Nature Conservation Lewisham

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Category Archives: Sydenham Hill Woods


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Spring walk at Sydenham Hill Wood – Thursday 26 April

Lesser celandines flowering in Sydenham Hill Wood

Lesser celandines flowering in Sydenham Hill Wood

Guided walk in Sydenham Hill Wood to find spring wildlife

Celebrate the coming of spring in London’s ancient woodlands

Join London Wildlife Trust for a guided walk to spot the violets, bluebells, primroses and buttercups that mark a special time in Sydenham Hill Wood. Sydenham Hill Wood is home to plants, animals and fungi that show it has been covered by trees since the 1600s, with some parts linking back to the prehistoric wildwood

We will also keep an eye out for spring birds, butterflies and the trees coming into leaf

This is a free walk, a minimum donation of £2 towards London Wildlife Trust’s work is recommended

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

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Dawn chorus walk in Sydenham Hill Wood – Saturday 21 April 2018

Wren perched on branch singing at dawn

Wren perched on branch singing at dawn

Join the London Wildlife Trust for an early morning bird walk in the woods. They’ll be looking and listening out for the many species of birds that use the woods at this time of year.

The dawn chorus is one of the most important dates in nature’s calendar. Sydenham Hill Wood is a part ancient and secondary woodland with a diverse strcuture of habitats. This means the Wood is rich in biodiversity and is especially good for its bird species.

Recent dawn chorus walks have led to encounters with kestrel, song thrush, green woodpecker, nuthatch and hunting tawny owl. Though there is much to see at this time in the morning, the main purpose of the walk will be to tune into the aural ambience of this very special landscape.

Meeting point is inside the southern entrance to Sydenham Hill Wood on Crescent Wood Road.
Time: 4:45am – 7:00am

There is no need to book and the walk is free; but if you would like to make a contribution to London Wildlife Trust your donations are most welcome.


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Hedgehog Discovery Day at Sydenham Hill Wood – Sunday 8 April

Hedgehog Discovery Day ©London Wildlife Trust

Hedgehog Discovery Day

Join the London Wildlife at Sydenham Hill Wood for fun, family friendly activities and learn all about hedgehogs.

Take home a clay hedgehog, tackle the footprint challenge, and see if you can make it to the end of our hedgehog survival game!

Learn more about our hedgehog project, and how you can discover if there are hedgehogs where you live.

Location: The big clearing along the Green Chain Walk/old railway path, Sydenham Hill Wood
Date: Sunday 8th April
Time: 11am-3pm

This is a free event as part of London Wildlife Trust’s Urban Urchins project.


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Winter bird walk at Sydenham Hill Wood, Sunday 11 February 2018

Firecrest at Sydenham Hill Wood

Firecrest at Sydenham Hill Wood © Gavin Horsley

 

Guided walk in Sydenham Hill Wood to find winter birds

Join London Wildlife Trust for a guided walk to discover the range of birds present in Sydenham Hill Wood.

Winter sees the return of the iconic firecrest, redwing, fieldfare, siskin and an influx of robin, goldfinch and chaffinch. It’s also a great time to see birds because the trees are bare.

Sydenham Hill Wood supports a stunning array of breeding birds in the summer months, but winter is the best time to look for harder to spot birds like the nuthatch, tree creeper, and to spot flocks of redwing

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

Date and Time: Sunday 11 February 2018, 8am-9.30am

Location:

Inside the Crescent Wood Road gate,
Sydenham Hill Wood & Cox’s Walk,
Dulwich,
London


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Winter tree walk at Sydenham Hill Wood, Sunday 28 January 2018

Sessile oak trees in Sydenham Hill Wood

Sessile Oak Trees © D. Greenwood

A London Wildlife Trust guided walk at Sydenham Hill Wood identifying winter trees

Join London Wildlife Trust staff and volunteers for a guided tour of Sydenham Hill Wood’s winter trees.

Sydenham Hill Wood is part of the Great North Wood, a network of woods and commons that once stretched from Deptford to Selhurst. The Wood is part ancient and is recovering as a nature reserve after the damage done by Victorian development in the mid-late 1800s. Sessile oak and hornbeam are the Wood’s principle species that tell a story of London’s natural history but also it’s development as a city.

London’s woods fuelled its early development and today are cherished for their role in providing habitat for wildlife and peaceful refuge for visitors, whilst purifying the air, storing carbon and containing rainwater.

By learning to identify trees in winter you can gain ID skills that will help you to deepen your knowledge when they leaf again in spring.

Date and Time: Sunday 28 January, 1.30pm-3.30pm

Venue location:

Inside the Crescent Wood Road gate,
Sydenham Hill Wood & Cox’s Walk,
Dulwich,
London


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A History of Sydenham Hill Wood – Friday 24 November 2017

Horses removing fallen trees from Sydenham Hill Wood after the Great Storm of 87

Horse removing timber after storm of 1987 © The London Wildlife Trust

 

A talk about the history of Sydenham Hill Wood & Cox’s Walk at the Centre for Wildlife Gardening

Join London Wildlife Trust at the Centre for Wildlife Gardening for a talk about the history of Sydenham Hill Wood.

Sydenham Hill Wood is one of the largest remaining remnants of the Great North Wood, a landscape of woods and commons which stretched from Deptford to Selhurst and has origins in the wildwood that colonised after the Ice Age ended 10,000 years ago. The Wood has a fascinating cultural history, with a number of interesting individuals having lived nearby within the Great North Wood. These include John Ruskin, Lord Byron and the speech therapist, Lionel Logue, made famous by The King’s Speech. The former lived in a house which was once a part of Sydenham Hill Wood.

The Wood itself was saved from development in the 1980s resulting in a nature reserve loved and managed by members of the local community, the very people who saved it.

Today London Wildlife Trust volunteers rekindle ancient land management of coppicing, pollarding and dead hedging to aid the regeneration of the Wood’s flora and fauna.

This is a free talk.

Date and Time: Friday 24 November 2017, 7pm – 8.30pm

Location:

Centre for Wildlife Gardening
28 Marsden Road SE15 4EE,
Centre for Wildlife Gardening,
Peckham,
SE15 4EE


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A History of Sydenham Hill Wood at the Centre for Wildlife Gardening

Friday 24 November 2017 – 7:00pm – 8:30pm

Horses removing fallen trees from Sydenham Hill Wood after the Great Storm of 87

Horses removing timber after the storm of 1997

 

A talk about the history of Sydenham Hill Wood & Cox’s Walk at the Centre for Wildlife Gardening

Join London Wildlife Trust at the Centre for Wildlife Gardening for a talk about the history of Sydenham Hill Wood.

Sydenham Hill Wood is one of the largest remaining remnants of the Great North Wood, a landscape of woods and commons which stretched from Deptford to Selhurst and has origins in the wildwood that colonised after the Ice Age ended 10,000 years ago. The Wood has a fascinating cultural history, with a number of interesting individuals having lived nearby within the Great North Wood. These include John Ruskin, Lord Byron and the speech therapist, Lionel Logue, made famous by The King’s Speech. The former lived in a house which was once a part of Sydenham Hill Wood.

The Wood itself was saved from development in the 1980s resulting in a nature reserve loved and managed by members of the local community, the very people who saved it.

Today London Wildlife Trust volunteers rekindle ancient land management of coppicing, pollarding and dead hedging to aid the regeneration of the Wood’s flora and fauna.

This is a free talk.

Venue location

Centre for Wildlife Gardening
28 Marsden Road SE15 4EE,
Centre for Wildlife Gardening,
Peckham,
Greater London,
SE15 4EE