Friends of Selsdon Wood Open Day and SRA Community Picnic and Fun afternoon 

Although the weather did not look promising, we pressed ahead with our Open Day on 8^th September after so much hard work had been put in to organising it. Fortune smiled on us with just a few slight showers at the start of the event and warm sun coming out towards the end. The Butterfly Hunt for children was popular with over 20 participants. Overall attendance was excellent and we raised in excess of £400 for FSW funds. A full report (with photos) is provided on the website Events page.

Many thanks to our organiser Linda Morris and to everyone who helped during the preparations and on the day.

2024 Photo Exhibition! 

We were delighted to be able to hold our Photo Exhibition again this year and there was lots of activity at the display stand. Twenty people entered the event, some sending all six permitted photos. It was thus necessary to draw up a shortlist. This comprised 38 photographs which were shown at Open Day with all visitors invited to vote for their three favourites. Some of the photos have already been used for the 2025 calendar and others may be used in coming years. Voting was close but by the end of the day we had the winners –

First Prize - £50 - 28/4/24 - Deer in Bluebells by Slawomir Wnuk  (We do not have contact details for Mr Wnuk – please get in touch if you know him.)

Second Prize 2024 - £20 - 11/4/24 - The Owl & the Pussycat by Andy Hart

Third Prize - £10 - 8/9/23 - Bombus hortorum, Bumblebee by Tony Flecchia (Tony donated his prize to FSW)

The winners and all other shortlisted entries are shown on the Calendar Exhibition page of the website 

The FSW Calendar for 2025 is available for £5 

To get your copy phone 020-8657-0423 or e-mail govierh@gmail.com .

Work Sessions in September 

Though there was no scheduled work session on Sunday 1st September, some of the team turned out to do some work. Jim and David cleared a fall in The Wend then went on to clear overgrown benches in Field 2. On the Butterfly Bank, Valerie weeded and watered and John repaired the fence. The entrance now has new ties and the dog entry points have been closed up. They both then went up to water the Marjoram recently planted in David's Crook and to leave some bottles of water for future waterings. They should last weeks of drought if required.

On 7^th September Neale and Karen gave the toilets a good clean in preparation for Open Day. They found broken seats and a number of other problems which have been reported to the Council.

Our Next Walk - Fungus Hunt Saturday 26^th October @ 10am 

September was a good time to spot fungi - brought on early by the rain. However, October is more usually the best month for fungus hunting so do please join us for our annual autumnal forage. The gallery below shows some of the fungi that can be seen in our wood.