Wildlife Circus

Last Tuesday- at a full meeting of the council - a petition containing 518 signatures, which was gathered to determine a positive future for the Tolworth Apple Store, was formerly debated. The building was described with the assistance of photographs: The entrance is in Gothic style and it has an overhanging pagoda-type clay tile roof. T imber stairs lead to mezzanine floors used for storing crops. Tools would have been stored below. It is set within the vestiges of the former kitchen garden of Tolworth Hall, which burnt down in 1911.  The remains of the kitchen garden and wider estate are now a residential caravan park, owned by the council, but leased to a third party. The associated woodland is a Site of Nature Conservation Importance along with the Hogsmill river, which runs to the south of the site. It was from here that firefighters obtained their water when attempting to quell the flames at the manor house, which was not rebuilt until 1926 when it was named Riverhill...

  This month we launched a 12 page Chap Book 'Kingston's Apple Story'. It has a three-fold intention: to promote the importance of the Tolworth Apple Store; inform of the orchard heritage in the borough; and increase the size and number of local orchards which are an important peri-urban habitat. Once a common sight within the landscape, the traditional orchard habitat is now under serious threat and for this reason the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) now includes Traditional Orchards in its list of priority habitats. Threats to old orchards include neglect, intensification of agriculture and pressure from land development. Particularly in urban areas, an orchard managed for biodiversity can be a proxy for ‘a mini wood pasture’, a most important habitat. The grass will be left longer and not mown becoming a haven for reptiles, wildflowers and an assortment of fungi. These sites are hotspots for biodiversity and have been shown to provide a refuge for over 1800 speci...