I attach here the report of park activities and projects presented at the Friends AGM yesterday.
Continue reading “Friends activities during February 2022-February 2023.”
The frozen ponds of perivale park.
From Chobham common back to Perivale park. Yesterday the temperature was -6C and the large ponds east of the railway viaduct were artistically frozen. Here are a few snaps, very different from the Chobham ponds.
Final winter colour for 2022 – and some rose mulching
As the year comes to an end, it is still a very unusual one. Roses in early December in such abundance? And they have been given a nice winter blanket of mulch which should set them up for next year.
Continue reading “Final winter colour for 2022 – and some rose mulching”
Raising the Green Flag in Perivale Park
We had a wonderful turnout for the Green Flag ceremony on Saturday 26th November, and the weather did its bit as well.
Raising the (Green) Flag: Saturday 26th November 2022, 10.00 – 10.30 am in the orchard
The park now has its own flagpole, with a green flag ready to be flown from it. This will first be raised on Saturday 26th November 2022, 10.00 – 10.30 am in the orchard and James Murray, our local MP has very kindly agreed to perform the ceremony.
The periodic lake festival in the Park
A few times a year, especially at this time, the golf course adjacent to the park transforms into a lake. This area is a flood plane, and when the Welsh Harp reservoir gets too full, its sluice gates are opened and the excess water flows down the river Brent until it reaches the park golf course. IThe water then enters the course and exits further down. This turns the golf course into a temporary lake. Today more like a river, since you can see the flow from the videos below. Meanwhile the placid Coston’s brook transformed into a river, footpaths flooded and the ponds next to the children’s playground overflowed. Very probably more to come!
Free five-a-side football training for 8-10 year olds on 26th October – the event!
As part of the MUGA (Multi-use-games-area) restoration project, we organised a day of football training for 8-10 year olds from local schools, run by the Brentford FC community sports trust.
Autumn color in the park – and herons galore.
Two hours ago, heavy rain fell in the neighborhood and we decided to find out what had happened. We quickly came across not one, but two herons eyeing each other up. One occupied the new stepping stones across the pond and the other appeared to fancy the position as well.
Continue reading “Autumn color in the park – and herons galore.”
Costons Brook improvements – reed and iris plantings.
Today a section of the bed of Costons brook (near the bridge in Perivale Park) was planted by five volunteers with Flag Iris, which should flower yellow in the spring. Earlier this month, the Greenwayers had removed vast amounts of Himalayan Balsam from the banks and overhanging branches have been trimmed to improve the light reaching the brook.
Continue reading “Costons Brook improvements – reed and iris plantings.”
An exciting new feature for kids in the park (tested by an old kid!)
A few years back, some large rocks (and railway sleepers) were brought to the park, next to the footpath at the cross-paths, close to the Cowgate lane entrance. Kids soon started scrambling on them with great delight, but the rocks were soon enclosed with fences to prevent this. Now they have been moved to their final location, as stepping stones to a little island formed by one of the adjacent ponds.
Continue reading “An exciting new feature for kids in the park (tested by an old kid!)”
Gurnell Leisure Centre: a proposal to relocate to Longfield Meadows?
The Save Gurnell site is reporting two new proposals from Ealing council for the leisure centre. One of these involves wholesale relocation of the centre to Longfield meadows (a site of importance for nature conservation, or SINC), as shown in the plan below. This follows an earlier proposal to relocate just the BMX track to a portion of this meadow, which was withdrawn last year. Longfield meadows are part of what we call the “Greater Perivale Park”.
Continue reading “Gurnell Leisure Centre: a proposal to relocate to Longfield Meadows?”
Perivale park summer/autumn event, 2022.
This year the event held on 25 September was bigger than ever. We had the dog “olympics”, where owners and their dogs participated in various types of races and skills tests. The team from Café Berry, whose home is in the nearby Pitshanger park, came with their delicious home-baked cakes and snacks, and gave everyone a chance to sample their special dog vanilla ice creams. The local girl guides painted faces and the weather was perfect. A chance for all the users of the park to meet each other – and their dogs! And the new Friends badge was distributed to everyone. Those who have all three editions have a collector’s item! The next opportunity to get one will be Tuesday 27th September at the park athletics track. Come and get yours, and join in the exercise whilst you are at it!
The orchard garden – Geranium Rozanne.
The orchard garden was originally planted with four rectangular flower beds surrounding the avenue of Crab apple trees, with four larger almost square wild flower and spring bulb meadows (parched yellow below). Last year those meadows put on a fantastic display of flax. Now, a year on all these areas have all evolved.
Some lovely mushrooms in autumnal park.
This is the 2022 edition of mushrooms in the park.
I would not dare identify them, but someone might?
New orchard fruit (in September?) with sunflowers.
Well, its an odd year this year. In one meadow, sunflowers are making a rather late appearance, whilst in the adjacent orchard, new fruit has recently set on the trees as if it were April. The fruit looks abundant, but whether it will ripen is touch and go.
Continue reading “New orchard fruit (in September?) with sunflowers.”
The power of rain.
Here is a guest article by Carmel, who has been out and about in the park.
The park has changed so much in the last 24 hours.
Group-led bike rides in Perivale Park -24th September
Unusual happenings (contd.): Spring has arrived (again) in the orchard.
A few days ago I noted that many of the fruit trees in the park orchard were putting out new leaf buds. Well, what happens next? New flower buds!
Continue reading “Unusual happenings (contd.): Spring has arrived (again) in the orchard.”
Dragonflies and Damselflies walk.
Today Neil Anderson gave a group of 21 of us a masterclass in nature observation. Thanks also to Sean McCormack of the Ealing Wildlife group for organising!
Greater London Green Flag Award: Perivale Park
The Green Flag award scheme aspires to Raising the standard of Parks and Green Spaces and is the International mark of quality. Earlier this year its judges visited Perivale Park, and we walked them around, showing the various points of interest. Now the judging is complete and we are delighted to announce that the coveted Green Flag has been awarded to the park. Thanks to everyone who made this possible, but especially to all the folks at Ealing Parks who pulled out all the stops this year for us!
Continue reading “Greater London Green Flag Award: Perivale Park”
The annual June gardening tasks.
A small but enthusiastic band of gardeners tidied up the orchard a little bit this last Sunday. After the copious mulching of the area last year (in preparation for the London in Bloom judging!), the ground cover of weeds was far less than a year ago.
The flower meadow is seeded – now for the rain dance.
The seeder has visited the park flower meadow, after having done Horsenden meadows and Cayton green park.
Continue reading “The flower meadow is seeded – now for the rain dance.”
Roses.
The last addition to the orchard area was the planting of roses about two years ago. It been a good year for roses in general and the orchard roses have really grown and flowered this year, with only minimal pruning last year.
Perivale Park – Contributing to the Queen’s Green Canopy on Platinum Jubilee day.
On Jubilee day, June 2, 2022, we capture the park with the new Walnut tree planted by Ealing May Councillor Munir Ahmed in March as a contribution to the Queen’s Green Canopy. It is looking very healthy indeed!
Continue reading “Perivale Park – Contributing to the Queen’s Green Canopy on Platinum Jubilee day.”
A little bit of oak maintenance.
The oak processionary moth can be a scourge of parks with lots of oak trees. And Perivale park has quite a few mature specimens. Almost three years ago we highlighted what can happen when a tree becomes infested. So it was good to see that the parks department continues to regularly spray the trees to avoid any resurgence.
Can someone help us identify these caterpillars?
I show two photos set to the friends by Ros, asking what caterpillar they are. The photos were taken in the park near Costons bridge.
Continue reading “Can someone help us identify these caterpillars?”
Dinosaur trees – and of course bluebells at Wakehurst.
There are some sights you simply are not going to capture in an urban park in London. So to see these you will have to go a little further afield – to Wakehurst or “Kew gardens in the country”, one of our “guest” park appearances here.
Continue reading “Dinosaur trees – and of course bluebells at Wakehurst.”
Fox cubs galore!
Foxes are now very much part of the urban park and garden scene. Like the bats we went out to see last week, they are best seen at dusk, when the cubs are brought out to frolic by their mum. So it was that we captured this scene of (six?) cubs playing in a local garden.
A splash of colour anyone? A guest appearance from the Isabella plantation in Richmond park.
Occasionally other parks in London make a guest appearance here. In April, none can beat the display of sheer exuberant colour that the Isabella plantation puts on. After visiting, you just want to go a lie down in a darkened room to recover.
Perivale Park Bat Walk.
Organised by Paul and the Ealing Wildlife group, a group of twelve intrepid bat watchers set off into Perivale park at dusk. Bristling with sensitive bat detecting equipment, which reduces the sounds the bats make from ~45 KHz down to human-audible form, we first aimed for the pond areas. There insects fly at night and the bats hunt them.