Wildlife Circus

                                                       Nitrate top score   Last weekend was the annual Waterblitz co-ordinated by the Earthwatch Institute's Freshwater watch. Volunteers head out with testing kits over the same long weekend so that all the data points are comparable to the next.The data goes to a central database so that researchers can identify areas for further investigation. Nitrates and Phosphates are tested at 5 sample sites and I usually choose the same ones. The confluence of the Bonesgate and the Hogsmill has had phosphate levels and the two sites below the Hogsmill Sewage works always has high nitrate readings.     Sample site three is just above  confluence of the Tolwort...

  I wondered if there was ever a time that the progeny of an old apple tree, that was situated by the A240 (just by the bridge over the Hogsmill stream... was ever.... kept in  darkened trays, affixed to the walls of the old Apple store or as windfalls rolled around the orchard floor to be pannaged by pigs Trying not to get myself wet I took some home for a prod and taste  the skin was tough, but the flesh quite sweet with essence of droves, fields and streets.

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...

Note: Zuihitsu is a Japanese style of literature that can drift like a cloud or read like a song. It comprises a number of loosely connected themes, often featuring poetry inserts, expressing typical Japanese themes, such as nature and the changing seasons. Here 'Tolworth Day' (29.7.19) and  Tolworth Court Farm, are connected to lines found in John Clare's poems.  1. The trickling brook veins sparkling to the sun J.C. Actually there are two rivers here: the Hogsmill rising east to west from its spring ponds, boldly crosses the county boundary from Surrey into London at Tolworth; and the Bonesgate rising unseen, with two sediment laden arms, somewhere between  Chessington's farms and roads, only traced in places by  power and tree lines. A Guardian article (2015) attests that its  named from the resting place of London's  plague victims, but it seems only part of the story, due to its inaccessible location. Bonesgate sediment     2. The bla...

  Oaks and maples Cambridge Gardens 2019   Street trees can often be the most beautiful objects in our streets. They are important to their communities as well as having environmental benefits. They are a living history in our landscape and can have particular connections. They may be fragments of a previous landscape incorporated into a modern street scene, such as the oaks at Cambridge Gardens once  part of the Duke of Cambridge's estate.  A great read with information on how to research street trees is a  History of Street Trees by Dr. M. Johnston.  London plane trees CRE 1976 Beech tree, Chesterton Terrace 1976 Studies show that the difference in local tree cover can reflect the various socio-economic groups. In Victorian times middle class areas were planted with many street trees or had higher quality front gardens than working class districts; now referred to as 'green equity'. It can be demonstrated by looking at old photos of the seven...

water vole holes with lawns   Does the topic of fossorial or - subterranean living - grassland water voles (GWV's) have any bearing for us in south-west London, or is this just a phenomenon of north-east Glasgow?  I went there to seek out this nationally significant population, after finding my own fossorial animals in west London (as well as seeing the One Show segment).  It was thrilling to see such abundance and listen to the work of  Robyn Stewart on behalf of the Mammal Society at  a course in Easterhouse, Glasgow. Useful facts: fossorial animals are deemed those living >500m from a watercourse. Animals more than 150m are considered a 'transitional' population, the rest are water voles. 80% of the grasslands containing Holcus lanata (Yorkshire fog) in the north east Glasgow, contain water voles; 56% of these areas will be lost to development or infrastructure projects over the next five years. Development site within a few metres of GWV's...

  Viaduct Pond    Starting at the Hampstead ponds - a group, convened by David Fathers and the London National Park City - began to walk the course of the 'lost' Fleet river. There are at least two arms arising from the spring ponds in Hampstead and at Kenwood House; where the river arises from gravelly scars across the lawn,  especially in winter months. The Westbourne, Tyburn and river Brent also rise hereabouts.We left the Heath and followed Flask Road named after the bottled spring water industry, which was popular in the 19th century.   Following Fleet Road we walked into Kentish Town (Ken is the old English for Oak); at Talacre Gardens there is  signage detailing the industrial rise of the area at the expense of the river. Then to Chalk Farm and Camden. The etymology of Chalk Farm is an abridgement of Chalcot Farm, and has nothing  to do with geology) .   Georgiana Street      Through Kings Cross -St. Pancras Old C...

Citizens Assemblies are used worldwide as a mode of 'deliberative democracy' where a problem is debated without the outcome being predetermined beforehand. One organisation, 'Involve', brings people together, usually with facilitators and expert leads over 2 - 4 weekends, to understand and arrive at a consensus over complex issues such as road pricing. The 'gold' standard would be an assembly at national level known as sortition; such a  formula was used in Ireland to decide  what should be the country's position on gay marriage and abortion. This is the type of deliberative forum preferred by Extinction Rebellion for discussing climate change; further information, including a podcast can be found on their website. Citizens Assemblies can also compliment representative democracy, especially at a time when our representatives spend more time resolving conflicts within their own parties, ignoring those who elected them. If we are serious about the climate ...

    This post is regarding Biodiversity loss and local extinctions in the borough. It was read at  the deputation at the full council meeting 24.4.19 and includes a litany of lost species. Every day I pass this building on Cambridge Road, which reminds me of the house martins that used to nest under the eaves of the previous building  - The Peel Pub. In early years the nests used to be poked out, but at least the birds kept coming. Then they stopped coming. Now they can never return as they have been designed out of the system. The urban gradient in parts of  Kingston has increased beyond the tolerance of many urban species, including house sparrows  - a UK Priority Species, included on the list of Section 41 under the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 - due to its massive decline. This Act confers on the council - a legal duty to protect - and makes this species 'material' in any planning application. Kingston's own Good Practice Guide...