Yet another sunny day. In the morning we 'pruned' some Giant Knot Weed by the walled garden so that it can be treated with herbicide by the council when it starts to regrow. The arisings were bagged up for safe disposal by the council.
In the afternoon we cleared some of the paths around a couple of the ponds to the south of the park near Lower Bedfords Road. These paths were initially cleared by us about three of years ago. Although they are used by some dog walkers there is not enough 'traffic' to keep them completely clear. One of the ponds was completely covered in duckweed whilst the other was clear of it. On the latter there was a female Mallard and 8 ducklings, two of which had a definate yellow colour about them. The other 6 were all 'normal'.
We also collected various items of 'litter' while we were walking around.
The Friends of Bedfords Park are a voluntary group working at Bedfords Park, Havering-atte-Bower, Romford.
Wednesday, 15 July 2009
Sunday, 5 July 2009
Wildflower Walk - Sunday June 28th - update
A successful walk led by the very experienced Mary Smith. Although we didn't walk a great distance we were shown many wild flowers in great detail thanks to the 10x magnification lenses that Mary had thoughtfully brought along for us to borrow. It's amazing what you can see at this magnification. Who would have thought that the common clover 'flower' is actually made up of many smaller flowers that all look like miniature sweet peas ? And they have a very nice smell. We also saw different types of thistle, 'Ladies Bed Straw, plus many more.
Monday, 15 June 2009
Work Day Sunday 14th June 2009 - update
Yet another sunny day. Lots of people in the park, playing and picnicking. A couple of blokes on quad bikes decided it would be fun to ride around for a few hours in the park making as much noise as possible. I suppose they thought it would impress someone !
Back to the work day - first off we cleared a load of litter from around, and in, the 'cow pond'. In all around 8 bin bags full. There was quite a lot of rubbish left by what you could loosely describe as 'fishermen' including some fishing line, some old floats and old bread bags etc. Also a tyre and a watering can (?) The pond was nice and clear and there was plenty of wild life including quite a lot of young fish.
After lunch we made our way from the visitors' centre across the park towards the damselfly ponds, and collected up quite a bit of litter left by picnickers who just seem to think it's ok to eat their food and go home without all the packaging they brought with them. Some also seem incapable of working out that if a litter bin is full there's not much point just leaving your litter next to it. Why on earth can't people work out they they CAN take it home with them - it is allowed. We then proceeded via the meadow, which is coming on really well now - lots of grasses and flowers, up to the car park areas where there was also quite a lot of litter despite the bins being nowhere near full.
All together we collected about 12 bags of rubbish.
Back to the work day - first off we cleared a load of litter from around, and in, the 'cow pond'. In all around 8 bin bags full. There was quite a lot of rubbish left by what you could loosely describe as 'fishermen' including some fishing line, some old floats and old bread bags etc. Also a tyre and a watering can (?) The pond was nice and clear and there was plenty of wild life including quite a lot of young fish.
After lunch we made our way from the visitors' centre across the park towards the damselfly ponds, and collected up quite a bit of litter left by picnickers who just seem to think it's ok to eat their food and go home without all the packaging they brought with them. Some also seem incapable of working out that if a litter bin is full there's not much point just leaving your litter next to it. Why on earth can't people work out they they CAN take it home with them - it is allowed. We then proceeded via the meadow, which is coming on really well now - lots of grasses and flowers, up to the car park areas where there was also quite a lot of litter despite the bins being nowhere near full.
All together we collected about 12 bags of rubbish.
Saturday, 6 June 2009
Guided Wildflower Walk - June 28th 2009
Just to let you know that there will be a Guided Wildflower Walk in the park on June 28th, between 2 and 4pm, led by local botanist Mary Smith. To ensure a place on the walk please book places with EWT @ Bedfords Park.
Sunday, 17 May 2009
Meeting at Romford Town Hall thursday 21st May 2009
Please note that our next committee meeting is at 7pm on thursday 21st May in the Town Hall and is due to finish by 9.30pm. Not sure what room we will be in but it will be advertised in reception. All are welcome - not just members of the Friends' group. Look forward to seeing you there. Please note that refreshments are NOT usually available so bring a bottle !
June 2009 work day
Our next work day is on Sunday June 14th. Meet at the visitors' centre for a 10am start.
May work day - update
Sunday 10th May 2009. Yet again we were lucky with the weather. In the morning we worked with EWT to reorganise their composting bins at the rear of the visitors' centre.
In the afternoon we mo
ved on the Queen Ann's Well and did some tidying up and cleared a load of rubbish and sediment that had accumulated/been dumped over the years. What a lovely wet and smelly job that was ! We also cleared some of the ivy from the outside walls of the walled garden and some Buddleia that was growing near the gates. Both of these plants could seriously damage the walls if left unchecked.
ved on the Queen Ann's Well and did some tidying up and cleared a load of rubbish and sediment that had accumulated/been dumped over the years. What a lovely wet and smelly job that was ! We also cleared some of the ivy from the outside walls of the walled garden and some Buddleia that was growing near the gates. Both of these plants could seriously damage the walls if left unchecked.
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