Wildlife Circus

filming the Capture TV series  CRE is an air-cleaning, nutrient-recycling, housing estate of 230 trees planted on the top of former 1960’s hubs such as: The Feathers public house, a church and an ice-cream parlour…… These lost conversations  found voice, in a new row of 1970’s shops, heralded by a giant printing press, next to a hairdresser, a mini-mart and newsagent (where the latest heart attack and domestic disputes were hot topics). Appearances on dramas such as ‘The Bill’ and currently ‘The Capture’ are not exactly reputation enhancing, but ‘crime- ridden’ is unjust, as neighbouring wards top the statistics x a factor of 4 for most crimes except anti-social behaviour. Politicians suffer amnesia from sentiments in the Addison Housing Act, playing down positive actions, such as hard working, community spirit, beautiful gardens and not least..... a 100 feather bundles which ‘sparrow’ along the roofline, popping in and out of dropped tiles, sweeping dusty gutter...

Soundwalk on the Cambridge Road Estate, curated by Alison Fure I love the walks that Alison organises, I discover so much about the place I live. This one didn’t disappoint. About 20 of us assembled outside the cemetery gates wrapped up and ready to go, some from across London, mostly local. It was going to be a chilly evening. We took time to listen to the birds, Jackdaws, making a racket in a tree next to us, and notice the connections and avenues that the trees created both on and off the estate. The older the tree, the richer the biodiversity that it houses. Walking with Alison is a different way to experience place. A deeper more personal way, seeing things I wouldn’t see and sharing knowledge that google wouldn’t know how to provide. With recorded snippets of sounds and stories of her own life there, Alison introduced us to the people, the place, and the wildlife. The community hall where Save the world Club rescues perfectly good food destined for landfill and stocks th...

Cambridge Road Estate     Correspondents Lyse Doucet and Martha Kearney covering the Israeli elections  on this morning's 'Today' programme,  were surprised as listeners 'Twittered in'  comments  regarding the house sparrows chirruping in the background. It lifted spirits to hear happy chattering, a sound once common in all our gardens. We have lost 12 million house sparrows since the 1970's. Populations continue to be  fragile in some London boroughs, due to the fast pace of development and the amount of  Total Footprint developments council's have been prepared to accept, in order to achieve their housing targets. Some councils have taken their legal obligations more seriously see February's post -house-sparrows in Ilford but as  kingston-enters-anthropocene on many environmental fronts we need some assurances that there won't be any more losses of colonies, such as at the former gasholder site opposite Sainsbury's, and the Cam...

    New developments around the Cambridge Road Estate have not only erased any pre-existing 'nature' but made it virtually impossible for any new colonisation, except perhaps by pigeons. There are borough policies to prevent this happening, but no one seems to know where to find them, yet alone understand them;  our officers seem too embarrassed to implement a 'no net loss of biodiversity' policy, let alone achieve the borough's aspiration of 'Net Gain'. When Natural England attempted to give our planning officers a lunchtime training session - which would have counted towards their continuing professional development (CPD) - no one actually turned up. Key: Ppip common pipistrelle Ppyg soprano pip.   This does not bode well for the redevelopment of the Cambridge Road Estate (CRE). The site is full of wildlife, demonstrated by the bird song in the early Spring mornings. Listen to these recordings on Soundcloud here: Sparrows of Willingham Way . Keep l...