Spring – 2021 style!
Its late February, the snows have gone and the sun has come out. These are photos were taken on a circular walk which encompassed Perivale park and the blossom at the exit via Ruislip Road, on to the Cuckoo estate avenue and Hanwell community centre and park, then entering the Hanwell Big Local project and the discovery of a delightful small wood in the centre of the housing estates.
Swans And Canadian Geese on Perivale Wetlands today.
The waters have gone on the flooded footpath!
A few weeks ago, I noted that the Capital Ring path often includes a water feature, and made a plea for maintenance of the drain from which the water was pouring. Well, Thames Water have responded! Thanks to them!!
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Frozen ponds galore – and sixty-trees meadows!
Five years ago, Perivale park and the adjacent Longfield meadows had only one pond, known to locals as the frog pond – and even that was only about 15 years old. Now – there are lots! Most are currently frozen and its going to get colder and they are going to freeze more! Here are some of them.
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Friends of Perivale Park: Annual General Meeting, Monday February 15th, 19.30 by Zoom.
The Friends of Perivale Park group is now one year old and its time to report back what they have been up to this last year. If you want to find out more about them, why not join the AGM by Zoom on Monday February 15th, 19.30. You will also have a chance to ask the committee questions and to suggest new activities for 2021.
Snow and broad beans.
Yesterday’s snow has nicely highlighted something stirring in the raised beds, found in the orchard garden.
Sunrise in Perivale Park – 2021 version
The show is always different and this one has its very own personality! Taken between 07.30 – 07.45
Before and after- a spot of “tidying”.
I am loath to describe our activity in the orchard garden as weeding. It is very much in the milder category of tidying. There are four wild flower meadows and four flower beds surrounding the benches to be tidied. Here are some photos of the ongoing process.
More flowing water in the park – and an unexpected flower seen!
Some more, apparently unassuming, rainfall during the night transformed Perivale Park into an aquatic playground again. Here are some videos of the gushing waters.
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Birds of Perivale Park, 2020!
Neil Anderson has sent this fantastic record of the birds he has spotted in the Park and surrounding areas, both in December and the whole of 2020. I will try to add a few photos of some of them later, but meanwhile can the Friends of Perivale Park wish everyone a happy new year and please call as often as you can to see the park and its birds!
Five fantastic new exercise machines have arrived!
Here they are:
With all these Zoom-based exercise classes which have taken off for obvious reasons in 2020, coupled with all the new facilities in the park, there is no excuse any more! And of course wash your hands after using them when you get home!
The Capital Ring in the park: a plea for maintenance!
A few days ago, the park rangers responded to feedback that the route of the Capital Ring through the park was confusing some walkers, by putting up a number of new signs directing them in the correct direction (which is apparently a clockwise circuit of the ring).
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Spring bulbs for 2021 – the Costons Lane entrance.
The last two years we have applied to Bulbs for London and this year we were also successful in getting a lovely box of assorted bulbs and seeds. Amazingly, it included some Eremurus tubers! Now that is exotic for you. A start to the planting was made yesterday and this time we have selected the south-west corner of the park for the planting.
Continue reading “Spring bulbs for 2021 – the Costons Lane entrance.”
Perivale Park – like you have never seen it before!
I encountered a licensed drone pilot the other day, and we have just spent a delightful hour taking photos of the park from an angle I have never seen before. Fortunately, recent rains have filled up the ponds and even the sun cooperated by setting nicely.
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National Tree Week – Perivale park’s contribution.
This event will be taking place on Saturday 28th November, 2021. Please note that the time shown below should actually show a start time of 10.00, not 11.00.
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Early dawn ponds – and soft exercise areas.
Just before lockdown in February, six new exercise areas on the path of the “5km” run around the park were created. But the lockdown delayed the surfacing with a soft compound (which health and safety presumably nowadays demands of such places). They have now been lined and appear to be ready for use. They are aimed very much at runners who want to address the upper parts of their bodies for some exercise. The last photo shows the large area recently lined and with anchoring points for six “full body” machines that will be installed at some point.
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Another pond starts to take place in park.
From having just one pond in the park three years ago (the one known as the frog pond) we now have an abundance, big and small. At the last count it was nine in the main park and three on the other side of the railway embankment. Perhaps the most photogenic are the three ponds close to the kids playground, close to Coston’s brook, where the reflections of sunrise can make for some fantastic photos. Now these ponds are being added to. A fourth swale is now being dug on the other side of the little feeder stream, in-between it and the surfaced kids playground.
Continue reading “Another pond starts to take place in park.”
The Cowgate road entrance to the Park.
This entrance is much used by local residents, many of whom are pushing kids buggies and whose progress has been hampered in the past by the puddles, verging on mini-ponds, that invariably form there when it rains. Some large ones have been seen with the recent rainy october.
For all fungus lovers – an autumn abundance.
A combination of constant rain and showers coupled with very mild weather has produced one of the best displays of fungi in the park for a little while. A particularly rich location is next to the large pond in the centre of the park (first photo, now gradually filling up with water) which was surrounded by trees in December 2018 by a Trees For Cities volunteering event. Each of the young trees were mulched with bark chippings, but a large mound was left over at the end and it is there‡ that you are guaranteed to find fungi at this time of year.
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Late summer colours whilst we wait for the trees to turn.
October is a favourite month for late summer colour. The Cosmos in particular always put on a good show and this year we had a lot of plantings of this flower around the park. In particular, the Gurnell-Greenway route along the Brent and Ruislip road and also the “three ponds” near the kids playground.
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The Brent Rivers.
The 29km long river Brent, named after the goddess Briguntia (bringer of poetry, springtime and love) runs through the southern edge of Perivale Park on its way to Hanwell and the river Thames.
Dawny ponds.
Visiting the park just before dawn is an interesting experience. It can be full of joggers and dog walkers and if you visit regularly you get to know most of them! I tend to go out to tidy up the park of litter before the commuters take over and perchance to pick up a spare roll of litter bags from the refuse collectors, who also tend to be out at that time. Today, dawn rose whilst I was passing the ponds and I managed the following snaps.
Rain, rain, rain!
The last three days have seen near continuous steady rain. So its time to go out and see how the park (and birds) have responded. The ducks and gulls are out in force enjoying their new ponds. Meanwhile, some of the new paths in the Longfield meadows area have become ponds themselves.
Amphibians galore – next year?
Those of us of a certain age remember distant childhood times when everyone so it seemed had access to a local pond with abundant tadpole populations. Such a rain-replenished pond was dug perhaps 10 years ago in Perivale Park. For a fair few of these subsequent years tadpoles were indeed seen. However the pond was fairly shallow and had often dried out just before the tadpoles were due to leave it as frogs. Now its been enlarged!
Celebrating Perivale Park: Nature walk report
One of the activities last Sunday involved a nature walk around the park. Here Neil Anderson has kindly sent us summaries of few highlights regarding sightings: Continue reading “Celebrating Perivale Park: Nature walk report”
Rectory Park.
Rectory park is to the west of Perivale Park and just south of Northala fields. The spring show there was subdued but recent rains have brought out the autumn flowers such as the cosmos wonderfully well.
Celebrating Perivale Park!
The weather was perfect for an early september day and we had lots of activities for all happening throughout the two hours of the meeting, organised by the park Friends. Below are some photos of everyone enjoying themselves.
Invasion of the supermoles.
This is a much anticipated annual event in the park, the mole invasion. These little critters are highly organised and select only the finest cricket turf to dig their mounds, in this remarkably neat pattern. A day later and the moles vanish; probably hibernating until next summer.
Tennis courts in the Park – how to book (shortly).
More developments regarding the tennis courts. The power supply cable laid into a trench a week or so ago is today being connected up to the keypad system controlling entry. When commissioned, entry will be according to the instructions below.
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