| Chairman's Summer Report |
|
|
It's been a good start to the summer season for the Friends in the parks.
Chestnut Sunday on May 11th was a great day out for all.
Many members came in to say "hello" at our marquee.
We had 21 new members join on the day, so welcome to the Friends to all of you.
The Water Gardens camera is now recording the restoration work and the occasional picture can be seen on our web site.
It is not designed or able to be a live image, but the images will be used for archive purposes and the results
will hopefully be run at the Visitor Centre when it is completed next year.
Above: late April at the Water Gardens, below: late July
The Friends have received a most generous gift from Joan Freeman.
Her husband Charles Dampier Freeman designed the Friends' logo in 1989 and we still use it today...
Click here to read the full article.
|
|
Walks, Talks and other events in 2008 |
Walks & Talks are organised for members of the Friends, but all are welcome.
Membership forms are always available.
|
|
|
| Sat 23 Aug |
Saturday Walk: The Deer Herds
Ray Brodie and John Comfort will tell us about the deer herds in Bushy Park,
and how they and the public should look after them.
Meet at 11.00 at Diana Car Park
|
| Sat 6 Sep |
Saturday Walk: Trees of Hampton Court Gardens
Noelle Leigh MBE will take us on this popular walk through the Hampton Court gardens
to show us some of the important trees there.
Meet at 11.00 Lion Gate
|
| Thu 25 Sep |
Thursday Talk: Fisheries of the Thames
A talk by Tom Cousins. 120 different fish have been known to inhabit the Thames in the last 40 years.
8.00 p.m. at St John Ambulance Hall, Park Road, Teddington.
Refreshments are available from 7.15 to meet and chat with other Friends.
|
| Sat 11 Oct |
Saturday Walk: Woodland Gardends
NB: This walk replaces the previously scheduled Shrub Planting.
Ray Brodie, Park Manager takes us on a tour of the Woodland Gardens.
Meet at 11.00 at Red Brick Bridge, Ash Walk (between the two Woodland Gardens)
|
| Thu 23 Oct |
Thursday Talk: Chestnuts - a Walk in the Park
A talk by researcher and writer Chris Howkins.
8.00 p.m. at St John Ambulance Hall, Park Road, Teddington.
Refreshments are available from 7.15 to meet and chat with other Friends.
|
| Thu 27 Nov |
Thursday Talk: Spiders!
A talk by Edward Milner. National Recorder for Middlesex and London.
8.00 p.m. at St John Ambulance Hall, Park Road, Teddington.
Refreshments are available from 7.15 to meet and chat with other Friends.
|
| Previous Events |
|
|
| Sat 26 Jul |
Saturday Walk: Ten Ponds
Margaret Stedman showed us round the ponds.
|
| Sat 28 Jun |
Saturday Walk: Ham Riverlands
Pippa Hyde led us on a very enjoyable walk to the Hampton Meadow Lands.
Click here for Pippa's plant list.
|
| Sun 15 Jun |
The Friends Annual Summer Party
A great turnout of members for our traditional summer party.
|
| Sat 7 Jun |
Saturday Walk - Bat Walk
Dr. Nigel Reeve, Community Ecologist for the Royal Parks.
An introduction to bats in Bushy Park followed by a walk through the park with bat detectors!
Click here for the Bat Walk review
|
| Thu 22 May |
Thursday Talk - The History of Teddington and its Environs
A talk by local historian and long-time resident, Paddy Ching.
Click here for a review of the talk
|
| Sun 11 May |
Chestnut Sunday
In marked contrast with last year (!) Chestnut Sunday 2008 was hot and sunny.
Thousands turned out in Bushy Park on 11th May to see the parade of vintage bicycles,
motorbikes and military vehicles along with horses and marching bands.
The "Great British Picnic" in all its varieties was to be seen everywhere.
The FBHP had a stand where we met old friends and recruited some new ones.
Once again, Chestnut Sunday was one of the best days out of the year.
Click here for Chestnut Sunday photo gallery
|
| Sat 26 Apr |
Saturday Walk - Friends and Little Friends
A walk around the Stockyard area of Bushy Park led by Hannah Pritchard, the park's
Community Engagement Officer.
|
| Thu 24 Apr |
Thursday Talk - Bees and Flowers
A talk by Chris Deaves, Tutor at Twickenham and Thames Valley Bee Keepers Association.
|
| Thu 17 Apr |
Market House Festival Talk
Joint meeting with Friends of Richmond Park -
various speakers including Bushy Park manager, Ray Brodie,
and Dr Nigel Reeve, the Royal Parks ecologist.
Click here for the Market House Festival Deer talk review
|
| Fri 7 Mar |
Annual General Meeting & Cleve West talk
Chairman's AGM report - click here.
"Climate Change - How Gardeners can Cope" by Cleve West
Click here for a review of Cleve's talk by Alison Blaney
and here to view a PDF of Cleve's charts.
Most computers will open this document automatically, but if not, you may need Adobe Reader -
download the reader here
|
| Sat 16 Feb |
Saturday Walk - Mistletoe Walk
The Mistletoe walk - for many years led by Tyrrell Marris and again joined this year by Graham Dillamore is becoming one of the Friends annual favourites. Almost sixty of us met at the Lion Gate on a beautiful spring-like morning.
It may be tempting fate to say it, but for many years now the weather has been very good. Looking up into the trees to see the mistletoe with a bright blue sky behind it, makes it even more special. The early spring bulbs were out too - crocus, daffodil and snowdrops.
We started walking through the wilderness area... Click here to read
full article.
|
| 2007 |
| Thu 22 Nov |
Thursday Talk: Dragonflies - A Natural History
A talk by Nicholas Donnithorne.
There were over 50 members who turned out on a very chilly night to listen to a most entertaining
and informative talk. Nicholas showed many beautiful pictures of Dragonflies, many of which he had
taken especially for The Friends of Bushy and Home Parks talk.
Click here to view Nicholas's recommended booklist.
Most computers will open this document automatically, but if not, you may need to download Adobe Reader.
Download the reader here
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
Last update:
Sunday 27 July 2008
|
Welcome to the Friends of Bushy and Home Park.
The FBHP is an association constituted in 1990 in response to the growing
need to help protect and conserve these historic parks in south-west
London. |
Membership Renewal Reminder.
If you do not have a pale mauve Membership Card (similar to the background of this box) dated 2008 you have not renewed your membership.
Please continue to support us. Your contributions are vital to help with conservation to maintain our beautiful parklands.
Please send a cheque ASAP made out to The Friends of Bushy and Home Parks
to:
Jean Smith, 55 Admiralty Way, Teddington Middlesex TW11 0NL.
2008 fees: Individual £6; Couple/Family £8; Concessions - Individual £4, Couple/Family £5.
You can also make a donation if you wish.
|
Water Gardens renovation
Work started on the renovation of the Water Gardens in February.
The work to restore the gardens to their former glory will take more than a year.
The expected completion date will be late spring 2009.
The foundations of the original grotto arches have been discovered.
It establishes that the pool is even bigger than was thought.
It dates back to 1695. The camera bought by the Friends is now in place
recording all the restoration work going on in the Water gardens.
The camera will stay there until all the work is complete, hopefully in late autumn.
Images will be available on our website.
|
Latest news ...
Linden Homes / Sandy Lane development - Update 24th June:
The Public Inquiry into Linden Homes' new application for the Sandy Lane site will have to be heard again.
The Planning Inspector was taken ill after the April inquiry and has been unable to write his report.
The new Inquiry is scheduled for 8th and 9th October and will again take place in the
Council Chamber, York House, Twickenham, starting at 10 am.
It seems that since there is a new inspector, all representations and cross-examinations will have to be reheard.
Further inforamtion is available at the Sandy Lane Site Action Group (slsag) website at
www.slsag.org.uk
Welcome Centre
Work started on 18th February on the Welcome Centre in the Woodland Gardens.
|
Free Email News service
The FBHP invites you to register now you for the FREE FBHP Email News service
to receive regular updates about events and activities happening in the parks
and matters affecting the parks.
To subscribe simply click here. It takes just
a few moments and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Important note: We will never pass your email address onto anyone else.
We will never send you unsolicited advertising emails (“spam”).
|
Comments/suggestions
are always welcome.
We recently embarked on an improvement project for the FBHP website. Comments, suggestions and the like
are very welcome indeed. Please keep an eye on the site over the coming weeks as we share sneak previews.
Please email Mark Buckley with your ideas.
|
|
