An unforgettable highlight was the long-awaited premiere of our Oral History Project film ‘Common Memories’. 120 people gathered in the Fiennes theatre at Emanuel school to watch this beautiful hour long film, distilled from 20 hours of interviews with lifelong residents of Wandsworth Common. The film was enthusiastically received and a great testament to our volunteers, Ros Page and her team of interviewers, Rosa Navas, member and professional film maker, who sensitively edited the footage into such a wonderful film, and of course to the interviewees themselves, many of whom were in the audience. The film is available on our website and is also available to buy on DVD on request.
Another heritage event was a hugely popular tour of the Fitzhugh estate, led by Sharon O’Neill, as part of the Wandsworth Heritage Festival. This reprieved a virtual walk Sharon had given during lockdown and which is available to view on our website. The tour was so popular that additional sessions had to be arranged.
Last but not least, a second reprint of our book The Wandsworth Common Story arrived and continues to sell well in Neals nurseries, Skylark café, and on our website.
As part of the Great Big Green Week we invited Jackie from SW15 Hedgehogs to give a talk about how to attract hedgehogs to our back gardens and to the Common. This was prompted by the first sighting of a hedgehog on the Common in many years and other recent sightings in neighbouring streets. We hope this is due to the new planting for habitat creation we have been doing over the past couple of years. If you see a hedgehog locally let us know.
Another innovation was a moth ‘breakfast’ which inaugurated formal monitoring of moths on the Common. Led by volunteer Richard Tillett and supported by Butterfly Conservation and Enable, there will be a monthly exercise to trap moths overnight and record the species found in the morning prior to releasing them (we don’t eat them!!). Watch out for future moth ‘breakfasts’ we can invite members to.
One of our committee, Sarah Webley, led a highly popular tree walk for parents and children of Belleville school, which we are happy to repeat for other school groups. Let us know if you’re interested. Other walks during the month were a tree walk, led by Enable tree officer Liam, highlighting some of the more unusual trees on the Common; a wildflower walk led by Roy Vickery on the prison banks which, as usual, identified a plethora of species; and another of Nick Rutter’s ever popular bird walks.
Another busy month