Litter picking begins

The Friends have started regular litter picking. We know some people do this already, but we’ve tried to encourage as many as possible to come under the Friends umbrella, to benefit from advice on which areas are best to do when (to avoid disturbing wildlife for example) and pre-arranged rubbish collection, so it isn’t prey to foxes and crows. 20 of us met on a sunny Saturday in November and picked 20 bags of rubbish. Half of it was recyclable - cans and bottles mainly - which our volunteers took home with them. The rest was collected by prior arrangement later that day. Thanks especially to Patrick whose new shop, the Source Bulk Foods at 99 St John’s Rd Battersea, bought most of our equipment.

Of course we’d prefer not to have to litter pick, but human nature being what it is, and with only one paid litter picker servicing the whole of the Common, we expect to do this regularly. Our new hi-vis jackets attracted lots of attention and several ‘thankyous’ which helped make it a fun social occasion, with some light exercise, fresh air, and a bit of a chat thrown in for good measure. There were some old faces and some new ones too. Get in touch and join us for our next foray into the world of litter.

Council deputation

On November 7th, Wandsworth Common Friends and MAC joined forces to make a deputation to the Council with our views on the re-tendering of the Leisure and Culture management contract, currently operated by Enable LC. The contract expires in September 2019 and although it’s been extended by 6 months, a decision on the re-tendering is scheduled by next summer. Our counterparts from Tooting Common and Battersea Park also made deputations, demonstrating strength in numbers. You can read our deputation, which was also supported by the Wandsworth Society, here. We now aim to have detailed discussions with Council officers about the all-important specification of the contract.

Seasonal Tree walks begin

November saw the start of a programme of seasonal walks led by Enable’s tree officers based on Wandsworth Common. Between them they have over 50 years experience and we’re very pleased by their willingness to share their accumulated knowledge. The walks are proving very popular and quickly reach capacity. Jessica Stocks led over 20 of us to some carefully chosen examples of the problems tree officers have to deal with. We learned why, despite every effort, some trees have to be felled, for disease or safety reasons; the criteria for tree planting; the benefits of leaving dead wood to provide habitat for other creatures; the advantages of the London Plane in pollution absorption; the many benefits of street trees. Jess also showed a fascinating internal scan of an ash tree revealing the extent of fungal penetration (not ash dieback, however, which hasn’t reached Wandsworth Common - yet!). Watch out for our next walk soon.

Monthly 'walks & talks' programme

Our Walks and Talks programme has got off to a flying start - literally - with a butterfly walk in August, a bat walk in September, and a photography walk in October. All were very successful, thanks first and foremost to our walk leaders - all experts in their field - who provided their time for free. All the events were a first for us and we’re learning as we go.

We advertise the events to Friends first, then if we still have space, we extend the invite to our wider contact list. However, most of our events so far have been fully subscribed by Friends so if you want to make sure of a place it’s best to join.

We aim to organise an event every month, usually with a nature or activity theme. In November we have another tree walk - these have proved very popular - and a pub quiz. In December we have carol singing and in the New Year a walk to help people walk off the excesses after Christmas. More will be added. Keep an eye on our calendar below for details. And if you have any ideas for a walk theme and/or know someone who might lead one, we’d be only too pleased to hear.