London Wildlife Trust | Nature Conservation Lewisham

August 15, 2017
by Jess kyle 2 Comments

New Cross Gate Cutting Open Day

Saturday 26th August 2017 – 1:00pm – 4:00pm

Come and explore this beautiful nature reserve which is usually closed to the public.

New Cross Gate Cutting is a secluded area of woodland with small grassy glades, set on the broad slopes of a deep railway cutting, which supports 170 species of flowering plants.

The reserve is predominantly oak woodland with open glades of neutral and acid grassland in which reeds and tall herbs grow. Some flowers are locally rare, and the site contributes to one of London’s most important railway cuttings for wildlife, stretching southwards to Forest Hill.

The cutting was dug in 1838-39 and still bears the legacy of once being part of the old Great North Wood, and at times the route of the Croydon Canal, brickworks, and wartime allotments.

Venue location

New Cross Gate Cutting,
Vesta Road Entrance,
London,
SE4 2NR

Great North Wood Walk – Saturday 12 August, 12pm-4pm

Sydenham Hill and Dulwich Wood ©Daniel Greenwood

A walk of 6 green miles through the remnants of the Great North Wood

This is the annual Great North Wood walk in partnership with London Wildlife Trust, the Friends of One Tree Hill, and The Conservation Volunteers.

The walk will is six miles long and will begin at One Tree Hill, passing over the hill down to Brenchley Gardens, Wood Vale, Cox’s Walk, Sydenham Hill Wood, Dulwich Wood, Dulwich Upper Wood and finally to Crystal Palace Park, finishing at the station.

The Great North Wood is an ancient landscape of woods and commons which has remnants in the wildwood that colonised after the Ice Age ended 10,000 years ago. Though London has been much developed and altered by human industry and settlement, large tracts of the Great North Wood’s ancient woodland still remains, namely in Sydenham Hill and Dulwich Woods.

This is a walk of approximately six miles, taking around 3-4 hours with regular pauses along the way to talk about the wildlife and history of each place. Please wear walking boots, bring water, sun hat and sun cream if needed, and clothing suitable for the conditions.

Venue location

Meet at the Friends of One Tree Hill notice board next to the temple, near to the junction of Hengrave Road and Honor Oak Park,
One Tree Hill,
Southwark,
Greater London,
SE23

Contact: Daniel Greenwood

Tel: 07734 599 728 Email: dgreenwood@wildlondon.org.uk

July 16, 2017
by Jess kyle 1 Comment

Bug Day at Sydenham Hill Wood – Thursday 27 July, 11am-2pm

Honey Bee on ragwort (©Daniel Greenwood)

A family-friendly day to celebrate the amazing invertebrates that are so vital to our world

Join the London Wildlife Trust for this family event to celebrate the weird and wonderful insects that are so important to Sydenham Hill Wood and the ecosystems we depend on for survival.

If you love bees, butterflies, dragonflies, beetles, bugs and slugs, you will love bug day!

We’ll be leading pond dipping sessions to discover the wild world underneath the surface of the Dewy Pond, searching for beetles and creepy crawlies under logs, and identifying butterflies and bees in the Wood’s sunny glades.

Venue Location

Sydenham Hill Wood and Cox’s Walk,
Southwark,
Greater London,
SE26 6LS

Grid reference
TQ344725

July 10, 2017
by Jess kyle Leave a comment

Butterfly Walk, Sydenham Hill Woods – Sunday 23 July, 2pm-4pm

Comma butterfly © Daniel Greenwood

A guided butterfly walk in Sydenham Hill Wood

Please note booking is essential for this event

Join the London Wildlife Trust’s Sydenham Hill Wood volunteer Emma Pooley for a guided walk looking at the range of butterflies that can be found in an urban woodland.

Sydenham Hill Wood is a mixture of ancient and secondary woodland with large, sunny glades where butterflies bask, feed and breed in the spring and summer months. We are likely to encounter speckled wood, comma, peacock, red admiral, skippers and whites. This walk is also an opportunity to raise awareness of bees, moths, dragonflies and all the other invertebrates which play such a vital role in the ecosystems we depend on for a healthy environment.

The weather is key in the success of this walk. If there is prolonged rain, thunderstorms or high winds the walk will be postponed to a later date.

Please bring clothing suitable for the conditions (sun hat, sun cream and water if needed) as well as footwear suitable for uneven paths and gentle inclines.

This is a free walk, a minimum donation of £2 towards our work is recommended

If you love Sydenham Hill Wood please help us protect it in the long term by becoming a London Wildlife Trust member

June 20, 2017
by Jess kyle 1 Comment

Bat, Moth and Owl Prowl, Sydenham Hill Wood, Friday 7 July, 9pm-11pm

Pipistrelle bat © London Wildlife Trust

Guided bat walk in Sydenham Hill Wood

Meet at the Crescent Wood Road entrance.

Join the London Wildlife Trust for a guided walk of Sydenham Hill Wood to discover bats, moths and tawny owls. Using bat detectors, our site warden and volunteers will reveal a hidden, nocturnal world in urban south London.

Sydenham Hill Wood is part ancient woodland, one of the largest remaining fragments of the Great North Wood which once stretched from Deptford to Selhurst. The following species have been recorded at the Wood: soprano pipistrelle, common pipisrelle, nathusius pipistrelle, brown long-eared, natterer’s, Leisler’s, noctule and serotine.

Tawny owls are known to breed in the Wood and the local area and can be heard calling in daylight hours as well as in the deep of night. Males call ‘twoo’ and females ‘ke-wick’.

We will have a moth trap in the main glade to exhibit some of the many beautiful species which can be found in the Wood.

This is a free walk, a minimum donation of £2 towards our work is recommended

If you love Sydenham Hill Wood please help us protect it in the long term by becoming a London Wildlife Trust member.

Venue location

Meet inside the Crescent Wood Road gate,
Sydenham Hill Wood and Cox’s Walk,
Southwark,
Greater London,
SE26 6LS

Grid reference
TQ344725

June 4, 2017
by Jess kyle Leave a comment

Wildflower Walk Sunday 25 June, 2pm-4pm

Guided walk looking at the diverse plant communities in this urban secondary/ancient woodland.

Please note booking is essential for this event

Join the Sydenham Hill Wood Conservation Officer and our volunteers for a guided wildflower walk. Please note this is not a foraging event. The Wood is a remnant of the once vast Great North Wood which stretched from Deptford to Selhurst, a wildwood that colonised the landscape after the end of the Ice Age 10,000 years ago.

The Wood has undergone much change and disturbance in the past 150 years meaning that the plant communities have changed and adapted to the conditions enforced upon them by man. Many of the Wood’s most common plants are colonisers of disturbed ground. The now closed Crystal Palace High Level railway allowed for the arrival of spectacular plants like rosebay willowherb, which is a mainstay of the Wood’s main glade in summer.

Attendees require no knowledge prior to the walk but an appreciation of conservation and the pressures on urban wildlife are important to bear in mind. Wildflowers are threatened at the Wood by trampling in sensitive areas, nutrification from dog fouling and the impacts of thoughtless foraging. These are all topics which will be discussed during the walk.

For your own safety please wear clothing suitable for the conditions, including sturdy footwear.

If there is inclement weather the walk will be postponed to a later date.

This is a free walk, donations to London Wildlife Trust are welcome.

Details

Location: Inside the Crescent Wood Road entrance by the notice board,
Sydenham HIll Wood, London, London, SE15 4EE

Contact: Daniel Greewood -Tel: 0207 252 9186 email – dgreenwood@wildlondon.org.uk

May 25, 2017
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Evening Tree Walk at Sydenham Hill Wood, Wednesday 31 May, 7pm-9pm

Guided tree walk in Sydenham Hill Wood to uncover the ancient landscape of the Great North Wood.

Join our Sydenham Hill Wood Conservation Officer for a guided tree walk as part of London Tree Week. As one of the largest remnants of the Great North Wood, the Wood has a fascinating range of native tree species which indicate the ancient lineage of the habitats.

By identifying the trees and understanding why they are there, a rich natural and cultural history can be uncovered, pointing to a landscape formed after the Ice Age ended some 10,000 years ago and redrawn over the centuries by human industry and settlement.

The trees of Sydenham Hill Wood provide habitat of metropolitan importance to London, with species like the great spotted woodpecker, nuthatch, stock dove and tree creeper dependent on the Wood’s populations of sessile oaks to survive.

Need to know

Please wear study footwear fit for uneven paths with gentle inclines, as well as clothing suitable for the conditions.

If there is prolonged heavy rain, thunderstorms or high winds the walk will be postponed to a later date.