May is the month we hold our AGM, which we try to make an interesting and colourful review of the year just gone and things to look forward to in the year ahead. This year’s highlights included:
membership creeping up close to 850 but with a total reach into the '000s
successful campaign with the MAC to prevent large events on the Common
reintroduction of group swan and duck food bagging sessions, suspended since Covid
new weekend litter pick lead aiming for monthly weekend picks
successful habitat volunteer sessions led by Enable - FoWC volunteers also helping the revamp of the Naturescope garden
weekly pilates and qi gong sessions now well established with Ikshana
very popular 2nd annual dog show and quiz night
full programme of nature focussed walks and talks
'Connecting the Commons' pilot project to help establish green corridors between Wandsworth, Clapham and Tooting Commons
erection of four heritage interpretation boards
project to capture memories of the Common since the sixties
safeguarding invaluable local images from the Elam & Bevington collections
strong financial report
our ideas on forming a charity, which our income level requires us to do.
If you’d like to get more involved with the Friends, drop us a line at friends@wandsworthcommon.org
Mid-month we organised a biodiversity walk, jointly led by Owen Dodgson from the Council and Max Pike from Enable. We started by the Three-island pond to see what had been done to control the reed beds which have been so successful they were getting out of hand. As we walked over to the Cat’s Back bridge, we saw how well the miyawaki mini-forests were doing and heard plans for a large wildflower meadow which will be created using the heavy horses again. On the west side of the Common we saw the areas of scrub planting which have proved so attractive to bats, and saw the work to the Boundary oak - now fenced off and well mulched to help preserve its already long life. Then we went to St James’s triangle to see one of the many stag beetle loggeries that have been built by volunteers this year, and concluded on the Scope to see how the glade constructed last year was doing. More tree management is planned going forward, thinning out invasive non-native trees in order to encourage more native species, as well as glade areas for butterflies and stronger biodiversity. Attendees were impressed by the sheer scale and number of projects completed and planned and the crucial role played by volunteers in supporting the professionals.
The month ended on a high note with both a talk and walk highlighting the changing face of Bellevue Road over the last 160 years. From drapers to dog groomers, from umbrella making to spa treatments - our contribution to this year’s Wandsworth Heritage Festival. The talk is available to view on catch up HERE, alongside a recording of the AGM, and indeed all our recent talks.
We held another of our group swan and duck food bagging sessions, and at the start of the month hosted the Eco Group students from Fircroft school to explain the importance of feeding ducks the right food as well as other important facts and figures about the Common’s lakes. Their importance for bats was demonstrated once agains in our first bat walk of the year, led by Iain Boulton. We hope to have a new bat leaflet on sale in the near future.
Do get in touch if you’d like to learn more about the Friends and what we’re doing.