In mid-July we hosted our first summer party open to all members. In the past, we’ve had parties to coincide with our AGM and last year we had a party to thank all our volunteers. But this is the first time we’ve felt able to invite all our 700+ members. Space constraints meant it had to be ticketed; nevertheless everyone who wanted to come could enjoy the hospitality of Skylark and the Friends committee. A good time was had by all!!
Earlier in the month, Sue Delafons and Stephen Midlane together put on a fantastic talk about local author PY Betts and her childhood spent around the Common during WWI. Sue and Stephen were character acts and even surprised us by revealing a mystery guest. Well worth watching on catch up.
Another Heritage event at the end of the month was a tour of St. Mary’s cemetery Battersea by Sue Demont which, despite the torrential rain, attracted 25 keen participants, eager to find out about the history of the churchyard and learn something about ‘The Victorian way of dying’.
Summer brings the Big Butterfly Count, and Richard and Laila Tillett organised our first butterfly walk of the season, highlights of which included several skippers and a marbled white. We also hosted our second ‘moth breakfast’ with the help of Les Evans-Hill. In the Naturescope garden we saw a hummingbird hawk moth and a Jersey tiger moth (the rarer yellow variety - lutescens). The moth trap itself attracted several unusual species including a rare Webb’s Wainscott. We were pleased that our audience included a number of very engaged teenagers. Photos of both events are on our Instagram feed @wwcommon.
The month also saw another Barbara Littlechild bird walk, and the start of the Dog Focus Group organised by Enable, which aims to gather views from the Common’s dog owners. Finally, we launched our new Tree Trail leaflet with a walk around three different areas of the Common led by the three contributors Anne, Richard and Sarah. 25 people learned about some of the Common’s notable native and non-native trees and how they are managed. The Treetrail and our butterfly leaflet are available to buy from Skylark café for £3. Something for the summer holidays.