Tag Archives: events

Summer Festival Success

And a good time was had by all!

Our annual celebration of the park event co-sponsored by Parksfest, Greenwich, was a rousing success thanks to the Management Committee and loyal helpers-on-the day from the membership. There was a diverse mix of craft and community interest groups stalls, tasty local food on offer AND the return of the Dog Show to kick off the day.

The weather cooperated for attendees bringing their picnics, families and friends to enjoy music, entertainment and simply sharing the delights of Shrewsbury Park.

I wish to sincerely thank Sandra, Iris, Zena, John, Ron and Roy of the Committee who took charge and did the lion’s share of the work in the lead up and on the day. ( I was unable to be involved this time – Kris, Chair)

We are always open to new Committee members so please consider joining and adding your skills. FSP do a lot of nature-based activities as well as the Festival and Quizzes. Look out for the AGM in November or contact werfsp@gmail.com anytime. The Park needs its Friends Group more than ever.

Here is a gallery of the Festival highlights:

Shrewsbury Park Festival and Dog Show 2024

Sunday 30 June 1-5pm

Come along and enjoy our amazing festival! There are some fantastic local stallholders including a food and drink offer, plus delicious cakes and Icecream! Mmmmmm!

Our local Brewery, The Green Goddess will be there, as well as plenty more to keep you amused

We’ll be welcoming back Ronnie Ripple and the Ripchords who graced the stage last year, as well as Manny Fizzotti and dancers from Roos Dance Academy too!

Shrewsbury Park Dog Show

We’re running a Dog Show in the morning (before it gets too warm) – dogs and owners can register from 10.30 in the park (we’ll be in the section of the park nearest the golf course). The judges will be assessing our furry friends in categories like ‘Waggiest Tail’, so there is no pressure to perform!

Come along and have some fun with your pooch! We’ll share the photos here on our website and also our facebook group.

Stallholder List

Walker & Crossley Arty Farty Signs & Plaques
Janice Jupp – beaded ornaments
Full of Surprises Uk
The Green Goddess (mobile bar)
Fabric Folk Tales Community Stall and Textile Consultation)
Tina’s Magnifi-scents
Toy Mania
Eetra’s Jewelry
Little Wheel Ceramics
Wheel Up | On The Rise
Face painting
The Greenwich Tea Company
Purple Hat Pots
Chealsons Coffee
Shanns handmade gifts
Sweet treasures
South East London Community Energy
Glitzy Body Art
ice cream world Ltd (Ice Cream Van)
Avon
Lalu Catering
Blackheath Pet Supplies

MaisieCharShop

QUIZ NIGHT BACK at Shrewsbury House

Friday 31 May 6.45pm for 7pm

All proceeds to benefit Shrewsbury Park.

Our amazing Quizmasters, Geoff and Dee will ask some suitably tricky questions, and we even see the return of the charades round by the Improvshrews!

Come and join us – bring your family, friends or anyone with a quizzer brain and have a barrel of laughs – you won’t regret it

Open Bar with snacks available in the House

At just £8 per person, it’s a very cheap and fun night out, so come and join us!

Bring your own nibbles
Tempting Raffle Prizes
Renowned Quizmasters Dee and Geoff
Prize for the winners (and for the biggest losers!)

Tables of 6 maximum:  Just to make it fair and spread the brains around equally!

Tickets via eventbrite: 

Get your tickets here:

Late Summer Time Walk

On Friday 8 September, 25 local residents enjoyed stepping back in time with Dr Andy Brockman.

Our subject matter was: Front Line Park: Shrewsbury Park in the 20th Century Including the LCC Open Air School and defence of London.

After meeting by the car park, we visited the area where the open air school had it’s buildings, and saw photographs of the school in action. We were able to view documents that described how the children were selected, educated and monitored, turning out healthier and well nourished pupils back to their homes.

Strolling back through to the car park with Andy, we saw clearly where the barrage balloons were tethered. We learnt how these were used in the foiling of enemy aircraft, driving them away from bombing targets.

We were told a few interesting (and funny) stories about how this all worked, which Andy had taken from some testimonies of local people at the time.

Andy expertly brought to life these amazing past events and fielded questions as we went along. Ending up at Shrewsbury House, there were more artifacts to look at, as well as a very welcome Friday evening beverage or two.

We look forward to our next foray into local history!

Picnic in the Park

Our 2023 Festival didn’t disappoint! Great music, great stalls and most important of all our fantastic local community came out in their droves – we estimate we had around 500 people attending over the course of the afternoon. We are so grateful for your support – this is the reason the committee put in the work – thank you for making it amazing!

And an extra thank you to the current Committee members: Sandra, Iris, Zena, Ron and Alan who spent many an hour planning and troubleshooting to put the event together. Can’t leave out the trusty core volunteers who turn up for set-up and take-down and always with a smile. – Kris, Chair

And thumbs up to Greenwich Parks Forum for their support and the Greenwich Borough Park Rangers who made sure the site was clean and clear, before and after.

If you have any of your own photos of the 2 July to add, please send them to werfsp@gmail.com

Oh what a night!

We had a fantastic time at the Friends of Shrewsbury Park Quiz last night, at Shrewsbury House!

Our fantastic Quizmasters, Dee and Geoff tested our general knowledge to the max. From Shrewsbury House Community Centre‘s resident Improshrews, we enjoyed Erik and John playing out scenes from comedy shows through the ages!

Find out more about the Improshrews here: improshrews.weebly.com

Thanks to everyone who came – the big winners with the craziest team name ever, was: Peanut Butter Giggle Sticks

The biggest losers: The Wooden Spoons

Our thanks also to the staff at Shrewsbury House, who were so welcoming – especially the reception and bar staff who were kept nice and busy.

Want to come and join us at the next quiz? Keep watch – we’ll post the date asap!

Fabulous Foraging

On Saturday 13 May, we gathered to discover what edible delights the park has to offer! Experienced, self-taught, and local forager, Kevin Godby from GCDA led us around the park, introducing us to lots of plants, bushes and trees that have edible parts.

Kevin had a great list of tips to share, including not foraging at a low level, to avoid contamination, never consuming too much of one kind of forage, being mindful of the time of year and ripeness of plants. As a general rule of thumb, younger seeds, buds and leaves are juicier and tastier!

We look forward to welcoming Kevin back to the park in another season to learn more!

Memorial bench installed!

Today we welcomed the Mayor of Greenwich, Cllr Denise Hyland, who officially planted the tree and memorial bench in Shrewsbury Park close to the car park.
Committee members and some lucky children got to see the Mayor and hear her speech. She spoke movingly about the losses in our community from the pandemic and why it is so important for us all to remember those who didn’t make it through.
                                                        They then gave her a hand to plant the tree.
It is a Davidia involucrata, AKA the dove-tree, handkerchief tree, pocket handkerchief tree, or ghost tree,  a medium-sized deciduous tree in the family Nyssaceae. It is regarded as the only species in the monotypic genus Davidia and was previously included with tupelos in the dogwood family, Cornaceae.
The bench has a plaque with the following wording:
“Be still and find me in your heart
Sit a while and remember those taken by Covid-19. “

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