November saw the launch of our latest project - Connecting the Commons - a collaboration between Friends of Wandsworth Common and Beautify Balham, with support and funding from a Wandsworth Climate Action Microgrant. Most of the recent habitat planting on Wandsworth Common has been designed to help create plant and wildlife corridors between different parts of the Common. This new project has the more ambitious aim of improving connectivity between our three major local commons - Wandsworth, Clapham and Tooting.
Our project is a pilot, to try and establish the best way of engaging with local residents with the aim of greening up private front and back gardens, which together form a huge part of the total greenspace in London. We’ve leafleted selected streets ‘between the Commons’, sometimes adding a packet of wildflower seeds, and contacted others by Whatsapp group. You can read more about the project HERE and you can contact us HERE if you have ideas or want to be involved.
November is the traditional times for fungi walks which are so popular we offer two and still have to operate a wait list due to a cap on numbers. The walk leader is Enable’s Ling Moran and we thank her hugely for giving up her time for our members. They’re always VERY appreciative.
November is also the month we mark National Tree Week - the traditional start of the tree planting season. This year we asked Liam Hutton from the Council’s tree team to lead a walk which revealed some lesser known rarities on the Common including Persian Maple, strawberry tree, and cork oak. You can read more on our Instagram feed @wandsworthcommon.
We also held another of our newly resumed group duck food bagging sessions when a group of a dozen enthusiastic volunteers filled over 800 bags. That will keep us supplied over Christmas/New Year.
Our heritage team have been busy, unveiling a Council green plaque to photographer Paul Martin at 16, Bellevue Road. and we also repeated the very popular tour of the RVPB, led by Mark Justin, at the end of the month.