Work Session Activity Reports by our Works leader, Ted Forsyth

(unless otherwise stated)

(in reverse date order - latest report at the top)

Many of the "Work Sessions" activities in the post Covid years have been carried out by individuals or small groups working in their own time. These are included in the reports below.

Much work is also being done on the Butterfly Bank to plant a wider variety of butterfly friendly flowers and to look after them. This activity is detailed on the Butterfly Bank page.

Work session report 3 Nov 2024

Report by Ted

Linda, Karen, Neale, Ted, David, James, Colin, Jim, Adam

Karen and Neale collected Ted’s ladder and carried it up The Wend. David, Colin and James laid the last of the gravel before joining Jim, Adam and the ladder crew. The old decayed Tawny Owl box was removed from its position between East Gorse and The Wend, and was replaced by a new one.

The precarious Tawny Owl box at the top of Smith Grove was brought down and was found to require only a minor repair before being re-sited farther down Smith Grove opposite a convenient seat. The ladder was then returned to Ted’s garage.

Report by Linda - Linden Glade Autumn Tidy Up

I hid the stopcock key in the hatch as agreed. That  is now under a wood slice - so anyone who wants to adjust the flow will need to bring something with them to help raise the flap. 

I then gave the ground cover and other plants in the glade a haircut, leaving just a few tall ones to catch the frost etc and to give interest for the  photographers. 

Thanks to John Zareba who raked off some leaves from the pool earlier in the week. A losing battle of course but a rake across the top every so often will help to stop the pool getting completely full of leaves again but will still leave the base covering in disturbed for whatever is hiding in there. 

Now we just look forward to see what pops up next Spring. 

Report by Valerie

I arrived a bit late  this morning and missed the others. I worked on the BB until about 2.00. As a lot of the plants are still flowering (in November!) I contented myself with weeding and clearing the edges. Dogs are still getting in. A spaniel joined me in there this morning.  I have tried to clear the weedy/grassy bit between the flat area and the fence and made some progress. I would like to put a few more plants in. Weeds keep growing in the empty spaces and this would discourage them. There are some pots at OLF containing plants that did not sell and are unlikely to survive the winter out of the ground. They are all plants  that we already have on the BB but a few more would be good. I am happy to pay for them.

Work session report 27 October 2024

Report by Ted

Karen, Neale, Jim, David, Ted, Linda, Valerie.

While most of us were setting off with a trolley filled with the new bird boxes made by Jim, Linda was at work with Valerie trimming the vegetation on the Butterfly Bank.

At Jubilee Plantation Jim hopped over the fence and replaced a top on an old Tit box. In the Centenary Plantation a new Tit box was put up to replace an old one which had decayed.  Moving up The Wend to the junction with Bluebell Grove, a Tit box and a Robin box were erected. Middle Gorse got two new Tit boxes, then in Noakes Way two experimental TreeCreeper boxes were put into position, followed a move into nearby Beech Grove to erect two Marsh Tit boxes which are even more of an experiment.

Report by Linda

Valerie had been weeding her patch since 9 when I arrived as forgot about the time change! I strimmed the bund and filled two sackfuls of the arisings which I tipped behind the seat and behind the tool store. I didn't have time to do the flat area but maybe on the next Grow Wild day Jim and I can use the brush cutter etc on it and give the bund a closer haircut and then the volunteers can take off the arisings again for us. 
What a lovely day - the car park was overflowing by 10.15

Report by Valerie

I have done a lot of weeding on the BB and also relocated some plants that had been grown over by more vigorous species. I am very grateful to Linda, Neale and the others for ferrying my very heavy bags of weeds & soil waste to disposal sites. We now have two Sawworts flowering on the BB. I listed Sawwort in my initial planting list. However, when it started to grow it looked like Knapweed to me so I ignored it. However, both plants have been confirmed as Sawwort by Sean and 1 naturalist. 

Work 16th October 2024 report by Jim

Have made some bird & bat boxes from accumulated wood.

Work Session report Sunday 6th October 2024 report by Jim

Jim, James, Valerie, Adam & Jane Walsh

We had some extra help today from teenager, AdamWalsh (undertaking the Duke of Edinburgh award) and his mother, Jane - together with James and Valerie

Work Session report Sunday 29 September 2024 Report by Jim

Jim, David, Ted, Colin, James

The tree falls in East Gorse and Bluebell Grove were cleared. James Creasy, a new recruit joined the workers today. He is keen to come again.

Cleaning the Toilets - Saturday 7th September 2024 Report by Neale

We gave the toilets a deep clean as far as we could. They are still quite wet but should dry out. 

Work Session report Sunday 1 September 2024 

Jim, David, Valerie, John

Though there was no scheduled work session on Sunday, some of the team turned out to do some work.

Jim and David cleared the 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 in David's Crook and to leave some bottles of water for future waterings. They should last weeks of drought if required.

Work session report Sunday 4 August 2024 Report by Ted, Neale & Linda

Karen, Neale, Jim, Colin, Linda, Valerie, Ted

Water containers were delivered to the Butterfly Bank before we split into different groups.  Linda, Valerie and Ted took one trolley to David's Crook and planted three Marjoram in the hole which had been prepared previously. Vegetation was reduced around the seat at the bottom of the slope and a further two Marjoram were planted nearby. We discovered a Walnut Tree seedling near the bench.

Further into the field and on the edge of a path we planted the last two Marjoram. Some containers of water were left for Valerie's use later. When we returned to the car park Ted filled two more water containers and took them to David's Crook while walking home. 

Work with Grow Wild Tuesday 16th July

Unscheduled Work Session Monday 8th July 2024 Work by Neale and Jim

Neale & Jim remounted the swing in Linden Glade. The fixing rings had become badly worn as noticed on Sunday. 

Work session report Sunday 7 July 2024 Report by Jim & Valerie

Neale, Colin, David, Valerie, Linda, Jim

The official session was called off because of a forecast of bad weather. However Some of us took a chance and did some work today.

Work session report Sunday 2 June 2024

Karen, Neale, Colin, David, Ted, Valerie, Kay, Cyril

While Valerie and Kay weeded, planted and watered on the Butterfly Bank the remainder of the group went to the tree fall near the Green Man on Farleigh Border. It was a complicated puzzle with trees down on both sides of the path and across the inner bypass path created to avoid mud and problems on the main path. David dealt with a smaller tree problem further along the path while decisions were made about what to cut, and in which order, to relieve the problems of fallen trees  being tangled up in other trees. It was all eventually sorted out and both paths were cleared and made safe.

Cyril arrived for a stroll through the woods but remained with the tree group and, from his 22 years experience, was able to offer valuable advice on how to tackle the tangled trees

Work with Grow Wild Tuesday 22nd May

Linda met with Oliver Connolly and the GrowWild team. Their help is much appreciated in clearing the yew in Avis Grove between Langford Way and Beech Gove and some of the overhanging branches on the little Centenary path. 

Work session report Sunday 12 May 2024

Karen, Neale, Linda, Jim, David, Ted, Katy & Robin Morrison, Valerie and her team

Neale and Karen (with Heather) began by clearing the Bank Holiday pill party rubbish left off Addington Border path.

Katy and Robin joined Valerie’s team on the Butterfly Bank to help with weeding and planting.

Linda, Jim and David took two trolleys to Linden Glade, meeting Ted on the way. Linda and Ted worked around the pool, laying more wooden stepping “stones” and putting in small plants. Later Linda waded into the pool and, with Karen’s help, positioned various containers of water plants.

When Neale reached the glade he, Jim, David and Karen went to Farleigh Border to investigate a tree fall near the Green Man but decided it was too big a job for today. Neale, Jim and David then cleared the fallen birch in Great Field.

Unscheduled work activity report Thursday 18th April

David & Colin cleared the pavement and the dropped kerb today. This means that prams and mobility scooters can now use the ramp. The soil was a good 6 inches deep in places!!

This problem had been reported to the FSW on 16th April when a mobility scooter user came to the wood and found it impossible to get access via the footpath. First photo shows the problem and the other 3 the solution.

On 21st April The FB page had a thank you to us for the clearance. The guy who reported the issue, Ian Chase, had been back, found the entrance now much more accessible and had an enjoyable visit!

Work session report Sunday 7 April 2024

Karen, Neale, Jim, Colin, Linda, Ted, Valerie (plus her helpers)

With two laden trolleys we aimed for Linden Glade while Valerie and her helpers remained to put in more plants on the Butterfly Bank (see the BB page for more work there). Neale made a quick change to the tree swing while tools, plants and wooden stepping “stones” were removed from the trolleys. Linda and Ted then remained in the glade to continue loosening top soil, putting in a mixture of plants from their pots and placing the eight treated wooden “stones”. Linda then waded into the pool to remove the labels from the two water lilies which had been placed earlier, and then ended by sprinkling some flower seeds.

The others in the group took the now lighter trolley to the junction of Broad Walk and Addington Border to deal with a fallen birch tree (see before and after photos below) and also took the opportunity to remove some Laurel bushes. They then went and cut further tree rounds at Broom Path for use at the pool. They came back to the store and while Neale cleaned and packed up the chainsaw Jim painted preservative on the cut rounds. 

Unscheduled Work session Tuesday 26th March 2024 report by Neale

On a short notice work session arranged at the AGM last night, David, John, Karen and I met at 10:00 am to cut log rounds for the pool to be used as stepping pads and to spread ballast.

Work session report Sunday 24 March 2024 photos by Ted

When there are five Sundays in a month I get the middle Sunday off!  However, I had forgotten the work session had been altered to avoid Easter so there was no work email sent out.  Sorry!

Valerie, Kay, Linda, Karen, Neale, Jim and eventually Ted

Valerie and Kay put in some new plants on the Butterfly Bank. Linda took more plants to Linden Glade and planted some around the outside of the pool. Ted walked to Linden Glade in time to see Linda, Valerie and Kay before continuing along West Gorse and Farleigh Border to join Jim who waiting for Karen and Neale to return with two more barrowloads of ballast to be spread on the path. As we waited, Jim accosted many passing walkers to tell them about arrangements for making donations or for joining the Friends. We were joined by Reza, a friend of Richard Lock, who helped with the ballast spreading.  He said he was a drainage engineer!

Ted walked home through the wood and found Toothwort growing in the usual place in East Gorse.  Worryingly, the tree upon which the Toothwort is parasitic has a big red number 4 painted on it, suggesting it might be scheduled for removal.

Work session report Sunday 3 March 2024 report by Ted & Neale

Karen, Neale, David, John, Linda, Ted, joined by Katy Morrison and daughter Robin

Linda, Ted, Katy and Robin (who is working towards Duke of Edinburgh award) began by retrieving a football buried in brambles at the end of Great Field. The remainder of the time was spent in the Centenary Plantation clearing more of the bramble.

David, John, Karen and Neale took the two trolleys to Vincent Avenue and loaded up with ballast. They then went to Farleigh Border and after scraping some mud away filled the worst of the puddles they found. David cut some  channels to allow some areas to drain of water.

They then did two more runs with the trolleys making six full loads deposited.

On the way back they found some area just needed the mud scraped back which left a firm surface underneath - a rake worked quite well. All six batteries now flat ready for recharge.

Work session report Sunday 24 February 2024

Karen, Neale, Jim, Colin, David, Harry, Ted

Neale and Ted briefly discussed with Valerie plans for replanting the butterfly bank.  The others had gone ahead to get to the fallen tree across the south end of Farleigh Border.  Once we were together work began clearing hazards and small branches then the main trunks were cut and rolled aside.

While returning down Greenhill Way Neale pointed out a large specimen of Yellow Brain fungus growing on a tree branch.  Work was then done at the gates on Vincent Way in preparation for the expected delivery of gravel (ballast) next week for the muddy paths project.

When we finished, the others returned to the car park.  I walked home via Stevens Walk, finding another Yellow Brain at the beginning and Jelly Ears at the far end.

Work session report Sunday 4 February 2024 report by Ted with additions by Neale

Neale, Karen, Linda, Jim, Colin, David, Ted, joined by Jamie Bailey-Smith

Neale, Karen and Jim stayed in the car park and used an angle grinder to cut up the fence panel that was found last week to make it easier to dispose of. They also repaired and replaced the marker post for the start of the Red walk and the end of the Green, which had rotted at the base. This post was used to batter the ladies toilet door in by vandals last year. They used a Metpost to replace it in a new position at the start of the uphill path because they couldn't find its original location.

David and Colin went to Broad Walk and dug up several large Laurel clumps, and collected rubbish in the area. 

Linda, Jamie and Ted worked to reduce bramble in the Centenary Plantation, finding on fallen branches specimens of Yellow Brain, White Brain, Exidia plana (relative of Witches Butter), and on a stump a Southern Bracket.  On the way home Ted added a huge display of Turkeytail, and Birch Polypore.

Work Session Report Sunday 28 January 2024

Neale, Karen, Jim, Colin, David, Harry, Ted

Heather had mentioned a bit of fencing hidden behind the bracken in the north west corner of David’s Crook. It was checked by Neale and a couple of others and moved out to a more visible position with the intention of collecting it on the way back.  It was a substantial framework, possibly left over from the last time the Autumn Fair was held.

The main task involved removing part of the very large tree which had fallen across the beginning of Broom Path. Sections were carefully cut off and dispersed amongst the local vegetation until the path was clear. Via Pool Grove we moved on to deal with two lesser falls in Middle Gorse, one of which had a large amount of old bracket fungi, possibly Blushing Bracket.

I left to walk home while the others returned to the car park. 

On our way back after Ted went home we carried the metal fence section back to the carpark. This will need disposing of. David reported this on the Council App as a fly tip.

Work session report Sunday 7 January 2024

Neale, Karen, Jim, Colin, David, Valerie, John, Ted, joined by Mike Griffiths.

A large tree with three major trunks had fallen across Broom Path and, when examined, was found to have a cluster of Oyster mushrooms which would not have been easily seen when the tree was standing.

Work began by removing problems caused to other nearby trees by the fall before tackling the main task.  Gradually sections were sawn off the fallen trunks and rolled to the side until the path was cleared.  In the meantime, several people took tools and cleared material in the eastern part of Broom Path and in the top part of Greenhill Way.

As we walked back towards the car park, we removed many dead trees and branches in Broom Path.

Work session Sunday 26 November 2023

Neale started by strimming the brambles outside the toolstore door. Karen, Neale and David remained by the Butterfly Bank where they placed many new fence posts and re-attached the plastic fence. Linda, Jim and Ted went to the Centenary Plantation where vegetation covering the sign, and the plaque, was removed. Some of the branches extending out from the plantation were trimmed. Moving to the south east corner of David’s Crook, bracken and other vegetation was removed to create a wide path allowing access to the plaque on a tree. A brief search over the grass revealed at least six Meadow Waxcaps.

The plan now is for Grow Wild volunteers to continue to clear unwanted vegetation in Centenary plantation on 5/12 - weather and their attendance  permitting - as it seems an easily accessible area for them and a task best suited to their abilities. 

Work Session Sunday 29 October 2023

Weather was reasonable as we walked to field 3 to begin preparations for two new benches but soon deteriorated and we worked in pouring rain.

Linda and Ted cleared bushy vegetation at one site to allow for placing of one bench.  We created a gap in the bushes to dispose of the cut material.

Simultaneously, the remainder of the group worked on the other site, clearing some vegetation before starting to dig holes for the bench legs. Once this was done they moved to the second site to dig another two holes.  All holes were covered with vegetation for safety.

When we stopped work we were thoroughly soaked so Ted walked home rather than make a mess of the interior of Neale’s vehicle, while the others dragged the tools back to the car park.

Work session Sunday 1 October 2023

Neale, Karen, Linda, Jim, David, John, Ted, Cyril

A Yellow Fieldcap was found growing near the bear.

One group took sandbags to Farleigh Border where they spread three sacks in potential muddy hollows, then continued along West Gorse to Linden Glade. Some modifications were made to the gate into the pool area and more sand was added to nearby hollows.

The second group went directly to wait for the others in Linden Glade, but Ted paused at the beginning of Pool Grove to photograph the caterpillar of a Pale Tussock moth.

Linda and Ted then went to the junction of West Gorse and Farleigh Border and began cutting down the two re-growing Holly bushes, before the others came along to help. In carrying armfuls of Holly cuttings to hide amongst the trees, Linda discovered a dozen Common Earthballs.

Ted and John walked home via East Gorse and Baker Boy Lane while the others returned to the car park taking with them the remaining bags of cement.

Work session Sunday 23 Sept 2023 photos by Cathy Logan & Heather Govier

Karen, Neale, Linda, Cathy, Jim, Ted, David

We began by clearing bushy material hiding the Margaret Horn seat at the top left of the car park field. After dragging the tool trolley up the hill in field 2 we stopped at the Centenary Planation to remove some vegetation encroaching upon the first seat. Following the cut through to Davids Crook we continued along Pool Grove to Linden Glade where David joined us. Linda, Cathy & Ted cleared a rough path around the outside of the pool fence. Some of the leftover sand from the fixing of the rocks round the pool was used to fill a few muddy puddles around Linden Glade. An attempt was made to move or protect the remaining sand and cement bags. A decayed tree without branches had fallen into Linden Glade so David used a pruning saw to cut through the trunk and the remaining part was dragged into a safer position. 

On the route back we visited a reported fallen tree in the short leg of Great Field and found that it was a very large branch which had broken but remained hinged to the main trunk.  It would be too dangerous for us to tackle so it will be reported to the council tree officer.

Two interesting invertebrates were spotted - a Common Door Snail, which is a  new species for us and a Red Admiral caterpillar.

Work Session Sunday 13 August 2023

Neale & Karen, Linda, Jim, David, Colin, Ted, Harry & two of his children.

Ted walked across to Middle Gorse and, while waiting for the others, cleared most of the fallen Hawthorn, leaving only the thick trunk across the path at head height. He then wandered round to East Gorse and found that Colin & David had cleared most of the fallen Birch but were waiting for a chainsaw to remove part of the trunk.  Ted walked back to Middle Gorse in time to see the arrival of the rest of the group who had been given wrong directions to the fall. Leaving them to remove the remainder of the fall he returned to East Gorse and jokingly suggested the Birch trunk could be cut with available pruning saws! That was a challenge Colin & David were happy to accept and had just manage to cut through the trunk when the others arrived with the chainsaw!  Further logs were cut from the trunk but in falling it had brought down several other trees so they were dealt with as well. Unfortunately, we discovered a broken Birch branch dangling from another tree but it was too high up for us to bring it down. Most of the group then took the trolley to field 3 to pick up a stone slab which had been found there.

Unscheduled Work Activity 11 July - report & photos by John Zareba

I have cleared this fall this morning - 2 hours! It was a dense one but each branch manageable. 

(The fall was entirely blocking the path and had been reported to FSW by many people on 10th July. Many thanks to John for all his hard work in removing it so promptly.)

Work session Sunday 2 July 2023 - photos in gallery by John Zareba show work on the Butterfly Bank

30 stakes were purchased to strengthen the fence around the Butterfly Bank, unfortunately six were stolen from where they had been stored in the toilet block.

Jim, Colin and David started by treating the sharpened ends of the 24 which remained.

Neale, Jim, Ted & John took the stakes and tools to the Butterfly Bank and began by strimming some of the long grass on the outside of the bank prior to placing some of the stakes in position after using a small auger to make guide holes.

Colin and David went off to Great Field where they removed vegetation around several seats before they got to work cutting down a large Laurel.  The cut Laurel branches were placed on top of old dead branches to prevent them touching the ground.  That done, they returned briefly to the Butterfly Bank before carrying on to David’s Crook to clear more vegetation, then on to East Gorse and Farleigh Border to remove two fallen trees.

Back at the bank stakes were in position round half of the fence. The current arrangement is temporary and will be modified at a later date.

Meadow Brown butterflies were seen frequently and Neale reported seeing a Red Admiral.

Work session Sunday 4 June 2023

After filling a trolley with tools and other items we began by exposing the Vale Border board buried in the hedge. A Red Admiral was visible as we started along Vale Border, clearing vegetation from around benches as we went. Near Kingfisher Gate we removed the limbo bar formed by a fallen tree then put up one of Jim’s bird boxes. Colin and David returned to Field 3 with the trolley and cleared more vegetation while on their way to Linden Glade.  The other four members of the group followed Beech Grove, pausing at Broad Walk to replace the guide post, and eventually joined the others in Linden Glade.  We had encountered several Holly Blue butterflies in various places and in the glade there was one inspecting the Holly.  As usual one of the benches had vanished under mixed vegetation so we rescued that before erecting Jim’s Robin nest box.  A few tree branches were lopped off, spare drinking water was added to the basin on top of the cairn, then we returned to the car park.

Jim and Linda worked with the GoWild team to clear Laurel in the wood.

Work Session report Sunday 29th January 2023 photos by Neale Fox, Linda Morris and Ted Forsyth

Neale, Karen, Jim & David cleared the material dumped in the car park hedge, cleared a bench along Vale border and then went off to deal with fallen branches. Linda, Valerie, Louise and Ted started in Linden Glade where an attempt was made to get an idea of the pool measurements. We then worked in the Centenary Plantation trying to clear some of the bramble and saplings of mainly Ash, in the hope that it will encourage the return of White Helleborines. More work will have to be done there.

Shortly after Louise left, Linda & Valerie returned the tool trolley to the store, but not before a dog grabbed Linda’s plastic drinking mug and ran around with it for some minutes.

Ted, intending to walk home, walked up The Wend to reach East Gorse where Neale’s group had already started removing a largish tree leaning over the path at head height.  After another hour the potential hazard had been removed.

Jim and Linda welcomed the GoWild team again today to do some more work for us in the wood. 

Oliver had brought Jesse and his carer who had previously started to cut back bracken around field edge for us. Today, he had also brought two new clients, Babatunde and Barry.

Linda's initial plan was to take them all to the derelict bench site on East Gorse to clear the brambles surrounding it whilst she and Jim tidied up the remnants of gorse stumps etc left after Sunday's view clearance. 

The GoWild clients did that work more quickly than she expected although they were not particularly adept at handling the loppers. Linda therefore suggested they might be more usefully employed in the time available moving away the long branches of gorse that she and Jim had cut in the area adjacent to the cleared space. Ted had indicated he was concerned they could be a significant fire risk, as they had grown so tall, so agreed they should be cut down. 

Linda and Jim cut them all down approximately to waist height in the hope/ expectation that they would sprout new growth to create bushes that could more easily be kept under regular control (see photos).

Heather visited the team whilst this was happening and agreed that she would prefer most of the undergrowth to be kept there and simply the gorse height be controlled in those patches in future because she had noticed that the bracken seemed to be blocking out other plant regrowth and new plants in previously cleared areas. 

The GoWild team of workers did an excellent job of removing branches as we cut them, extending considerably the size of the pile we had built on Sunday. 

Linda and Oliver agreed GoWild would be welcome again on 3rd January and she would probably ask them to continue to work as they had today on a different part of the gorses area where the gorse had grown very tall and lanky again. Oliver agreed the work was suitable for them to do. 

The GoWild team left us about 12.30. Linda and Jim had a quick coffee break then packed up the trolley before making their way to the car park 

On their way back, Linda and Jim cleared an (almost) fallen tree on  Farleigh Border not far from the kissing gate to BB Lane. They felt it would be liable to collapse under weight of snow or in a winter gale so it was better to do the work whilst the sun was shining! 

An enjoyable and fulfilling morning's work completed successfully!

Work session report Sunday 4 December 2022 photos by Linda Morris and Ted Forsyth

Linda, Valerie & Ted examined the Junipers we planted in David’s Crook and found no Deer damage. We worked in East Gorse by the old bench (which will soon be replaced) and cleared much of the tall Gorse immediately opposite so that there is now a route through to the centre of The Gorses. The cut material was dragged into the nearby woodland and left as a large habitat pile. While working we found three species of fungi – Crimped Gill, Blueing Bracket and Coral Spot. 

Jim, David and Colin went to the other end of the woods and began by removing a fallen branch on the Bridle Way by The Cascades while Neale was getting some Metposts from Screwfix. They then met up with Neale and Karen and went to replace a couple of fallen guide posts using the Metposts (at the junction of Avis & Beech Way and the junction of the Vanguard Way & Courtwood Grove). They went on to clear a few branches and to rehang some path name boards (Beech Grove and Bluebell Grove).

Individual Work task Thursday 1st December 2022 report & photos by John Zareba

As I said in the Committee Meeting, I had a piece of scaffold pipe in the allotments and today decided to try for size. I have put it to good use! I have inserted it in the top and bottom part of the broken (rusted) post. This has sorted the problem, though it is just a little wobbly, it won't come out, or fall over now.

Work session Sunday 27th November 2022 photos by Linda Morris

Linda, Valerie, Cathy, Ted & David concentrated on removing dead vegetation from the Butterfly Bank and disposing of it amongst the nearby trees.  All the stakes holding up the plastic fence around the bank, some of which had fallen, were then hammered into the wet soil to improve their support.  Heather picked a white mushroom from a group of three – it proved to be a Snowy Waxcap.

Neale, Karen and Jim went off to deal with falls near the Centenary Plantation and in Broad Walk.

Work session Tuesday 8th November 2022

The Work Session planned for Sunday 6th November was cancelled due to bad weather. However on Tuesday 8th Jim went alone to clear two tree falls which had occurred a few days previously. One fall was in the cut through from Great Field  to David's Crook and the other was in West Gorse south close to the junction with Middle Gorse. Many thanks Jim for braving the showers to undertake this work:-)

Work Session report for Sunday 7 August 202 - photos by Neale Fox & Cathy Logan

Linda, Valerie, Cathy & Ted walked along Vale Border to Field 2 where Jim pointed out an area where a rotted bench had been removed some time ago.  As a new bench is to be put in that position, we made an initial attempt to clear the area.

Karen, Neale & Jim carried on along Vale Border to clear the fallen branches blocking the path, then carried on to Leafy Grove to deal with several trees which were toppling.

In the meantime, LVCT trudged up to David’s Crook to investigate the large area of bracken which it was thought might hide another seat.  The two known seats along that edge of the field were visible so there were doubts that the bracken concealed another.  We contented ourselves by carving out a large patch of bracken while also looking unsuccessfully for the plastic tube which should be protecting a young Wild Service Tree.  We will have to investigate again when the bracken has died down.

Work Session report Sunday 3 July 2022 - Photos by Cathy Logan, Jim Dunning, Neale Fox & Ted Forsyth

Linda, Valerie, Cathy & Ted worked round Field 3 clearing vegetation around seats and benches.  One of the newer seats against the south west edge of the tree belt (dedicated to Diane Defries) has had some attention from Wood Pigeons, probably roosting above it and leaving their deposits on the seat. We were unable to clean it completely.  

There were quite a few Pyramidal Orchids, Silver-washed Fritillaries and Meadow Brown butterflies. We heard urgent cries from a Carrion Crow and saw it mobbing a calling Buzzard. Moving into Great Field we had even closer views of Crow and Buzzard. 

Jim had been working to remove graffiti from a seat at the top of Field 3 then moved off to join Karen and Neale in Linden Glade. They had previously removed some of the Duckweed & Blanket Weed from the pond in the Jubilee Plantation & topped up the bird feeders. L, V, C & T joined them in Linden Glade to uncover the bench which was hidden by bracken. Neale and Jim took down a tree which was leaning over the West Gorse path, then several people worked to trim branches overhanging the Linden Glade pond area. Red Admiral and Comma butterflies were seen in this area.

Work Session report for Sunday 12 June 2022

Linda and Ted set off along Vale Border intending to clear vegetation around seats and benches in the fields. A Red Admiral butterfly was seen perched on the side of a guide post. The first bench was in danger of being buried by the encroaching bushes so we spent time cutting back and disposing of the material. Passing through into Field 2 we dealt with a second bench on the left then circled clockwise round the field examining and clearing benches and seats. On looking back from the top of the field we could see that the cleared bench at the bottom was already being used by two people. Returning to Field 1 we dragged the tool trolley up to the recently renovated seat set back in the bushes where we stopped for a break. As we continued up towards the seat at Greenhill Way we were met by Neale’s team returning to the toolstore. 

We cleared the last two of our dozen seats and benches then Linda went off and Ted joined the other group of Neale, Karen and Jim who had spent the morning digging a hole in the Jubilee Plantation in preparation for erecting the bird identification chart near the David Malins Memorial bird feeding station. Their return to the toolstore was to collect the board and support structure for the Memorial Plaque. On another trolley it was dragged to the Jubilee Plantation and, after some more digging to increase the depth of the hole, the whole structure was carefully slid over the fence until the over-sized legs could slide into the hole.  After deciding on the height required for the plaque the two legs were cut to size and the hole was filled in to fix the structure firmly in position.

Informal Work Session report for Monday 23rd May 2022

Work Session report for Sunday 27 March 2022  photos by Linda Morris

Karen, Neale and Jim went to David’s Path to deal with the large fallen tree - see below

Linda, Valerie and Ted dragged a trolley filled with a selection of tools to Great Field and stopped by the entrance to Smith Grove and The Wend. Vegetation consisting of a mixture of raspberry, bramble and saplings had grown up next to the woodland edge and, as can be seen in the photographs, most of this was successfully cleared to ground level, leaving just a small amount to be dealt with later.  Ted and Valerie dragged a large builder bag filled with the cut vegetation into the woodland and disposed of it in a suitable spot. Subsequently Valerie took over this task and filled and emptied seven or eight more.

Jim, Karen and Neale cleared the Davids Path fall - see before and after photos by Neale below. That is the last of the 24 falls from the February gales. The map below shows the location of all the falls and the Falls Photos file beneath it a photo of each fall before clearance with the date each was cleared.  

Extra Unscheduled Workday - Saturday 26th March 2022 - report by Neale Fox

Karen and I cleared the Addington Border and Wend tree falls with a silky. Photos below show Addington Border fall before and after

Karen, Neale, Jim and Ted stopped briefly at the memorial bird feeders to watch Long-tailed Tits then carried on to the north end of Smith Grove to deal with a Birch which had toppled but was resting on other trees.  This was gradually cut into pieces until it was brought down to the ground.  After clearing away the fallen material it was noticed that a loose branch was hanging vertically over the path like a Sword of Damocles. It was brought down by Jim’s acrobatics with a long thin branch. Careful examination found a second loose branch which was also persuaded to drop.

At the south end of Smith Grove the path was blocked by what looked like a very large tree but it proved to be a huge branch which had ripped away from a nearby tree.  With loppers and saws we were kept busy cutting and removing branches and logs until the path was clear.  A specimen of Yellow Brain fungus was found on one of the small branches.

We examined the large fall in West Gorse but decided it would have to be left to another day. Photos in the gallery show clearance of fall B at the north end of Smith Grove + Yellow Brain + Falls  Map. Photos below show before and after of clearance of fall 19 at the south end of Smith Grove. 

Unscheduled Work Activity - Wednesday 23 February 2022 - photos by Ruth & Steve Budd

Steve painted "T" marks in the car park to encourage cars to park tidily, using a stencil prepared by Neale. The work was done at twilight when the car park was empty. 

Workday report for Sunday 6 February 2022 - report by Linda Morris

Early morning stormy weather led to most of the regulars deciding not to come but it was dry by 10am. 

Jim and I worked again on the Gorses and successfully opened up the way through to the other side this morning. We picked up some of the cuttings and left in a pile by tree close to where we reached the main path.  The two hedge cutters made it quicker work although admit there might be short stumps etc of brambles and saplings to cut off once the area has been raked to remove the cuttings. 

Once the first cut through had been made we started on the overgrown area to the left of it behind where the work stopped last week. Again, I slashed through the brambles and bracken with the cutters and Jim tackled the bushes and saplings with his saw that were too thick for me to cut without the hedge trimmer getting jammed. 

Workday report for Sunday 2 January 2022

Linda went to the Jubilee Plantation to meet Heather and was followed later by Valerie, John and Ted. Bird feeders were added to the poles which Linda and Peter had positioned previously. John and Ted cut down two hazel clumps to allow a good view of the feeders then with the help of Valerie dumped most of the cut material in a couple of existing pits in the plantation. Valerie also used some of the logs to mark the edges of a rough path.  We then moved on to the Butterfly Bank where we trimmed some of the larger plants.

Karen, Neale and Harry carried out an experiment on a muddy part of Greenhill Way by scraping mud to the side and leaving a relatively hard surface.  Encouraged by what looked like success, they carried on to the very muddy patch beside the cut tree trunks on Farleigh Border path. There they attempted to dig out the mud and also created a drainage channel to see if it will reduce the amount of water on the path.

Photos by Neale Fox 

Workday Report for Sunday 28th November 2021

Jim, Neale & Karen, Linda, Cathy, Harry, Ted

The last four named above returned to The Gorses and cleared a large amount of bracken, bramble and some sycamore saplings. In the process we found several scattered groups of large Sulphur Tuft, one clump of Glistening Inkcap, a solitary Common Funnel, and on an old stump Turkeytail and Peeling Oysterlings.

Jim, Neale & Karen went to the Courtwood end of the wood to deal with some large Laurel (see before and after photos below) then began returning to Farleigh Border to improve the conditions for bypassing an awkward muddy patch.

By this time Cathy had left and Linda decided to return to the car park carrying her load of tools, while Ted and Harry took the trolley to meet the others on Farleigh Border.

Bypassing the mud was made easier by removing a lot of fallen wood so that it is no longer necessary to step over anything.

On the way back to the car park a Birch tree which had fallen some time ago was lying across the path above head height.  A few smaller branches were trimmed but removing the tree will be done another time.

Installation of Pitkin Bench 17th November 2021

Jim Dunning, John Zareba and Neale Fox installed a new bench dedicated to Brian Pitkin in Broad Walk.

The bench was delivered in pieces ready for assembly and taken to the site using 2 trolleys.

The original bench in that location was removed and the top retained for a member of FSW who had requested it. 

Holes were dug almost in the same position as the original bench and the complete installation took only a few hours.

Many thanks to all involved - shown below left taking a well deserved rest on the bench. Further details of the Brian Pitkin bench are given on the Seats & Benches page of the website.

The team also installed a Vanguard Way marker at the junction of Broad Walk and Addington Border next to a FSW bench that was installed a few weeks ago - below right.

Workday Report for Sunday 7th November 2021

Linda, Neale, Jim, Ted, Valerie B, Cathy L, John Z, Mike Griffith (TCV)

Neale & Jim went off to replace a damaged guide post and were able to sink a new metpost but were unable to release the old one so this will be sorted out later. On the way they removed several patches of overhanging wild clematis. The main intention was to make a start on removing a large laurel which they did by trimming some of the branches but they left the main work for later when they will treat what remains after further cutting.

The other volunteers dragged the tool trolley up to The Gorses where some continued the work of clearing vegetation. Three of us concentrated on removing a large pile of bramble, bracken and branches to allow sunlight to warm up the soil and encourage growth of flowers. Some of the branches in the pile had obviously been there for four years or more and many were sporting fungi of various species but nothing that excited us enough to take photos. However more fungi were found on the ground and on old tree stumps including Sulphur Tuft, Oysterlings, Sheathed Woodtuft and others.

As we were about to stop work John Z phoned Neale and found that he and Jim were on their way to the large crater in Stevens Larch to clear up rubbish left by revellers. Our route back to the car park took us in that direction so we met up before Linda and Cathy took our tools back to the toolstore. Neale and Jim descended into the pit with a large sack to retrieve the litter including a vary large piece of cardboard, all of which we took back to the car park. 

Photos from Linda Morris & John Zareba.

Workday Report for Sunday 3^rd October 2021

Neale & Karen Fox, Jim Dunning, Linda Morris, Harry Creer and his two sons Finlay & Bertie, Allan & Janet Bushnell, Valerie Baldry, Nila Germain, Adam Fuller, Ted Forsyth

Neale, Karen & Jim spent their time on Vale Border, first cutting overhead branches which were forming a tunnel then concentrating on removing a large tree in Field 2 which had fallen over a bench. They also removed and demolished one of the seats on the side of the field which had fallen into serious disrepair. The plaque from that seat, dedicated to Murray Silverstone, will be attached to the adjacent bench

The remaining volunteers returned to The Gorses to continue opening up the area by selectively removing sycamore saplings, bramble and bracken, whilst retaining any rowan, oak and gorse seedlings. A pile of branches which were cut two years ago, along with one of the many recent piles of cut materials were disposed of in the nearby woodland.

photos from Linda Morris and Neale Fox

Workday Report Sunday 26th September 2021

Neale & Karen Fox, Jim Dunning, Linda Morris, Cathy Logan, Harry Creer & 7 year-old son Bertie, and Ted Forsyth all attended the first group workday of the autumn and the first since the start of the pandemic.

Neale, Karen & Jim took one laden tool trolley and went off to put up a couple of bat boxes at Vincent Avenue then began looking for a place where a Greenhill way nameboard needed to be put back. After scanning the whole path is was decided that the board they had with them was not needed and was a spare. Finding that the West Gorse path by Farleigh Border was becoming too narrow, they opened it up by clearing some of the encroaching vegetation. They also took the opportunity to compete the bolting down of the seat by the Centenary Plantation.

The remainder of the volunteers took a second trolley of tools to the Gorses where they attempted to make a start at selectively clearing bramble, bracken and sycamore saplings but leaving gorse bushes and seedlings  along with young oak seedlings. Once most of the area is clear we will decide whether to thin out some of the seedlings. Some of the cut material has already been moved to a pile in the wood where it will be allowed to decay. Some vegetation was removed from around benches in Middle Gorse. Finally, as we passed through the fields where the grass had been cut, we noticed that several mushrooms were visible.

photos from Linda Morris, John Zareba and Neale Fox

Workday Report Sunday 1st August 2021

Workday Report Tuesday 27th July 2021 - report by Neale Fox

Workday Report Sunday 4th July 2021 - report by Neale Fox

Workday Report Sunday 13th June 2021

Linda & Ted started on Vale Border then moved into field 2 and back to field 1. We cleared low vegetation around benches and seats, including one which was almost hidden in the hedge. On this last one, in particular, we spent some time removing bushy material.

Neale, Karen & Jim concentrated on putting up path name boards. Report below from Neale.

Name boards replaced were: Noakes Way/East Gorse junction (this was labelled for its location) and two Langford's Way signs (but we spent quite some time locating were they came from). We also had a Greenhill Way sign but we were hot and starting to flag so did not find its location but the one near the field entrance was about to fall off so we remounted that. We also have some new signs to mount but will use a different mount system because they are chestnut and much heavier.

Workday report for Sunday 12 July 2020

Linda, Harry, Ted                                    

When the team assembled at the tool store it was obvious that only Linda, Harry and Ted were available. We decided to concentrate on Vale Border and soon found a bench which was buried by a fallen tree. A fair amount of time was spent uncovering the bench and disposing of the cut material. As we continued along the border there were frequent stops to remove more bushy material acting as a potential or actual hazard. After leaving field 3 we found an Ash tree which had fallen some time ago and was now lying across the path and propped up on the metal fence on the other side. Harry cut through the trunk and allowed the top part to drop on the other side of the fence then Ted and Harry swung the remaining trunk round and laid it by the side of the path. Beyond this point there was little work to do but some small puzzling saplings gave Linda the chance to use her plant identification app to tell us they were young Dogwood. Further on the app identified Great Willowherb. Within the woodland we heard Collared Dove Stock Dove and Blackcap, and in the fields we identified Small White and Holly Blue butterflies. Some of the Blackthorn bushes appeared to be bare of sloes while others carried a heavy crop. Linda and Harry returned to the car park while Ted trudged up the steep Addington Border path and turned into Broad Walk to see the four Yellow Birdsnest plants which were found recently – they are now past their best.

13/3/20 - Follow up to 11/3/20 - photo below by Linda Morris

I carried the remaining 25 tubes from home to the coppice site this afternoon and added them to the ten which I had left there. With the help of Linda "Muscles" Morris we managed to drive in 35 stakes and cover them with loose tubes, and in some cases had to cut the tops of stakes which were too long. That just leaves the actual planting which generally does not need holes to be dug. Instead, where possible, a spade is stuck into the soil and wobbled about to create a slot big enough and of sufficient depth to take the roots on the whip. A judicious use of the boot to close the soil over the root completes that part of the task. The loose tube (which would have been removed to do the planting) is then placed over both the stake and the whip and the two attached releasable ties are tightened to finish.

I'll keep an eye on weather forecasts and check out when I might be on HBK then let people know when I intend to return for the planting. Many thanks to Linda for her invaluable help!

11/3/20 - Additional, Unscheduled Workday by Ted Forsyth to preserve whips (delivered by Simon this morning) 

After lunch I took half of the tubes (25) and all 50 of the whips and took them to the coppice area. The first task was to dig a suitable hole for the whips and find extra soil to earth them up – I hope they will survive like that without drying out too much until we need them. I managed to drive in 15 of Harry’s sharpened stakes, cut them, where necessary, so that they were below the top of the tube (to allow the eventual growth to wave freely without being destroyed by a projecting stake), then covered them loosely with a tube. It is difficult to state an exact spacing for the whips, and to some extent it is determined by the roots coming from the various stumps, but there are still ten unused tubes in the area and I have another 25 at home. I would prefer not to disturb the whips until we either have a lot of help or when all the stakes are in position.

Workday report for Sunday 23 February 2020 - photos below by Linda Morris

Linda, Neale, Jim, Cyril, Harry, Geoff, Angus, Ted.

In squally weather, and unsure whether rain would hold off, a fire was started so that when everyone had arrived we could get on with our various tasks. Jim went off to search for any remaining coppice work. Harry sharpened tree stakes ready for planting. Cyril cut stumps. Linda and Ted worked with the fire. Geoff, Angus and Neale dragged material to the fire.   Volunteers switched tasks from time to time. Eventually work was begun on making repairs to the deer fence. Several new fence posts were driven into place then the wire along the top of the fence was straightened and pinned to various posts.  Finally, to hold the wire in tension it was attached to a gatepost which was then braced with an additional inclined post.

Workday Report for Sunday 26 January 2020

Linda, Karen, Neale, Jim, David, Richard, Ted.

Ted began at 9.30am by checking fence posts (one of which had a patch of Glue Crust fungus) and fence netting around the site, then concentrated on removing a collection of stems growing from an old stump.  A fire had not been started early as there had not been a pile of twiggy material available, but when the others arrived it was decided to go ahead with a fire (after we removed the evidence that showed “glue sniffers” had invaded the site). Too much sappy material meant that the initial attempt was a failure but a careful restart was a success. The group split up and variously cut old Hazel clumps, dragged cut material away from working areas, reduced stumps, hacked at the insidious leg-clinging Bramble, cut trip hazards and fed the fire. Towards the end several new fence posts were driven into position and attached to the deer fence.

Workday report for Sunday 5 January 2020

Linda. Karen, Neale, Jim, Harry, David, Ted and two new volunteers – Jennifer Flippance and Polly O’Connor

Ted started a fire at 9.10am and by the time the others arrived around 10.20am last week’s pile of cut material was on the fire.  Work immediately began as we spread out and started cutting old coppice stools, removing thin spindly stems, and cutting down individual trees. Much of the cut material was cut up and taken to the fire, some was stacked in habitat piles, and the usual material for fence posts was retained. While we were waiting for the fire to die down, Harry, Neale and Jim used the new post driver to put in four new posts to replace several which had rotted. More will have to be replaced later.

Workday report for Sunday 1 December 2019

Linda, Karen, Neale, Jim, Cyril, David, Harry and Finlay

Cyril walked in from the car park while Ted walked from the Courtwood Lane entrance, meeting at 9.00am at the coppice area where we got a fire started. Around 9.45am Cyril went off to help pull the tool trolleys and Ted continued transferring the great pile of material, cut last week, to the fire. When everyone had arrived Jim began his coppicing while the rest of us kept adding to the fire. David created a habitat pile over an old well-rotted log. Cyril fired up his chainsaw and cut the stumps we had left then took down a large multi-stem willow. Jim turned his attention to several stems of a chestnut and had cleared most of it with a pruning saw before Cyril cut the last trunk with the chainsaw. At one point, while clearing up loose material lying around the work area, Harry picked up a bit of tree stump and on turning it over discovered a fungus which Ted identified as Cobalt Crust. While there is still material which will have to be cut down, much of covers the remainder of the area seems to be re-growing hazel which will be left. Many of the original posts holding up the deer fence are rotting at the base and will need replacing.  We certainly have enough new posts available.

Workday report for Sunday 24 November 2019 - photos by Linda Morris

Linda, Karen, Neale, Jim, David, Ted, Harry & son Finlay

Ted got to the coppice site at 9.30am and began by cutting part of a clump of Hazel and dragging it clear. When the others arrived from the car park some began cutting more scrub with pruning saws and loppers and eventually cleared down to the corner of the fence at Langford’s Way and Leafy Grove. Others cut up the spoil, separating material for burning from potential plant stakes. Under close supervision from his dad young Finlay learned how to use a pruning saw but also continued with the use of loppers. We were pleased with the amount of work we had achieved but we would be happy to see more volunteers next Sunday 1^st December if the weather is suitable.

Workday report for Sunday 27 Oct 2019

Linda, Karen, Neale, Cyril, David, Ted.

While walking up Langford’s Way to reach the coppice area I saw Candlesnuff, Turkeytail, Sulphur Tuft, Buttercap and several other fungi species.

We cleared an area of bramble and other low vegetation then Cyril began working with his chainsaw just inside and parallel to the fence. As the material was cut others removed it and stacked it for later burning or to provide stakes to support the replanting. We have already started a collection of stakes.

Next weekend, weather permitting, we will burn the unwanted material. We would welcome extra help for a couple of hours.                                                                                                                                                                                                             

David walked in through Avis Grove clearing long bramble stems before entering Great Field then finding the rest of the group in Linden Glade. Neale, Jim and Karen remained in the glade to examine the edges of the pool while Linda, Joanne and Ted walked along West Gorse to the Farleigh Border path. A fallen tree by the edge of the path might have been trimmed by John Zareba but Linda decided one branch was projecting too far into the path and spent a few minutes cutting it back. In Middle Gorse we trimmed bramble and also and also a hawthorn which had crashed through a holly. In The grassy area we found a group of small whitish mushrooms with brown gills (?sp). Entering the other end of West Gorse we continued trimming bramble before reaching Linden Glade again where David had joined the group. A very sandy area near the cairn had been cleared to reveal the edge but without entirely determining the future for the pool. Karen pointed out a group of very small mushrooms growing by the edge of the pool which were identified as Collared Parachutes. A very noisy Green Woodpecker flew over and landed on a dead tree then disappeared. After clearing the excavated material in the pool we walked back to the car park.

Workday report Sunday 7 July 2019 photos by Ted Forsyth & Linda Morris

David, Karen & Neale, Linda, Jim, Ted.

David walked in from home, trimming overgrown brambles on paths. After checking a problem in the ladies’ loo the rest of us set off towards Farleigh Border and on the way up Greenhill Way, near the top on the right, we found a smallish tree covered in Oyster mushrooms - see photo 1. Along the route and throughout the time we were there we tried to trim back any long strands of bramble threatening to grow across to the other side of the paths. We eventually found the fallen Ash tree on Farleigh Border and dealt with that - see photos 2 & 3 - then continued along West Gorse. Small dead trunks were cut down and low-lying overhanging branches were cut back. An obviously broken branch was dragged down and cut up before we exited to David’s Crook and carried on to the car park. There we found that a Wren appears to have taken up residence in the bat box sited above the store room door - see photos 4 & 5. 

Workday report for Sunday 2 June 2019

Karen & Neale, Linda, Carol, Jim, Ted, David.

David concentrated on cutting bramble stems across paths.

The rest of the team visited the coppice area to find that some of the missing rolls of deer fence netting had been used to make repairs to some of the fallen fence. The opportunity was taken to give water to the Elm and Wild Service in that area. We then erected a fallen name board for Stevens Walk and cleared intrusive growth on nearby trees. Next stop was Bluebell Grove to attempt to remove stains from the recent memorial seat. Most of the group replaced the name board in East Gorse near the Baker Boy gate while Ted watered the Wild Service in Middle Gorse. The route continued along Farleigh Border to water the Wild Service and to David’s Crook to do the same there, before returning to the car park.

Extra Workday Thursday 30th May 2019 - Installing 2 new seats - report from David Malins photos below by John Zareba

I made a mistake in laying them down on their fronts in the car park area, to avoid the danger of bending their metal back struts. The result is that the front of the seats are caked with mud - see below left. Jim will brush this off when he fits the plaques.

The photo below right shows the new seat in Bluebell Grove.

Extra workday Sunday 12 May 2019 - photos below by Ted Forsyth

Neale & Karen, Jim, Cyril, David, Ted.

With his rebuilt seat on a trailer Jim drove up Smith Grove to Bluebell Grove. An area was cleared and holes were dug to take the extended legs of the seat. Once the seat was in position we moved along Bluebell Grove to the junction with The Wend where we had previously created holes for a memorial seat. An awkward and damaged tree trunk was removed so that it would not interfere once the seat was later put into position. With that job done we moved on to the junction between Broad Walk and Addington Border to replace the fallen Vanguard Way guide post. Neale began by hammering in a Metpost then completed the job by inserting the wooden guide post and locking it into position. Having begun our work just after 10.00am it was now 12 noon but, having worked up a head of steam, the party decided to tackle the remaining task of digging two holes in Courtwood Grove for another memorial seat. David had prepared two shallow holes to indicate the place for the seat so the eager volunteers began digging to create the correct depth. Optimism began to wane a little when we realised that the potential holes were full of large flints. Luckily we had brought or post-hole diggers in the form of a heavy metal bar to smash the flints and a giant pair of “sugar tongs” to help in scooping out rubble and soil. By the time the measurements were satisfactory it was 2.30pm so we packed up and went our separate ways, some walking home and the others taking the trolley and tools back to the toolstore.

Workday Report 5 May 2019 - photos below by Ted Forsyth & Linda Morris

Linda, Karen & Neale, Jim, Geoff, David, Ted.

Most of us dragged the trolley of tools up to Bluebell Grove where we met David who had walked in from the other end of the wood and had begun work on preparing holes for a memorial seat. While most of the team worked on enlarging the holes, Linda and I took several water-filled plastic bottles and watered the five Elm and two Wild Service we had planted in the coppice area. We returned to the diggers to find they were struggling with tree roots. As it was going to take time I took the opportunity to grab the remaining water bottles and proceeded to the Wild Service in Middle Gorse, Farleigh Border and David’s Crook where I gave them a gook soaking. As we had been told that half a name board had fallen from a tree somewhere in The Gorses I paid particular attention to the boards at the ends of the various paths and found three East Gorse, three West Gorse and one Middle Gorse, all in good condition. Back in Bluebell Grove the team were packing up, rather than start the work on another seat elsewhere in the wood, so we returned to The Gorses where the damaged name board was eventually found hallway along East Gorse by the Baker Boy Lane entrance. The half board on the tree was retrieved. While the others took the trolley back to the car park I walked home in the opposite direction. In The Wend there were many singing Blackcaps and a few Chiffchaffs but there was also a Garden Warbler pouring out its bubbling notes.  Perhaps yesterday’s weather had caused several migrating birds to drop in for the night.

Unscheduled Workday Sunday 14 April 2019 & follow up on 18/4/19

Having checked the remaining whips in my garden I found there were 25 and not the 34 I was expecting.  Presumably we were supplied with 40 Hazel instead of 50. I got to the coppice at 9.15am and planted five Hazel. David arrived and we continued planting until all the whips were in the ground. When we were down to the last three tubes there were no prepared stakes left so we had to cut three from some of the thinner posts we had left for the deer fence. The last three whips were planted without tubes for protection. That leaves three Wild Service, which I had not taken with me, to be planted somewhere – I have retained three stakes and three tubes for that purpose.

****

18/4/19 - I set off this morning with two Wild Service to plant. She came with me to the coppice to collect two tubes and two stakes then carried them for me to Middle Gorse. Heather went on her way and I planted one whip as shown in the photo left below taken from inside The Gorses. I carried on along Farleigh Border path to the fallen Oak logs and planted the second whip which is shown in the next picture. One more whip to go but I have not finalised any decision yet as to where it might be possible to put it so that in future years its flowers and fruit will make a good show.

20/4/19 - The last Wild Service has been planted in David's Crook on the same edge where the White Poplar is but further down towards the old Wild Cherry. It was well watered in.

Workday report for Sunday 7 April 2019 -  photos by Linda Morris

Present: Karen/Neale Fox, Carol Inge, Linda Morris, David Malins, Jim Dunning, Ted Forsyth.

As usual a fire was started and very quickly a steady stream of material was finding its way from the two large piles of material we had left last time. Once the full group of volunteers had arrived loose twigs were raked up, fallen branches were cut into pieces and some coppice stools were cut.  Much of the material went on to the fire but a large amount was used to build a dead hedge (habitat pile) over an old rotting fallen tree. The clearance we achieved should allow us to start planting tree whips.

Unfortunately, after we left vandals smashed down part of the plastic mesh deer fence for which we were only able to make a temporary repair. More work will have to be done later.

Supplementary Sessions 10/4/19 -  Linda had offered to join me in planting some of the tree whips in the coppice area so we met at 10.00am and began by planting a row of FIVE disease-resistant Elm to the left of the entrance through the deer fence.  We then took the TWO Wild Service I had brought and planted them close to the non-existent deer fence at the beginning of Leafy Grove where they should be a nice sight in years to come – they seem to grow quite quickly.  That left SEVEN Hazel which we spread out to the right of the gate.  I still have THREE Wild Service and a further FORTY-THREE Hazel at home to be planted when it is convenient.  We ended by repairing the damaged deer fence entrance. (See the 3rd photograph in the gallery below.)

12/4/19 - Linda joined me again today and we planted another nine whips in one hour. I will return on Sunday morning, without Linda, hoping to plant a few more.

Workday report for Sunday 31 March 2019 - photo by Ted Forsyth

Ted got a fire started early. When others arrived Neale cut some coppice stools while Karen and Ted removed the cut material and John and David collected other material. More than 50% of Cyril’s pile was added to the fire. Later we allowed the fire to die down while we made a pile of any cut material we collected. There will be plenty of material for next weekend.  As seems usual at the moment a Tawny Owl called while we were working and called again as we were leaving, possibly disturbed by a group of noisy Jays.

Workday report for Sunday 24 March 2019

Ted, John, David, Jim, Cyril, Neale, Karen.

Ted walked up to the coppice and got a fire started. While working various birds were heard – Tawny Owl, Stock Dove, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Bullfinches.

John and David appeared and helped to feed the fire which was well alight when the others arrived. Cyril and Jim went off to deal with several fallen trees. Neale cut several coppice stools but found the cut material was making it difficult to move around so we had to spend most of our time concentrating on lifting it and feeding the fire.

When Cyril and Jim returned they created a large pile to which they added the stems of a willow as it was cut. Cyril then cut the pile into smaller pieces ready for next workday. Neale tidied up many of the coppice stumps. There is still much material to be lifted and many coppice stools to be cut before we can consider planting the tree whips.

A Buzzard was heard and both Peacock and Brimstone butterflies were seen in the warm sunny conditions.

Workday report Sunday 3 February 2019  photos by John Zareba & Linda Morris

Karen & Neale, Linda, David, Jim, Cyril, John, Ted.

A fire was started and as soon as it was well alight material was added frequently from the enormous pile which Cyril’s chainsaw had cut into smaller pieces, but in the time available we could deal with only a small part of the cut material. Jim cut a forest of coppice stools while Ted worked through to the far fence cutting stools on the way. The new electric chainsaw was given an impressive workout – its new cutting chain proving to be sharp and able to cope with the tests it was given. While the amount of previously cut material has been reduced, the extra cutting that was done has simply added to the material waiting for our next visit. A Green Woodpecker called frequently during the time we were working.

Workday report for Sunday 6 January 2019

Karen & Neale, Linda, Ted.

We initially tried to start a fire but it was taking too long so we gave up and concentrated on coppicing.  We cut down at least six old coppice stands and also several separate small trees.  Larger material was retained for possible charcoal making and for deer fence posts but most of the other material was added to piles for later disposal.

Workday report for Sunday 25 November 2018 - photos below by Linda Morris

Volunteers included the usual suspects: Karen & Neale, Linda, Jim, Cyril, Ted, plus new volunteer Mary Wingrove.

Once a longer bolt had been put on to the repaired trolley the party split up. While Jim and Cyril went off to deal with two fallen trees the remainder of the party began trimming the bushes at the edge of the car park and also removed some of the grass, mud and fallen leaves. The main task was elsewhere so we dragged the second trolley up to Great Field where we stopped briefly to examine the old bench and decided it might be repairable rather than be destroyed. We carried on to the coppice area, from where we could hear the buzzing of Cyril’s chainsaw in Beech Grove, and began the process of trying to clear growth near the deer fence, and also started coppicing some of the smaller coppice stools. When Cyril and Jim joined us we were able to include work on older coppice stools and soon had large piles of small and large branches building up. Apart from retaining stakes to hold up a deer fence we will probably dispose of the piles by burning at a later date if weather is suitable.

During the morning we found several fungi. A small dark mushroom was probably a Tricholoma species. A badly damaged large mushroom, thought to be a Parasol, was growing near the coppice entrance, and in the coppice area there were many twigs sporting tiers of (Collared?) Parachutes, a stump had a couple of clumps of Inkcaps while Turkeytail appeared elsewhere, finally a fallen branch was covered in a display of Split Porecrust.

On the way back to the car park we stopped at the old bench where Neale and Jim had a discussion about a possible repair.  As I stood by the trolleys I heard a Carrion Crow mobbing something and on looking over the treetops I could see a Sparrowhawk being pursued.

Workday report for Sunday 4 November 2018 - photos below by Ted Forsyth & Linda Morris

Karen, Neale, Linda, Jim, Cliff, Toby, Ted

We began by walking up field 3 to photograph the Spindle bush then walked along Langford’s Way towards Leafy Grove, passing a Tawny Funnel fungus on the way. In Leafy Grove we erected the new bat box before entering Stevens Walk to find an entrance into the old coppice area. While it was necessary to tackle bramble to get a route into the centre most of the work concentrated on coppicing near the entrance. The cut material produced posts for a deer fence, bean poles, etc. Excess material was piled up for use in strengthening the dead hedge. Further into the centre there was a large fallen moss-covered tree trunk on which there were several fungi.

Workday Report for Sunday 7 October 2018

Neale & Karen Fox, Jim Dunning and Ted Forsyth began work outside the museum, re-assembling the damaged trolley which Jim had repaired. (He had also sharpened loppers and shears). Neale & Jim then improved the safety of the flushing action in the Ladies toilet. By the time this work was done it was obvious that no others would be joining us so we set off to Stevens Walk. On the way I pointed out Dogwood bearing both spring flowers and autumn berries.

We spent some time with Neale and Jim cleaning out the manhole and fitting a blank end on a pipe. I found and photographed yesterday’s Parasol mushroom then we entered The Wend to deal with a thin decaying Birch tree which was leaning well over the path. Once this was removed we discovered several more that we decided should be removed – most were very thin straggly trees and again most were decaying and would have fallen at some stage.

We followed The Wend, Leafy Grove & West Gorse to Linden Glade where we examined the pool which had been partially filled by the overnight rain. Neale did his best to scrape out much of the silt to get a better look at possible cracks and it was agreed that the way forward was probably a repair involving fibre glass – something to be considered later.

There was no point in trying to remove wet vegetation in Middle Gorse, which had been one of the intended tasks, and placing of the new bat box was left to another day.  

Workday report for Sunday 30 Sept 2018

Only Neale & Karen Fox, Jim Dunning, John Zareba and Ted Forsyth were present. We began by dismantling the damaged trolley so that Jim could take the broken part away to repair it then walked along Vale Border to get to Broad Walk where a path sign had fallen. Neale, Jim and John were left to deal with the sign while Karen and Ted followed another path to get to the entrance to Avis Grove where a branch was hanging low over the path. On the way we examined old Sweet Chestnut husks for a fungus which I had seen for the first time yesterday. We had no success so we carried on to Avis Grove and began work on the large branch. The others came to join us just as we were finishing then we continued along towards the path, cutting down four decaying trees which were over the path. We also put up a Langford's Way sign. We took a route along Bluebell Grove and while the others began work on a fallen tree Karen and I started searching for the fungus. I found one and prepared to get a photo then Karen found a better one (see photo below left) which I later carried to Pool Grove as that was our next target. There we found clumps of Honey Fungus and newly emerging Shaggy Scalycaps (see photo below right), before dealing with the last of our fallen path signs and another fallen small tree.

Workday report for Sunday 3 June 2018 - photos by Ted Forsyth, Neale Fox and Malcolm Jennings

Present:  Toby & Cliff Dalton, Karen & Neale Fox, Jim Dunning, Cyril Watmore, Ted Forsyth.

The whole group walked along Vale Border removing obtrusive branches along the way.  After field 3 we entered Avis Grove and continued to meet Courtwood Grove then exited at the top of the Cascades. At the bottom of the bridleway we re-entered the wood and dragged our trolley up to the large Yew where we found the Herb Paris clump. With Cyril’s chainsaw and several pruning saws we cleared Yew, Hazel and some Sycamore which were tending to shade the plants. While we were finishing, Malcolm Jennings came with his camera to take a photograph of the sun-lit Herb Paris in its new more open area. A Chicken of the Woods bracket fungus was photographed on the large Yew.  In the fields we saw several Common Blue butterflies and on the way back through the woods we saw a Speckled Wood butterfly.

Workday report for Sun 6 May 2018 - photos from Ted Forsyth (TF) and Linda Morris (LM)

Attendees: Cliff & Toby Dalton, Karen & Neale Fox, Linda Morris, Jim Dunning, Ted Forsyth.

While Ted removed several small Ash saplings just inside the Jubilee Plantation gate, the others moved up to Great Field where Neale & Jim repaired the Centenary Plantation name board and the remainder of the team topped up soil around the legs on one of the new seats. The whole group then added soil around the legs on three more seats around Stevens Larch before crossing Great Field to see the large number of Dryad’s Saddle fungi which had returned to the tree stump in Stevens Walk. The last seat, in David’s Crook, was soiled up then we carried on to Linden Glade. Here we found a Ramsons (Wild Garlic) seedling had appeared, growing from a seed dropped from Neale’s pocket last year. Cliff, Toby and Ted went on to investigate the fallen Hazel in Farleigh Border (and found someone had broken it off and laid it by the side of the path) while the others restored the fallen Farleigh Border name board. The whole group came together again on the Farleigh Border path beside the very large Oak which had been cut into pieces by Croydon Council workers. As they were blocking the path we managed to improve matters somewhat by rolling four of them to the side of the path before returning to the car park. During our work we heard at least six Blackcaps and listened to a very vocal Song Thrush in David’s Crook. On Farleigh Border there were many Yellow Archangel flowers and one or two clumps of Greater Stitchwort. Brimstone, Holly Blue and Speckled Wood butterflies were seen.

Workday report for Sunday 25 March 2018

Present: Cliff, Toby, Jared, Karen, Neale, Jim, Cyril, Ted

Neale and Jim replaced two path name boards which had fallen, then checked and remounted several others. The rest of the group returned to the junction of West Gorse and Farleigh border and began burning what we hope is the last of the Holly which we had cut weeks ago. Cyril re-coppiced several Hazels which were showing signs of decay. Some of the material was added to the fire but the larger pieces were used to make a number of habitat piles. Green Woodpecker, Stock Dove, Wren and Ring-necked Parakeet serenaded us as we worked.

The Workday scheduled for Sunday March 4th was cancelled due to bad weather.

Workday report for Sunday 25 Feb 2018 - photos below from Linda Morris and Neale Fox

Linda, Karen, Neale, Lewis, Jim, Cyril, Ted.

On a day when it was warmer than expected we managed to burn much of the cut Holly which remained.  Some of the long Holly trunks were cut and stacked as a habitat pile. As we crossed David's Crook on the way back to the car park we saw two Buzzards flying over Greenhill Way. (The fungus seen on the workday and shown in the photo below is probably a variant of Split Porecrust -Schizopora paradoxa.)

Workday report for Sunday 4 February 2018 - photo below from Neale Fox

The group consisted of Toby, Cliff, Karen, Neale and Ted and we returned to Farleigh Border to continue the task of clearing away the cut Holly. We had trouble persuading the fire to start and when Toby and Cliff left at 12 noon we had pile of material which we thought would have to be left until next time. By 12.18pm the fire had come to life and by 12.48pm all the material was on the fire. By pulling out material from the edge and returning it to the centre it was soon reduced to ashes and we were able to leave.

Workday report for Sunday 7 January 2018  - photos below from Neale Fox

Workers: Lewis Goode. Jared Cruikshank, Toby & Cliff Dalton, Richard Lock, Karen & Neale Fox, Jim Dunning, Cyril Watmore, Linda Morris, Michael Byrne, Ted Forsyth.

For the first workday of 2018 the above list of participants gathered in the Farleigh Border path to continue burning the Holly brash left from before Christmas. The first three names on the list are at different stages of working towards Duke of Edinburgh awards.

While some of the party went to examine the large fallen Oak and to try to count the rings, I went with Jim to Middle Gorse to look for the reported hanging branch but found that someone had dealt with it. We continued into East Gorse and cut down the fallen Hazel branch and removed a dead branch before returning to the fire group. Without being able to count all the rings on the Oak a count of 43 rings across about a third of a radius seemed to confirm Heather’s estimate of around 120 years of age for the tree.

We dragged Holly to the old fire site and got on with the process of burning. While I was dragging material from West Gorse I heard an enormous crash when a large Birch snapped off halfway up and fell to the ground nearby, luckily within the woodland.  At one point a bird of prey flew over, probably a Sparrowhawk.

2017

Workday report for Sunday 3 December 2017  - photos below from Linda Morris and Neale Fox

Karen, Neale, Linda, Jim, Cyril, Ted and Lewis began in Farleigh Border by clearing a space for a fire, and collecting dead hanging branches from the woodland. Once the fire was started we began adding the cut Holly material from the nearby pile.  Meanwhile Cyril fired up his chainsaw and cut down the Holly stumps which had been left last time. Cliff and Toby arrived to join in the activity. Neale and Ted agreed a possible site for the Tawny Owl nest box and later Neale and Jim put it into position. They also added woodchips to the Tawny box and the Little Owl box. Most of the Holly pile was transferred to the fire but there are still other piles which will be dealt with on another occasion. 

Workday report for Sunday 26 November 2017  - photos below from Ted Forsyth, Linda Morris and Neale Fox

Karen, Neale, Linda, Ted, Richard, Lewis, Cliff, Toby and Jared continued removing Holly trees in Farleigh Border.  We hope to have a fire on another occasion to burn the enormous amount of material we have cut. 

While walking up from the car park Neale picked up a small branch on which there was a small clump of Yellow Brain fungus.

Workday activity Sunday 5 November 2017 - photos below from Neale Fox and Linda Morris

Karen, Linda, Cliff, Toby and Richard continued removing Holly and Bramble at the junction between West Gorse and Farleigh Border, while I took Jim and Neale towards the far end of Farleigh Border where we hoped to erect a nest box for a Little Owl. With some judicious pruning it was found that the box could rest on a branch between two trunks and, with some additional support, it was firmly held in position. With that task done we joined the Holly group for more removal of Holly bushes. Neale also took the opportunity to make a repair to a Tit box which had been attacked by a Great Spotted Woodpecker.

On a Hazel trunk a large piece of Leafy Brain fungus was found along with a good collection of old unknown bracket fungi.

Workday activity Sunday 29 October2017

Jim and Neale used an angle grinder to remove the redundant supports for an old sign in David’s Crook then replaced the fallen plaque commemorating the planting of Oaks in that area.

Karen and Ted were joined by Toby and his dad Cliff. Toby is working towards a Duke of Edinburgh Award. We took our trolley of tools to West Gorse where we cut up part of an Ash tree which had fallen across the path. We then concentrated on removing some of the many Holly trees in West Gorse and were soon joined by Neale and Jim. Jim also removed some branches of a large Holly which were obscuring the Farleigh Border sign.

At least five Yellow Fieldcap mushrooms were seen in David’s Crook and in West Gorse an old fallen branch was covered in Split Porecrust.

Workday activity Sunday 24 Sept 2017 - photos below from Ted Forsyth

Neale, Karen, Ted, Jim, Les, Lewis and Richard gathered to tackle the over-growth of Sycamore, Ash, Bramble, bracken and nettles in Middle Gorse. On the way there we were able to see Green Elfcup fungi and Dead Moll’s Fingers which had been found on Saturday. During our work Lewis managed to find several specimens of a new species – Ivory Coral -  growing under a dense cover of vegetation and elsewhere we added Sulphur Tuft and Candlesnuff fungi. While we were working in pleasant sunny conditions there were surprising numbers of Comma butterflies settling on the vegetation. A Brimstone and a Speckled Wood were also seen. After several hours of successful work three of the group left then Jim and Neale went off to clear a fallen tree in Baker Boy Lane while Karen and Ted cleared Ash, Sycamore and wild Clematis along the edge of the Middle Gorse path. On Neale and Jim’s return we packed up and returned to the car park. 

Workday activity Sunday 3 Sept 2017  - photos below from Ted Forsyth

Karen, Neale and Ted were the only volunteers to arrive for the workday. Neale decided to pre-drill the backing plates for the name boards we had to re-fix, then we set out for Vincent Avenue to install the first board. Having walked through Gt Field we stopped at the entrance to Langford’s Way where we removed an overhanging branch. We made a brief diversion into Leafy Grove to see the Orange Peel fungus before returning to Courtwood Grove where we had one board to erect at the Junction with Addington Border and another near Avis Grove. Our return route took us to Beech Grove where time was spent clearing some of two very large Oak branches which were partially blocking the track. In Noakes’ Way a low overhanging branch was removed. In Linden Glade we examined the cracks in the base of the pond and just before leaving Pool Grove to enter David’s Crook we removed our last overhanging branches. Unfortunately, back at the car park we realised that our most powerful loppers had been lost at some stage and a search revealed nothing.

A Stock Dove was singing in Leafy Grove and in Courtwood Grove a Tawny Owl called. At the top of Noakes’ Way a group of more than a dozen Amethyst Deceiver fungi were found and also a damaged Suede Bolete and Yellow Stagshorn.

Workday activity Sunday 6 Aug 2017 - photos below from Neale Fox

A select group of Karen and Neale Fox, Jim Dunning, Lewis Goode and Ted Forsyth (later joined by Linda Morris) decided that putting up some of the missing path name boards was to be the main activity. We began by walking up to Linden Glade where we stopped to put up a West Gorse board. Continuing along West Gorse, where we noticed the Yellow Stagshorn was returning to the conifer stump, we paused at the junction of The Wend and Leafy Grove to put up another West Gorse board and further on a Leafy Grove Board. All round the tree on which the West Gorse board was placed there were many fungi and this was repeated all along Leafy Grove on both sides of the track, including Small Stagshorn, various Boletes, Russulas, Peziza cups, Puffballs, etc. Presumably the winter removal of many trackside trees had allowed the soil to warm up and the mass eruption of fungi was the result. Another Leafy Grove board and a Bluebell Grove one were erected at the junction of the two tracks. Walking along Bluebell Grove brought us to another tree on which was placed a Bluebell Grove board. In this area we also cut down a holly and a Sycamore. Walking up Smith Grove brought us to Linden Glade where Crested Coral fungi are returning. At the junction with Farleigh Border an appropriate board was erected on a holly after some judicious pruning. Linda and Karen started cutting a hazel which was hanging low over West Gorse and were eventually joined by the others. That track is now much lighter. Farleigh Border brought us to Broom Path where more overhanging hazels were cut. At the junction with Greenhill Way a similarly named board was erected. We still have some boards to erecet at the Courtwood Grove end of the wood.

Workday Activity Sunday 2 July 2017

David and Gemma worked along Vale Border cutting overhanging branches and removing vegetation around seats and benches then moved up the north side of Field 3 doing the same. They then followed various paths through the wood, trimming long strands of bramble, before returning to the car park. They saw a Silver-washed Fritillary in Leafy Grove near Noakes Way where the butterfly seems to like the new open aspect. Another SWFritillary was seen in Greenhill Way, and two Speckled Wood butterflies.

Jim, Les and Ted went to the tree belt between Fields 2 and 3 and dug up a small Laurel bush. Laurel is poisonous and useless for wildlife other than sheltering pheasants. Taking the bush with us with went through Smith Grove, trimming bramble as we went, to Linden Glade where a Silver-washed Fritillary put in an appearance. In Middle Gorse we again trimmed bramble and dug up a second Laurel. Both bushes were placed on top of an existing dead hedge so that they should not regrow.  We then followed East Gorse, repeating the bramble trimming, Returning through Leafy Grove and The Wend to get back to the car park.

I had to walk back through the wood to get home and saw one SWFritillary just as I entered David’s Crook, two Speckled Woods in Pool Grove, and another SWFritillary in Linden Glade.  It is difficult to estimate how many different butterflies were involved.

Workday activity Sun 4 June 2017  - photos above from Neale Fox

The work group was composed of Karen and Neale Fox, Jim Dunning, Lewis Goode and Ted Forsyth.  We began in David's Crook where we removed the unsightly old metal board and cleared vegetation so that the information placard on an Oak tree was visible. In removing the vegetation we uncovered a log covered in Turkeytail fungus and very small mushrooms - possibly Stump Puffballs. Vegetation around a nearby seat was cleared. In Linden Glade more vegetation was removed near the seat sited within the bracken, and some time was spent examining the pond surrounds with a view to doing repairs later. Smith Grove brought us to Great Field where we cleared more vegetation, then we discovered a bench completely buried by a Blackthorn bush. We reluctantly removed the bush, which was already bearing Sloes, so that the bench is now usable. Another two seats in the area were cleared. We also found several flowering Common Spotted orchids near the edge of the path. In the gap between Great Field and Field 3 we did more work on a fallen tree to remove large branches which were projecting into the path. We then returned to the car park. 

Workday activity Sunday 7 May 2017 - photos below from Linda Morris and Neale Fox

As we had several tasks to accomplish we divided into two groups. Neale, Jim and David concentrated on walking around the wood to replace path name boards which had fallen or disappeared. They put up the first 8 boards using a new method, and did a repair job on one. Boards erected were: Broom Path, Farleigh Border, 2 x East Gorse, 2 x The Wend ), Beech Grove & Stevens Walk.(See Projects page for further details.)

Karen, Linda, Lewis and Ted began by looking for small Laurel bushes. Two were dug up in Pool Grove and hung up in bushes to prevent regrowth. After wandering along Farleigh Border path, where we bumped into the other crew, we stopped in the cut through from Greenhill Way to the finger post.  A Laurel bush here was growing under a fallen Ash trunk and had to be cut rather than dug out. Once we were satisfied with our work we moved to the bottom of Field 2 where we dug a new hole and re-erected the fallen guide post. In the meantime David had been looking for one of his walking poles which had apparently fallen from the trolley.  After retracing his route without success he carried on to the car park to wait for the others.  He was very pleased to see that someone had picked up the pole and left it by the lost property box!

Workday activity Sunday 5 March 2017 - photos below from Neale Fox

On a day when the weather forecast seemed to change every minute I arrived in the car park expecting to have to cancel the workday. By the time others began to arrive the sun was shining and there was a blue sky. Karen and Neale Fox and two more of the Fox tribe, Geoff and Angus, plus Ted gathered to decide what to do. In view of promised rain by lunch at the latest we decided to abandon our work in The Gorses and instead to concentrate on dealing with trees which were blocking paths. We trudged up Greenhill Way to reach our first task, the large fallen Oak which had come down in an awkward place. We made a thorough job of clearing the path, with Neale taking down some of the larger branches with his long pruning saw (see photos below).  We found four species of fungus in this area, a probable Crepidotus species, Turkeytail, possible Peniophora splodge on a broken branch, and the Ganoderma which comes back every year on a nearby stump. The next target took us along Broom Path where another fungus was found, either Rusty Porecrust or Cinnamon Porecrust. While walking along Farleigh Border path we decided to clear another fallen tree by the side of the path though it was not causing too much of a problem.  In East Gorse there was a fallen Birch, easy enough to step over, but we decided to remove it. Neale cut through the trunk where it was resting on other branches, intending to make other cuts but Angus and Geoff grabbed each end of the long trunk and dragged it into the woodland. On our way back towards the car park we looked at a Witches Butter fungus near Linden Glade then continued across David's Crook. Neale checked his emails and reminded us that Millie Dinnock's memorial seat had been dragged away from its normal position so we dragged it back again to sit by the clump of Daffodils. A branch of Elder was covered in Jelly Ear fungi as we reentered the car park field.  It had taken us less than two hours to complete the work and the sky was still blue with no immediate sign of rain. When Geoff and Angus were walking back they found another tree across Vale border path. Geoff had a small folding saw and they cut and moved that as well.

Workday activity Sun 26 Feb 2017

Alan & Janet Bushnell, Karen & Neale Fox, Linda Morris, Richard Lock, Ted Forsyth and Lewis Goode (Duke of Edinburgh Award)

After overnight rain we expected difficulty in starting a fire but within minutes we had a good blaze going. Previously cut gorse and bramble provided a continuous stream of material and more was being cut by the team. Some of the scattered twigs were raked up and added. As usual before leaving we controlled the remains of the fire.

Workday Activity Sunday 30th October - photos above from Linda Morris

Neale, Karen, Ted, Linda and Jim took a trolley of tools and paused in Linden Glade to allow Neale, Karen and Jim to remove rocks from the pond while I discovered Coral fungi growing on the path. On the way to Middle Gorse I walked into an overhanging branch which Neale then removed. In Middle Gorse we continued with the work of removing bramble, bracken, sycamores and ash and eventually managing to remove some gorse. It is a very dense area now so it will be some time before we can see any channels or glades amongst the gorse bushes. While removing the cut material to stack in the woodland I found a White Knight mushroom, a Deer Shield and a young Parasol. Several unidentified fungi were uncovered during the clearing operation but one bracket fungus (later identified by Tony) was a Clustered Bracket - Inonotus cuticularis.  Weather permitting we will be back again next Sunday for more of the same. 

Workday Activity Sunday 25th September 2016

Neale, Tony and Ted, assisted by Paul, his wife Kelly, his sister Nicky and his six-year old daughter Maisie, spent nearly three hours distributing bags of gravel to various drop-off points where we expected the worst of the muddy puddles to appear. In one or two cases we spread the gravel to see what happens when the rains come. Inevitably, there will not be enough gravel and we will have to see how things develop. As a trial a couple of bins of wood chippings were distributed over a couple of potential puddles. Maisie was intrigued by a selection of fungi we were able to show her – Chicken of the Woods, Beefsteak, Hen of the Woods, Blushing Bracket, Artists’ Bracket, Flat Oysterling, Yellow Stagshorn.

Extra Workday - Sunday 14th August - Sealing the Linden Glade pool - photos above show Neale applying the first coat and the result after 3 coats

Tony, Ted, Karen and Neale met at 10.00am on Saturday 14 August and took a trolley up to Linden Glade loaded with materials to seal the concrete surface of the empty pool. Earlier John Zareba had swept out the last remnants of the soil still present on the surface. By 10.30am Neale had started sloshing sealant on to the semi-porous dry surface, and for a short while was joined by Karen and Tony. The first coat was completed and left to dry until about 12.30pm when Neale began work on the second coat, making much more rapid progress as the surface was now much less porous.  Another wait for drying to take place and the third coat started at 2.00pm and was completed in around 20 minutes.

As we waited in between coats of sealant we saw one Gatekeeper and had several visits from a Red Admiral and a Silver-washed Fritillary. Two Long-tailed Tits were seen by Karen, who had placed red and white hazard tape around the area to warn passers-by that there might be a problem, particularly for dogs (though we saw relatively few during the day). A noisy Green Woodpecker was heard calling from Pool Grove and a Stock Dove sang nearby.

During a brief search for fungi I found a small tree stump behind the large Holly disporting a collection of bracket fungi.  Though they were not very new Tony took a piece home in the hope of adding an identification – it looked like a potentially interesting species.

We left around 3.00pm, hoping that there would not be too many nocturnal visitors before the sealant was completely dry.

Workday Activity Sunday 7 August 2016

Neale, Karen and Jim went to Linden Glade where they removed several overhanging branches before attempting to remove mud and water from the pond in preparation for later sealing of the concrete surface.

Ted, Simon and Richard returned to the Jubilee Plantation and set to work removing regrowth of nettles and some of the ever present thick and lengthy strands of wild clematis which seemed to be everywhere – a consequence of the many seeds deposited in the area over the years. An attempt was made to uncover the collapsed deer fence but further work will be needed to renew the supports.

A Small-leaved Lime tree whip and one of Wild Service had both reached a height of five feet – it would be nice to discover all the other missing whips, some of which may lie unrecognised under the vegetation. An existing Goat Willow had been damaged, perhaps initially by deer or squirrel, and the bark had been stripped from ground level to well over five feet.

Workday activity Sunday 3 July 2016 - photos above show Linden Glade bench before, during and after

Jim, Simon and Ted worked in the Jubilee Plantation to remove more nettles and wild clematis from the thicket of young trees.  Neale and Karen exposed the bench which was becoming buried in bracken in Linden Glade, and also cleared vegetation from some of the seats in the fields.  David trimmed a Yew at the Vincent Avenue entrance and reorganised some of the brash and other piles in Linden Glade

Workday Activity Sunday 5 June 2016

Simon Morris, Jim Dunning and newcomer Hayden Jones went off to replace the Clive Little seat back into its correct position.

Karen Fox and Linda Morris took several native plants to place around the pond in Linden Glade, including Night-flowering Catchfly, Cowslip, Comfrey and Selfheal.

Neale Fox investigated the water supply to the pond.

In Jubilee Plantation Ted Forsyth used shears to create a path through the sea of nettles and bramble and was followed by Janet Bushnell. We were soon joined by Simon, Jim and Hayden and the gap in the overgrown vegetation grew steadily.  Much of the plastic deer fence was lying flat, hidden under vegetation as many of the supporting poles had rotted at the base.  Though we managed to clear a lot of the area an initial confusion about our orientation meant that we uncovered few of the young trees. More work for the future!

Neale confirmed that a water supply is possible for the pond - watch this space!

Activity on Extra Workday Sunday 22 May 2016 - photos above show left - the team surveying their work (David, Ted, Angus, Tim, Geoff, Neale and Karen - John took the photo) - and right - the henge almost complete

Neale/Karen Fox, Geoff/Angus Bartlett, Jim Dunning, Simon Morris, Ted Forsyth, David Malins, John Zareba.

David, Jim & Geoff went off to Stevens Larch where they returned the Clive Little memorial seat from the centre of the wood to its correct position on the edge of Great Field. Neale, Karen, Simon & Ted dragged two trolleys with tools to Linden Glade.

The old fence around the pond was removed by Ted apart from a few posts which were set in concrete, though two had rotted at the base and broke off as the fence panels were removed. Simon was eager to get started and began digging near the Holly where he was joined by Neale. David’s group arrived, as did Angus and John, and digging moved over beside the old fence to prepare to place four more logs, with Simon, Geoff and Angus involved. John & Ted started three more holes to continue the “henge” behind the Holly and were soon joined by the ever-active Simon who used the post-hole digger to smash through the buried flints. Geoff & Jim helped to complete the work. At some point Neale & Jim re-mortared a few more cracks in the pond liner. While all this activity was going on Karen did some magnificent work in tidying up the vegetation around the pond.

As seems to be normal now, several Tawny Owls called from different directions and there were singing Stock Doves, Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs and Robins.

Activity during Extra Workday Sun 15 May 2016 - Photographs above from Neale Fox show the repaired cracks in the surface (repair done by Neale & Jim on Friday 13th) and work in progress on the posts & weeding

Neale & Karen, Simon, David, Ted

While Neale & Simon began working on the positions for two "gate" posts, Ted used a mattock to make shallow holes for the four short posts. David started helping Karen with gardening then moved over to make the shallow holes deeper. In little more than two hours all six of the posts were in their correct positions. David took the opportunity to move an information board from the old fence to the top of one of the gateposts. Karen disturbed a frog in the vegetation and as usual our work was accompanied by an avian chorus - Blackbird, Song Thrush, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Robin, Great Spotted Woodpecker and a quacking Mallard flew over. A Tawny Owl feather was found and, just as we were packing up, a Tawny Owl called briefly from West Gorse. 

Workday Activity -  Sunday 8 May 2016

Karen & Neale, David, Ted, Linda, Jim, Tim, Mark, Sharon

Tim arrived in his van with some boards to replace those which had vanished. As he had damaged his back he was unable to stay to help but offered to take our trolley and tools and all the logs up to Linden Glade, thus relieving us of many journeys with the trolley. Neale filled several plastic containers with water and these also were carried in the van.

Karen, Linda and Sharon concentrated on removing some of the vegetation around the edge of the dry pond. Neale, Jim and Mark took turns at digging holes for two large logs to represent an entrance to the pond area. David and Ted removed much of the rotted fence and stacked it out of the way until we can burn it at a later date. By the time we left the two gate posts had been erected and a large amount of vegetation had been removed. Neale also investigated some of the cracks in the pond’s concrete liner.

When we first arrived in Linden Glade we were greeted by a singing Stock Dove. During the morning a nearby Mistle Thrush repeatedly entertained us with a powerful song which contained some unusual flourishes. Four times Tawny Owls called from different parts of the wood.

Workday activity Sunday 3 April 2016 - Photographs above from Neale Fox show the cleared pool and some of the cracks in the surface which we hope to repair.

Present: Neale, Karen, Tim & Ted.

A few of the small holly bushes along West Gorse were removed but there are still more that will have to go. To allow examination of the possibly cracked concrete liner in the old pond in Linden Glade all the surface soil was removed. This has not been a pond since the water supply was disconnected by Croydon Council many years ago. We discovered that the liner was filled with heavy mud with no animal life except worms. The Iris growing there were carefully lifted and put aside, and a start was made to remove some of the vegetation around the edge. When the surface of the concrete is cleaned we might be able to see whether we could make a repair and revive the pond. A newt was found sheltering under a rock and a calling Canada Goose flew over as we were working.

Workday Activity Sunday 20 March 2016 - report from David Malins

4 workers attended - Richard Lock, Neale, Karen & David. Neale & Karen turned post G5 round correctly. They thought it had been turned maliciously. They also cut back the Larch across Middle Gorse. Richard and David cleared the R post in David’s Crook, a few small holly along Pool Grove and some stumps in Linden Glade. After that, later with N&K, we tidied the arisings from last week into 3 habitat piles. This took a long time. I think we must make sure this is done as we go along in future. Neale, Heather & David talked about the Linden Glade blackberry clump nearest the obelisk and the fence. David will prepare a management plan.

Workday activity Sunday 7 February 2016 -  Neale, Karen, Linda, Jim, David, Giles, Ted. photos above from Linda Morris

Despite a cold start we worked in the dry sheltered conditions of Vincent Avenue to remove sycamore and clematis on both sides of the track.  Two calling buzzards kept us company from time to time, soaring over the end of the avenue and provoking the local carrion crows. The pile of clematis (shown above right) was even bigger by the time we left.

Before we got started, and were standing talking, a Fox ran across the car park and out in the direction of Old Farleigh Road.

Malcolm Bridge had offered to help with the Ash regrowth in the Centenary Plantation so while he used the brushcutter I tried to remove the cut material and added it to the dead hedge.  Unfortunately, a few White Helleborines, apparently in seed, were cut down by the cutter.  While we were doing that eight others started work in the woodland at the top of Greenhill Way on the right-hand side of the path, cutting down thin Sycamores and generally opening up the woodland.  With his work done, Malcolm went home, saying he would return on another day with a shredder blade to tackle the remaining Ash and the Bramble.  I joined the woodcutters, admiring the amount of work they had achieved before taking out a few Sycamores myself.  I found an old log with some magnificent King Alfred’s Cakes and another with a small specimen of White Brain, and began a collection which might give us a start on the fungus walk next weekend.  One of Neale’s customers collected ten sacks of logs and Tim decided he would have five, so we are off to a good start this autumn.

Attendance:  Malcolm Bridge, Ted Forsyth, David Malins, Linda Morris, Karen & Neale Fox, Joseph Stone, John Bushnell, Tim Lloyd, Giles Mahon

Workday activity Sunday 27 Sept 2015

When we examined the area where we had been working last winter at the top of Greenhill Way, we found that the new badger holes were not close to our old fire site so we continued in that area.

Cyril used his chainsaw to cut logs while Neale and Karen loaded them into net sacks and delivered them to the store. Linda, Lynne, David and Ted cut back regrowth of Sycamores and occasionally removed some larger Sycamores but left any burning of brash to another day.

Workday activity Sunday 6 Sept 2015 (this was an extra unplanned day)

While David, Karen and Neale concentrated on sorting out tools and equipment at the toilet block, Ted, Stephen, Jim and Simon examined the wooden posts around the extension car park and re-erected those that had rotted at the base. Along Vale Border several bushes, which were beginning to fall across the path, were trimmed. Further trimming was done around a post on the London Loop to make it more visible but a second post, which tends to send walkers in the wrong direction, had to be left for another day.

Attendance:  David Malins, Karen & Neale Fox, Ted Forsyth, Stephen Simpson, Jim Dunning, Simon Morris

Workday Activity Sunday 2 August 2015

Eight of us divided into four groups of two. Neale and Karen concentrated on treating the wooden bear (see photos above) and clearing up the thick carpet of beech mast near the toilet block. Ted and Joseph aimed for field 2, Linda and Simon to field 3, and David and Tim began in David’s Crook. These three groups cleared vegetation around benches in the various fields before venturing into the woodland paths to remove errant bramble stems.  Heather pointed out a Chicken of the Woods fungus, which she had found recently, growing high in a tree in Bluebell Grove. (Now re-identified as a new species – Shaggy Bracket – Inonotus hispidus).

Workday Activity Sunday 5 July 2015

I drove David over early to the car park and we sat in the car watching the rain and chatting. Neale turned up to add to the chat and we were there until 10.40am. Nobody else arrived and we cancelled the workday.

Workday Activity Sunday 7 June 2015

After gathering in the car park we divided into separate groups. David & Tim went to fit a dedication plaque to one of the benches. Linda & Karen took off to deal with a couple of fallen trees and branches and also to clear vegetation from around benches in fields 1, 2 and 3. Ted, Jim, Neale and new volunteer Simon dragged a trolley, with telescopic ladder and various tools, to erect bird boxes. Tim then came to join us while David attempted to remove muddy paw prints from some of our new benches. By the time we had finished 5 new bird boxes had been erected, mainly in Greenhill Way, Pool Grove and The Wend, with another restored at The Gorses and, finally, a bat box was attached to a tree at the top of Langford’s Way. We still have another 5 bird boxes to put up at a later date. We also re-erected name boards for Stevens Walk and Leafy Grove.

Workday Activity Sunday 3 May 2015 - report and photographs below by Neale Fox

Jim, Karen and I went to Sid's (in the rain) and final siliconed the three remaining boards and fitted the plaques. We then walked and fitted the Bridle Way board and drove and fitted the other two. While Jim guarded his car which was parked on the pavement/driveway at the Courtwood Lane roundabout, Karen and I walked down and fitted the Baker Boy Lane gate plaque. Karen went home to do some gardening while Jim and I returned to the store to unload and dispose of rubbish. Because the sun had come out now we had a slow walk and fitted the last two plaques at Vincent Way and Farleigh Border.

Thanks for tea and biscuits at Sid's supplied by Janet and David. Special thanks to Jim for the use of his car throughout the whole project and Sid for the use of his garage.

Workday Activity Sunday 1 March 2015 - photos above by John Zareba

Neale & Jim put up the new board in the car park and treated the woodwork (supervised by Karen). (See History page for photos and a full account.)

Alan & Janet, Tim, Cyril, Joseph & Ted concentrated on burning more of the existing brash in our work area in the Maruja Dale Plantation. Cyril also cut more Sycamore and attempted to battle with the wild clematis some of which had three inch diameter stems. David was putting up notices on various boards.

A calling Buzzard flew over the work party in the direction of Kingswood and returned later to fly across field 2 (Vale Meadow).

Workday activity Selsdon Wood Sun 22 Feb 2015

When I arrived at the car park with David and Cyril there was a crowd of volunteers waiting – Giles, Tim, Jim, Joseph & Linda plus Faheem with his wife and two sons. Once we got to the worksite we were joined by the three Bushnells – Alan, Janet & John.  This was the largest group we have had for some time so we quickly got stuck into the work. A fire was soon alight and many of the party dragged material from the various brash piles so that Giles and I were kept busy putting it on the fire. Cyril and others cut more trees and Jim used bolt cutters to remove half-buried old fencing which had been annoying us for some time. After three hours work the group began to break up as members drifted off to other duties, so we tidied up the fire and left rather earlier than usual but having achieved a pleasing amount.

Towards the end we found a tree which was still standing but was quite rotten. It sported a large clump of the winter-fruiting Velvet Shank fungus (shown right) and the trunk was covered in Purple Jellydisc.

2014

Workday activity Sunday 7 Dec 2014

Rain had virtually stopped when our work party of six continued thinning out the Sycamores in Greenhill Way. We managed to get a fire started and made a start on the job of disposing of the piles of brash. Sycamores were cut down by chainsaw and hand tools, dead hedging continued, and a safety barrier was built around badger holes to reduce a possible trip hazard. There is still more to do in this area next time.

Workday Activity Sunday 30 Nov 2014

On a foggy Sunday morning seven of us met in the car park. Before long we were in our work area cutting down Sycamores, building a dead hedge, and doing our best to bring down the thick ropes of Wild Clematis. Several stems of decaying Elder were covered in a profusion of well-developed Jelly Ear fungi, and two tiny orange discs on a fallen branch were later identified as Common Eyelash fungi. We did not have a fire this time but will need one some time soon to reduce the number of brash piles, though we will leave a few as habitat piles for invertebrates.

Workday Activity Sunday 2 Nov 2014

With an initial drizzly start, eight of us decided to brave the weather. Neale and Jim remained at the toolstore to sand down and prepare frames for the proposed renovation of the information boards. David, Giles, Linda and Andy returned to the work area to deal with sycamores, while Cyril and I walked along Vale Border to cut down a fallen tree balanced precariously on another. When we got back to the car park we took some tools to remove the tensioning wire from an old half-buried fence. By now the rain was falling steadily so we packed up and went home.

Workday Activity Sunday 26 October 2014

Ten volunteers arrived for some exercise. Cyril and Jim went off to cut up a tree which had fallen across Broad Walk.  David, Andy and Timmy went to the junction of The Wend and Leafy Grove to replace a Green Route marker post which had rotted at the base. Giles, Lind and Ted, joined later by Janet and Allan, took tools to the work area and began the process of burning some of the piles of brash. More sycamores were cut down and as the other groups joined us the process accelerated.  Three large brash piles were cleared and some brash was used to make a dead hedge along the edge of the path. Throughout the area there were many very large wild clematis with stems over two inches in diameter, tangling with our legs at ground level and stretching to the tops of the trees. While we were working we found several more moss-covered logs sporting examples of Dead Moll's Fingers fungi. Volunteers leave when it suits them and today, when we were down to the last four, a Buzzard flew over the group.

Workday Activity Sunday 5 October 2014

In the absence of several of our usual volunteers it was a depleted team that continued work on the Sycamores in Greenhill Way but our numbers were boosted by three new recruits. Though most of us used handtools, Cyril used his chainsaw to cut down stumps or to trim branches from trees brought down by others. One or two very large wild roses, covered in wild clematis, were quite a challenge to remove and will probably form the basis of a dead hedge later. Our main purpose in clearing the Sycamores is to open up glades which will let in more light, hopefully encouraging the growth of other species like Beech. Some of the Sycamores are probably too big for us to tackle, having been left to grow for a long period. Several Norway Spruce appear to have died but will probably be left standing as a habitat for invertebrates though one has another tree caught up in it and may have to be taken down for safety reasons.

Volunteers: Cyril Watmore, Richard Lock, Ted Forsyth, Giles Mahon, Alan & Janet Bushnell, Valerie and her granddaughter Joanna.

Workday Activity Sunday 28 Sept 2014 - photos below from Mark Shoesmith

For the first workday of the autumn we had ten volunteers working on a new activity – thinning out Sycamores at the entrance to the wood on Greenhill Way. As the trees are still in leaf it was easy to identify all sizes of the target species but in case we are still working after the leaves fall David began marking some of the trees. We were soon in groups, working in separate areas, and trees were coming down right, left and centre but inevitably one or two got caught up on other trees and required more work before they also hit the ground. By the time we left after about four hours multiple large temporary habitat piles were scattered across our work area, but there is plenty to do next week.

Workday Activity Sun 3rd August 2014

Having removed five of the six information boards in the wood, Neale Fox and Jim Dunning concentrated on taking two of them apart and sanding down the wood in preparation for later work.

Karen Fox, Linda Morris and Timmy Lloyd joined Ted in the Jubilee Plantation where we cleared a large amount of Wild Clematis, Nettles and other vegetation into which some of our smaller tree whips were threatening to disappear. Karen found an interesting chrysalis hanging underneath a bramble leaf. I have now collected it in the hope that it might be free of parasites and be able to produce a moth or butterfly.

David Malins, with Alan and Janet Bushnell, worked in Middle and East Gorse to control some of the vegetation, mainly bramble, which was trying to close of the paths despite our attempts at control over the past weeks. After the other groups had broken up and left, I joined David’s group for an hour but began by cutting down a Hazel in East Gorse which had fallen low across the path. Unfortunately, when David and I started on our way back to the car park I appear to have left my binoculars behind and have not been able to trace them today, Monday.

The clump of marjoram in David’s Crook had a fine collection of butterflies with 2 Small Copper, 1 Common Blue, at least 7 Gatekeepers and 3 Meadow Browns.

FSW Work Day Sunday 6^th July - report by David Malins (see photos below)

A small but very select group of 5 was dedicated enough to ignore the showers up to the time we started. From that time on the weather was dry but the foliage was wet. We split into 3 teams – Jim went round checking that the dimensions of all the Council Information boards were the same. This is in preparation for a FSW project to replace the posters and renovate the Council boards.

The rest of us set out to improve access to seats, benches & paths for visitors. Linda Ingram and Robert trimmed the foliage back from all the seats & benches around Fields 2 & 3 and from the benches and paths from a large section of woodland.

Linda Morris and David carried out the same job around Fields 1 & 5 and the woodland nearby. They were astonished to find that a bench in Linden Glade had disappeared completely behind bracken & brambles (see pictures above from Linda - click to expand). They were disappointed that 2 Information cards had disappeared – they will be replaced shortly.

We would have done the same job around Field 4 and more of the woodland if we had more volunteers.

In spite of the damp we were pleased to see marbled white & meadow brown butterflies in Fields, 3 & 5.

On a warm sunny day we split into three groups. Neale and Karen concentrated on cleaning up the tool store after the activities of the recent charcoal weekend. David and Richard investigated David’s Crook where they cleared vegetation around seats including the old picnic table. Jim, Beth and Ted started on Vale Border to reduce problems caused by a couple of small fallen trees and branches overhanging the path. On our way to meet David again we cleared the vegetation around some seats.

David, Richard and Jim then returned to David’s Crook to remove an object blocking a hole where the old picnic table used to be. Beth and Ted walked around benches and seats in Great Field to clear vegetation. Beth and Richard then had to leave so the remaining three continued the vegetation clearance around the seats and benches in Field 2.

Back at the tool store, which was now in a much more tidy state, Neale and Karen were still at work and were joined by Jim. David and Ted went home, leaving them to finish what they were doing.

Workday Activity Sunday 4 May 2014

David grabbed two muscular bodies, Tim Lloyd and Jim Dunning, and escorted them to Broad Walk to replace a route marker post which had been uprooted. I was joined by Linda Ingram and Richard Lock in the Jubilee Plantation where we were surprised at how much regrowth had taken place since we cleared the area at the end of March. With shears, loppers and gloved hands we began ripping up Goose Grass, Nettles and Wild Clematis, and within a remarkably short time David’s group were with us and joining in the fun. We tried to free any young tree whips from the covering vegetation and removed material between the rows of the more established young trees, many of which seem to be growing well. Our efforts had some effect on the appearance of the plantation (see the photo) but regrowth will continue and we may have to do the job again.

Workday Activity Sunday 30 March 2014

I had been contacted by Faheem Mirza who had offered to bring a group of volunteers from Muslims for Humanity to help our usual team (see http://www.muslimsforhumanity.org.uk). Shortly after 10.00am Ted, David, Timmy, Neale, Karen & Linda were joined by Faheem, Acker, Raneel, Waseem, Ahmed, Asim and Jahanzeb. Once the day's task had been explained the combined teams got to work clearing wild clematis and other unwanted vegetation from between the rows of the growing tree whips. One blackthorn, which had reached a height of about five feet, was even in flower. The work went so quickly and efficiently that most of the clearing had been completed by 1.30pm. We had achieved an impressive amount of work and the Jubilee Plantation now lives up to its name. During the day we were serenaded by the local chiffchaff and song thrush and had frequent visits  by male brimstone butterflies. A comma butterfly also made an appearance.

Extra workday in Selsdon Wood Monday 10th March

During scrub clearing on Hutchinson's Bank on Sunday 10 March I noticed that the cut tree stumps were oozing sap. I decided that it would be unwise to leave any tree removal in Selsdon Wood to the last workday at the end of March so I persuaded Cyril Watmore and David Malins to join me in the wood on Monday. David in turn contacted John Zareba who joined us later. We began in Bluebell Grove where I had earlier made a partially successful attempt to clear a fallen tree. With Cyril wielding his chainsaw he removed more of the fallen trunk in a few seconds than I had managed in a couple of hours! We then carried on to the coppice area where we got a fire started then Cyril cut down many thin spindly trees, many of which had severe squirrel damage. As usual we burned the brash and retained wood for later charcoal making, etc. A few others may have to be removed later to allow access for the charcoal kiln. At some stage we hope to replant with young tree whips and to protect them from deer by putting up a deer fence.

Workday Activity Sunday 2 March 2014

David and the three Bushnells - Alan, Janet & John - took mattocks and spades and made an attempt to drain some of the standing water particularly in Avis Grove and at the top of Langford's Way. With Cyril's help they also dealt with an awkward tree causing an obstruction.

Before getting involved with David's group Cyril had done magnificent work in cutting down lots of trees which were mostly showing squirrel damage. The remaining six of us coppiced trees and transported the results of Cyril's work to the fire or the log pile. We also found time to make a couple of invertebrate habitat piles formed from old decayed logs which we hope will encourage stag beetles among other things. When tidying up tree stumps we were left with short thick bits of timber, some of which went on to the fire but others were put into another pile. Given time this should result in another habitat pile of decayed wood. As stag beetle larvae take several years to reach maturity it may be some time before we get any evidence of their presence.

Workday Activity Sunday 23 February 2014

David and Alan used mattocks to cut drainage channels where a standing pool forms every winter in the track leading from Stevens Walk to David's Crook. Six more volunteers began in the coppice area with Cyril cutting down hazels while I got a fire going. Once we were satisfied, Cyril and I went to Beech Grove to clear the remains of a large oak branch causing a blockage, before returning to help in the coppice area. David had found a large well-decayed log which Alan and I half buried to act as a possible home for stag beetle larvae. The two Lindas, Morris and Ingrams, had worked with Clare Kemsley and Jim Dunning to clear and burn much of the material left by Cyril's initial assault on the hazels. We also built up our material for possible charcoal making, etc.

Workday Activity Sunday 2 February 2014

Seven volunteers went directly to the coppice area while Cyril and I walked up Greehill Way to examine a large fallen Ash tree which was blocking the track leading to the finger post pointing to Bluebell Grove. Cyril enjoyed himself cutting much of the tree to pieces with his chainsaw. We left the track clear except for the main trunk of the tree which had been left where it fell by the side of the track. We also cleared several much smaller trees in Leafy Grove and Noakes Way.
 
At the coppice area there had been trouble in getting the fire started so we spent some time coaxing it into flame then piled on the brash which had been accumulating. Hazels were re-coppiced, with the larger material being retained and brash finding its way on to the fire. An older brash pile was demolished but we will retain some piles as habitat for invertebrates.

Photo shows Linda modelling a FSW hi-viz jacket and one of our latest hard-hats.

2013

Workday Activity Sun 29 Dec 2013

David led a group of five, walking in from the far end of the wood to deal with fallen trees in the areas of Avis Grove and Broad Walk while I joined another group of six at the car park. We began by clearing two birches which were blocking Greenhill Way then moved on to Farleigh Border where we decided the trees there had to be cleared by the professionals.

To get to the coppice area we took a route through East Gorse and found two more birches had come down at the junction with Leafy Grove. On one of the birches was one of the first bird boxes we put up several years ago - it had been occupied by Blue Tits on several occasions. We rescued the box and will find a new home for it. We had to leave trees in Stevens Walk and Jubilee Plantation for the Tree Officer to sort out. In Great Field we found David's group dealing with an ivy-covered tree which had fallen out of Stevens Larch - we helped to reduce its size. We were then able to get back to coppicing which we did for a couple of hours or so. While clearing up small branches one was found to be covered in a black jelly which was later identified as Exidia plana - related to Witches Butter (Exidia glandulosa) but much less common (see the Fungi Page of this website for a photograph).

Workday Activity Sunday 1 December 2013

Eager to get started, Cyril forged ahead, dragging the trolley of tools and haversacks. We left Karen and Neale behind to cut up and bag the logs we had collected last week. At the coppice area six of us spread out to continue coppicing the hazels. Loppers and bowsaws were wielded by the three ladies – Linda Morris, Linda Ingram and new volunteer, Clare Kemsley – and Richard Lock, while I concentrated initially on dealing with the fire and Cyril moved from clearing tree stumps with the chainsaw to helping with coppicing and removing thin and damaged trees. John Zareba arrived to get his share of exercise and contributed to the coppicing and dragging of brash to the fire. I can hardly wait for spring to see the effect our clearance has on bluebells and other vegetation in the area.

Workday Activity Sunday 3 Nov 2013 - see photos above by Linda Morris

On a lovely Sunday morning eleven of us gathered in the car park to collect tools, while David walked in from the other side of the wood to meet the Wildlife Officer from the East Surrey Badger Society to decide what action to take about a possible badger hole which was in the path along the Vale Border.

At our coppice site Cyril immediately got to work with the chainsaw and removed dozens of tree stumps which we had left about three or four feet high. Others spread out over the site and began coppicing the old hazels and removing thin straggly trees of various species. The fire was soon dealing with the brash and our material for charcoal was building up nicely. At one point we discovered that a ten foot length of plastic deer fence had been removed and as a result deer had got into the area and had eaten the young growth on the smaller hazels and other trees. We managed to find some netting and made a repair to the fence but the damage to the young trees will probably result in distorted growth in the future.

When David joined the group the badger hole in the Vale Border path had been covered by a slab and David had taken the opportunity to cut up several small trees or branches which had fallen recently. For a larger and potentially dangerous tree he  persuaded Cyril to use his chainsaw to make it safe. Incidentally, both David and I have cleared several paths where last weekend’s storm had ripped off large branches and deposited them on paths.

The work of the team has already produced a light open area in the wood and will probably result in a good show of bluebells next spring.

Workday Activity Sun 29 Sept 2013

I was pleasantly surprised when the volunteer numbers built up to 13 for the first workday of the autumn. Unfortunately David could not remain long as he had previously damaged his shoulder at home. While the trolley of tools was being dragged to the coppice area I took a few people to see the Yellow Stagshorn fungus which had returned to the same tree stump in West Gorse where it has appeared in previous years.
 
At the coppice area we had to select a new fire site - a well-lit glade seemed suitable so we set about widening it with the help of Cyril's chainsaw. Once the fire was lit we were kept busy throwing on the material Cyril had cut, but retaining anything which could be used later for tree stakes, charcoal, etc.  More material was cut and burned, then a third cut was left for us to deal with next time. While most of us were involved in that activity a smaller group were cutting with hand tools and using the material to strengthen a dead hedge.
 
As predicted, we did find several fungi including a small Fly Agaric and something which was either Toothed Crust or Split Porecrust, and a number of other species.

Workday Activity Sunday 4th August 2013

The bench which sat at the top of Greenhill Way in the car park field, just before the entrance to the wood, was removed by five volunteers and transferred to a new position in Field 3 (Great Hill). In the old position new holes were dug in preparation for a new seat donated by the Friends. (The seat was installed by Ted, Cyril, David and John on 7th August with the ehlp of two guys from Norbury Sawmills - the manufacturer).

Another five volunteers worked in the Jubilee Plantation to cut down or remove nettles, wild clematis and anything else which was burying the many tree whips, some of which are still very small though the more vigorous ones have reached heights of four feet or more. Where the original small whips were marked by a larger stake we cleared around some of the stakes to let more light and moisture to reach the whips. While we were happy with what we achieved there is still a lot more work to be done.

When I left the wood I continued on to Hutchinson’s Bank where I found a Dark Green Fritillary and two Clouded Yellow butterflies. Having sent an email to warn Martin Wills, I received a reply in which he said he had seen four Clouded Yellows.  It looks as though there has been an influx so keep your eyes open!

The team was composed of Ted, David and new member Barry Holiday. Over a period of about four hours we cleared vegetation around most of the seats and benches in all five fields, possibly leaving a few untouched along Vale Border in the car park field. There are still others in Linden Glade and at the Gorse Plantation which will possibly need attention. We did not have time to look at the Jubilee Plantation. At the top left of the car park field we found a Scorched Carpet moth and in field 3, down the southern hedge, we found a White Helleborine with huge white buds. As we left a seat we had been working on in field 3 a couple said, "You were concentrating so much you missed the deer which ran across!". As we were walking past the opening into Broad Walk we noticed a Roe Deer walking across the path followed a few seconds later by another.