Wildlife Circus

  Yesterday, Richard Jefferies exited his blue-plaqued villa at Woodside, 296 Ewell Road, opposite the former St. Marks school(built on Tolworth Common during his 5 year  residence). Here he wrote, ' The copse adjoining the back gardens of Woodside was visited by pheasants, which sometimes strayed into the neighbours’ gardens. Early in the March mornings he woke to the ‘three clear, trumpet-like notes’ of a missel thrush ringing out from the copse. From his window in the evenings he could hear partridges calling. Stone-chats perched on the furze bushes of Tolworth Common. He strolled towards Tolworth Broadway and Greenway, followed by 30+ participants keen to locate RJ's observations from 'Nature Near London'; first published as a series of articles in the Pall Mall Gazette for the commuting public. In 1920 the very same paper celebrated his work by reprinting excerpts from his regular column - along with joining instructions for his walks - by tram and motorbus-b...

The second  walk in the series presented by myself and walking artist Lucy Furlong, was designed to highlight features in the Tolworth Edgelands and it's environs. The edgelands are a window through social and cultural history; as well as being a reservoir for the shyer species of animals and birds, such as badger, deer, kestrels and buzzards etc. Tolworth was an inspiration to the nature writer - Richard Jefferies (see previous post), and we followed in his footsteps, as well as navigating the informal pathways and desire lines made by  animals, birds, and people. Tithe maps and the tithe apportionment are sound  documents for historical research regarding past land use; as well as dissertations available in the Local History Room (at the back of the Guildhall); one comprises a series of interviews with staff that lived and worked in the Worcester Park. This included the silk printing mill whose remnants exist at the Bristows haulage yard and until 2017, the mill w...

    Thanks to the Environment Trust using CO-op funding, the broken down fence around Tolworth Court Farm Moated Manor (TCFMM) site was repaired yesterday, including a completely new section. The poor state of the fence has meant that litter from the road could blow into sensitive areas, such as the pond, which is scheduled for a face lift in the new year. As well as  human ingress - gaps in the fence- have allowed deer egress,  sadly resulting in a recent vehicle collision. Seclusion ensures that  shyer wildlife species are more likely to be  found at TCFMM than on the main Tolworth Court Farm Fields. Yesterday there were three crows mobbing a buzzard around the perimeter of the field as well as redwings and fieldfares along the old Kingston Road. The large intact area of  hedgerows and  field system on the opposite side of the A240, lead to the main farm being a hotspot for brown hairstreak - only recorded in this borough, slightly f...

  Last Saturday Kingston Wildlife Day  was attended by almost 100 people. First on the scene were participants on a Duke of Edingburgh Award Scheme (left) who helped make sure the paths were in order for our visitors. In combination with Kingston University, there were regular walks  looking at the wildife interest; including coils of slow worms under the mats at the sports field.   The barbeque, was deliciously crafted by Tariq, especially the baked bananas and ice cream. The  bird walk provided information on  three recently - fledged kestrels that have bred in the barn this year. Children were shown the disused nest of a song thrush, which requires a lining of mud; wet mud is available at the nearby pond. During all the walks clouds of butterflies were noted, included the marbled white but also gatekeeper, small copper, red admiral, comma etc.   At the end of the day there was a walk to the Tolworth Apple Store, almost invisi...

  Remember us clearing the ground and getting the green gates installed at Tolworth Court moated manor site? Well yesterday, we had our first public open day, to show off the reserve's natural and heritage assets.     Around 100 people rolled up to listen to talks about wildlife and land management from me; archaeology from Julie Wileman; participate in a scything workshop  from Elliot Newton followed by some words of historical wisdom from the pages of Bob Phillip's new book entitled 'The Story of Tolworth' now available from many local outlets, including the nearby Court Farm Nursery. Yellow meadow ant mounds One of the features of the moated manor is the yellow meadow ant mounds - an artifact of traditional grazing management - as well as the subsequent Higher Level Stewardship annual hay cut regime, currently in operation along the Hogsmill Valley corridor and Tolworth Court Farm Fields. I am told that the ant-hills appear to have a high ratio of heig...

There are several posts on Tolworth Court Farm Fields (Local Nature Reserve), but until now a portion of the site known as Tolworth Court Moated Manor (TCMM) across the busy A240 has only been mentioned in passing.The south west boundary of TCMM is Kingston Road (A240) and the south eastern boundary is the fence-line running along the River Hogsmill. Old Kingston Road forms the north west boundary and Kingston University playing fields border the site to the north east. The site is roughly square with an area of approximately 2.7ha. The moated island on which the manor complex would have stood is on the very edge of the site to the south. The north and east arms of the moat are still in evidence, the latter having been excavated and is managed as a pond.  A barn, near the gated entrance, has a relatively new roof but no walls and has a Barn Owl box installed by Lower Mole Project. The boundaries are largely fenced with earth bunds along Kingston and Old Kingston roads instal...