heritage-crime/report/

This is a guide to making sites more secure.  It is mostly about buildings, but there is also material which is useful in talking about securing open spaces like Shrewsbury Park. Worth quoting if speaking to the Council or Police about any security issues 

 

Environment, Events

Yogathon for Greenpeace 2018

Once again we were blessed with warm sunshine for our second Iyengar Yogathon in Shrewsbury Park.  25 participants donated to Greenpeace to take part and were energised by performing 108 sequences of yoga poses in quick succession, each group of 9 sequences being led by different teachers.   Half way through, the sun emerged as though it responded to our salutations.  After our strenuous efforts we sat in the sun in beautiful Shrewsbury Park against the backdrop of the fabulous oak trees and the sounds of the gently waving leaves eating delicious Cuban food – most welcome.

There is no Planet B!

A representative from Greenpeace talked about what we can all do to limit our use of plastic, which is having such a deleterious effect on our planet.  Many thanks to Kris Inglis, who liaises with Priscilla and the Council so that this event can take place.   Thanks also to Ron and Paul for sorting out the gazebos.  Well over £750 was raised for Greenpeace.

Yoga for Greenpeace

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is the significance of 108?  The number 108 is sacred and significant in many ways, appearing in many disciplines from astronomy to yoga:    The number 108 appears in ancient, sacred texts. For example, there are 108 Upanishads and 108 Tantras, and  Mala bead necklaces have 108 beads, which are used to count during meditation.   In Ayurveda, there are 108 sacred points on the body.  In numerology, 108 equals 9, which symbolizes universal love, eternity and awakening.   In astronomy, the distance between the Sun and Earth is roughly 108 times the Sun’s diameter.

Written by Cressida Senkus, Iyengar yoga teacher and FSP member

Events

FSP AGM – Friday 19 October

Annual General Meeting:

Friday 19 October 6-8 pm

at Shrewsbury House (bar open next door)

In addition to the business meeting and election of management committee members there will be time to raise your park ideas and issues.

Our guest speaker is archaeologist, Andy Brockman. He will talk about how our local history is vulnerable to heritage crime and what FSP can do to protect it.

2019 calendars will be on sale (£5)

See you there!

Formed in 2006, the Friends of Shrewsbury Park encourage the use of Shrewsbury Park and support the development of facilities for recreation, education and amenities for local people and to encourage a sense of community around the park.