Walking along the Capital ring path in the path, one comes across a collection of flowering bushes with spectacular pink and orange fruits and red leaves.
Fast-charge battery trains next to Perivale Park
Following on from the previous post of interesting things happening in the proximity of Perivale Park, here is another.
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Guerrilla gardens close to Perivale Park
Along Hicks Avenue, the houses of which back up to the park, we spotted this wonderfully cheerful little Guerrilla Garden. Its been there for a while, but is looking particularly cheerful at the moment when Perivale Park itself is starting to wind down for autumn. It is wonderfully well tended, and whoever looks after it, we want you to know it is appreciated.
All about Bees!
This blog features bees quite a lot. Way back in 2019 we had highlighted the Ealing Beekeepers just down the road from the park. Just recently I was contacted by Christy from savingourbees.org offering some nice advice on how to do the very best for our bees and it is reproduced here as a guest post.‡
New sandpits and benches.
In these posts in the past I have often referred to the two general areas of the Perivale park sports fields and the Longfield meadows and ponds on the other side of the railway embankment as the “Greater Perivale park“. Now sandwiched nicely between these two is Pear Tree park, which along its northern and western edge is entirely contiguous with Perivale park itself, the eastern edge being bounded by the railway line and the southern edge by the river Brent. So when something new or interesting is found in these general areas, I might find myself describing it as the greater park and its distinct three sections, each with their own character. So today the photos were taken in the greater park, and particularly in the Pear Tree section and the Perivale park pond area.
“Framed meadows”
Ealing this year has adopted a policy of “framing meadows” with colourful strips of flowers, whilst retaining more “bird friendly” sowings in their centres. At least for the central meadow in Perivale Park.
Pear Tree Park – the opening.
Today, the new park created from the golf course adjacent to Perivale Park, was inaugurated as Pear Tree park at around 11.00 this morning.
A summer’s day (spiral) walk around Northala Fields
Just to the west of Perivale Park are the Northala fields, a prominent feature of which are the four large mounds. The largest and tallest of these has a spiral (right handed!) path to the top, which we walked today. The flowers on either side of the path were stunning – as was the scent from the thistles, attracting quite a few butterflies as well.
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July 7th: A ‘power hour’ of litter picking in your local green space.
The Conservation Volunteers have recently suggested that a “power hour” Sunday 7th July be spent litter picking. So two of the Friends of Perivale Park got out their “power picker”, and visited the site where TCV recently spent about two hours replanting the edge of Coston’s brook. As it happens, not too much litter there!
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Perivale Park Academy.
These notices have appeared around the park recently!
Notice the age group, 2-7. So if you have children/grandchildren that age, consider enrolling them! More details will no doubt follow.
The orchard meadows in June!
The orchard meadows were sown in 2019, five years ago. Watching them each year, I am struck by how very different each year has been. This year is no exception. The photos below do not do the meadows justice – go see them for yourself!
Volunteers improving the ponds! Purple Loosestrife.
Lythrum salicaria or purple loosestrife is native to the UK (but considered eg a pest in areas like north America) and likes wet environments such as pond edges. Here are three volunteers planting 80 plugs into the edge of the ponds near the kids playground in the park.
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An Ealing Greenspace at the start of its new life as a Park.
Last Friday was the last day of the Perivale Park golf course being open – and now it awaits its new life as an Ealing park. We strolled around the park and here are a few photos to give a flavour of what it looks like now. The next thing to happen will be the installation of four benches and four litter bins – the locations of which are already being discussed. As things happen, I hope to record them here.
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Magnificent Roses in the park.
June heralds the start of the rose season. The main area where they are found is in the orchard garden, although they can also be found elsewhere.
Perivale Park Golf club Cafe – use it or loose it!
>The Ealing Parks Foundation had its second meeting this year this last Thursday, with twelve people present. Here I list some bullet points emerging from the discussions, mostly relating to Perivale Park. They are from my own notes, and are not formal minutes! Continue reading “Perivale Park Golf club Cafe – use it or loose it!”
The Conservation Volunteers (TCV) in Perivale Park.
The TCV group organises events around the country and today they came to Perivale Park on a corporate volunteering day with a group of about twenty very enthusiastic people from PwC – and one volunteer dog accompanying Ben!. An area of ground‡ on the banks of Costons Brook near to its exit from the culvert in the park had recently been cleared by GEL using an impressive robotic cutting system and it was now ready for replanting.
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Animal proof litter bins anyone?
Around 9 old litter bins in the park, often raided by animals in the past if they could smell food inside them, have been replaced by ones with animal-proof flaps!
A strip of summer annual and perennial flowers is coming!
Last week, a 3m wide strip of the flower meadow in the park was seen being prepared. It runs alongside the meadow seeded with bird mix last year.
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Late spring colour along the River Brent
The walk along the river Brent from Longfield meadows/Gurnell centre to Greenford is delightful at this time of year.
Listening to birds.
I am certainly no expert on birdsong, and so have come to rely on technology (and any accompanying expert) to identify birds. Occasionally I will “listen” using the wonderful Merlin Bird ID app. Switched on today sitting on a bench near the largest lake in the Longfield meadows, eight different birds were identified after listening for around four minutes. A little further along the river Brent headed to Greenford another one was identified, making nine in all.
Perivale Park: One of London’s best outdoor spaces!
Back in 2018, we noted here the impending formation of a new National park based in London! This was the brainchild of Dan Raven-Ellison and now six years later, he has produced a guide to London’s best outdoor spaces where seven picks are listed. Amongst these is the “Best hidden gem: Section 8 of the Capital Ring”.
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Diversity in the Park orchard: A 2024 update.
Back in June 2021, a biodiversity survey of the park orchard meadows was carried out for us by Neil Anderson. Since then the meadows have largely been left alone, with no added nutrients and only a minimum of “weeding”. Time I thought to see what changes of three years of being left mostly to their own devices might have induced. Neil very kindly agree to repeat his survey for us and the results are included below.
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Litter picking with a Difference: CURB and Coston’s Brook
Coston’s brook is a tributary of the river Brent, emerging above ground in Perivale Park from a twin-tunnel culvert. The culvert is protected by a metal grill, and over time rubbish in the brook gets trapped on the grill.
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Now it’s the turn of the tulips – 2024.
Again in the orchard area in the raised beds.
Quince blossom in the orchard
In 2019, a fruit orchard was planted in the park. Of all the 24 trees there, one has really taken off – starting last year and literally blossoming abundantly this year – and that is the quince.
Updates – the park Fritillaries and the Colne Valley Viaduct.
Firstly the fritillaries, which are now looking splendid. Again, I think the bountiful rain this spring has helped!
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Friends of Perivale Park: Annual report 2023-2024.
Each year, the Friends group holds an annual general meeting (AGM), at which the Chair presents a report of the year’s activities. This years was held yesterday.
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2024 – A good year for Daffodils.
Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that each new season seems to especially favour some species of flower? This year, it seems to be magnolias, cherries and daffodils that are particularly splendid. Perivale park does not have any magnolias or cherries, but it certainly has a nice display of daffodils in the orchard area – thanks to volunteers who planted them last year.
A different view of the Park Pear Trees
Last autumn, the avenue of pear trees produced a wonderful orange-hued vista. Now a few months later, it is the turn of the blossom.
Wood sculptures found in a nearby nature reserve.
Whilst out exploring a nearby nature reserve, we came across these wonderful sculptures.
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