June is for wildflowers, and more
By Clare Graham, Chair, Open Spaces Committee
June's the time for wildflowers: could you help us with our survey? Elsewhere, summer in the parks begins with an open day at long-closed Thessaly Oasis, and a family fun day in Shillington Gardens. Read too about two new wildflower meadows on Clapham Common, and safety improvements along the Thames Path.
Battersea Society wildflower survey, 13 June
Starting off last year’s survey in Falcon Park.
We need volunteers! Enable Biodiversity have very kindly offered us a slot to survey wildflowers in two areas of Falcon Park and Christchurch Gardens, following on from No-Mow May. This will be on Thursday 13 June; we'll be meeting at 13.30, and finishing around 15.30. No botanical expertise is required, but please email us as soon as possible if you would like to come along, as we only have eight spaces left at the time of writing. You can learn more of what's involved from this account of our 2023 survey; it's an enjoyable activity, especially on a fine afternoon!
Open Day at Thessaly Oasis, 8 June
The Oasis, viewed from Thessaly Road.
You may not know the Oasis, because for many years now it's been closed up and neglected; it is however a quite substantial area of mature trees, grass and undergrowth at the Wandsworth Road end of Thessaly Road, opposite Carey Gardens. Originally a community playground created in the 1970s from a piece of waste land between housing estates, it was later run by Wandsworth Children's Services. Eventually it was closed off as unsafe, but local residents have long agitated to get it opened again, and must surely be as delighted as I am to see that the Council has now cleared out much of the rubbish and undergrowth, and plans to reopen and renew it. Find out more, and tell the Council how you would like to see it transformed and used, at the Open Day to be held there on Saturday 8 June, 12-4: full details on the Council website here.
Summer events in Battersea's open spaces
Summer activities in Shillington Gardens, to take place on 9 June.
Next, a heads-up for Enable's Summer In programme. This runs from 8 June to 15 July, predominantly within Battersea Park—but there will be a family activities day in Shillington Gardens on Sunday 9 June too, as above. I gather that later in the year the Battersea Community Festival will once more be held in Shillington, on Saturday 7 September, though further details are yet to be announced. I'm also pleased to see that last year's very successful and well-organised Battersea Park in Concert event will be repeated over the late August Bank Holiday weekend.
Two new wildflower meadows on Clapham Common
One of the signs put up to protect the new meadows.
Many of you will have already no doubt have spotted these, on your perambulations of the Common—there is one between Battersea Rise and Grandison Road, near the playground, and another off The Avenue, near Broomwood Road and the outdoor gym. They were created in April, so may not produce much of a show this year. The embanked form is perhaps unexpected, but the idea I gather is that soil is scraped out from the centre of the space, to reduce its fertility and thus encourage wildflowers. It's then built up into surrounding banks which warm up early, encouraging a succession of blooms to feed the butterflies and other pollinators that the meadows are designed to attract. It's all part of a long-term project to improve the Common's biodiversity, discussed by the Common's Management Advisory Committee here. And I’ve included a photo below of one of the Common's longer-established meadows, located on the Lambeth area of the Common.
Evening view of a wildflower meadow on the Common, near Holy Trinity church.
Safety Improvements on the Thames Path
One of the new signs along the Thames Path.
Finally, earlier this month the Council announced that in response to residents' safety concerns it would be introducing various improvements along the Thames Path between Wandsworth Bridge and Battersea Park, designed to prioritise pedestrians and slow cyclists down at certain points. New signage, planters and rumble strips are being installed, working eastwards; initially it all looks promising enough, but it's difficult to assess how effective it will prove until everything's in place.