Tower Hamlets is bloomin’ marvellous Tower Hamlets has some of the best parks and open spaces in the capital. The borough is blooming with pride after being presented a Gold award at this year’s prestigious London in Bloom competition. The accolade was awarded on September 8 at the London in Bloom competition run by the Royal Horticultural Society which feeds into the national competition – Britain in Bloom. The London-wide competition encourages communities, residents and businesses to work together to make the capital a greener and cleaner place to live, work and visit. Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman said:…
Author: admin
Small Tortoiseshell makes a comeback One of the UK’s favourite butterflies, the Small Tortoiseshell, continued its fight back this summer after years of decline, despite enduring the coldest August since 1993, results from the Big Butterfly Count have revealed. The Small Tortoiseshell, whose population has declined by 78% since the 1970s, saw numbers rise by almost a quarter compared to last summer, making it the fourth most commonly seen Big Butterfly Count species. This is the highest ever ranking for the Small Tortoiseshell in the Big Butterfly Count – the world’s largest annual insect citizen science survey and represents an…
The Woodland Walk in Weavers Fields will see a number of enhancements over the next few months, thanks to funding secured by the Council. The largest woodland walk in the borough (and probably the second largest woodland after Cemetery Park), the site is used by the local schools for forest schools, and is popular with dog walkers and nature lovers. It’s a great place to escape from the urban surroundings, and the Parks Service hopes that the improvements will encourage more visitors to enjoy this peaceful haven. The proposed improvements for visitors include additional natural seating, new signs, woodland walk…
Common Terns had their most successful breeding season for many years at East India Dock Basin nature reserve. At least 11 pairs attempted to nest on the rafts, with between 11 and 15 young terns fledging. Terns have bred at East India Dock Basin since the mid-1990s, when three specially-designed rafts were installed to encourage nesting terns. Numbers have declined in recent years, probably due to the build up of silt in the basin, which leaves the rafts high and dry at times after long periods of low tides. This resulted in no successful breeding at the site in 2011…
Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park is frequently used for educational visits, in a wide range of subjects. Science, history, art and architecture are the most obvious candidates, but textile design might not be among the first to come to mind. However, for the second successive year, “Urban Habitats” is the theme for the Brady Centre’s summer school textiles class. So it is no surprise that the students found inspiration among the cemetery’s trees, flowers and monuments on a visit in early August. After a brief introduction to urban habitats and walk through the site with the Council’s Biodiversity Officer, the students…
The Big Butterfly Count is a nationwide survey aimed at helping assess the health of our environment. It was launched in 2010 and an impressive 10,000 people took part, counting 210,000 butterflies and day-flying moths across the nation. Many more people, over 46,000 in fact, joined Big Butterfly Count 2013 (see the 2013 results). This year’s Big Butterfly Count is taking place from Saturday 19th July – Sunday 10th August 2014. The survey is run by the charity Butterfly Conservation. To take part, simply count butterflies for 15 minutes during bright (preferably sunny) weather between now and 11th August. This…
Habitat enhancements at Mudchute continue apace! Following on from the new ponds and orchard, and the restoration of grassland on the southern slope, some super new dead wood habitats have been created. Groups of volunteers have created a dead hedge between the new wetland and the rest of the Village Green field. As well as improving safety by restricting access to the ponds, this will provide food and shelter for birds, small mammals and a host of invertebrates. Nearby, a loggery has been built in a shady spot at the base of the bank. This will provide more food for…
There was fun for all the family at Mudchute on the Thursday before Easter, as Froglife launched the new ponds, created last autumn as part of the Dragon Finder project. Pond-dipping was top of the agenda, with dozens of local children finding newts, tadpoles, shrimps, damselfly larvae, hoglice, ramshorn snails and a water-strider. The Easter Bonnet competition (above) run by Mudchute Nursery attracted lots of wonderful entries, and the Easter Egg Hunt was well-attended. There were opportunities to get close to some of the farm’s resident animals, as well as two visiting birds of prey, a Barn Owl (left) and…
In the north-west corner of Bethnal Green Nature Reserve, Phytology will be launched on 26 April. Part urban physic garden, part natural laboratory and part pharmacy, it is a new year-long collaboration with artists and botanists, exploring the medicinal properties of wild plants and weeds common to derelict urban environments. Thirty-two species of wild plants – usually regarded as weeds – have been sown on a specially created site that was once meadow and pasture, and later occupied by a medieval nursery and market gardens. Ranging from Black Mustard, Common Nettle and Feverfew, to Wild Garlic, Marsh Mallow and Sweet…
Pupils from an East London school planted historic trees and poppy seeds on April 1 to commemorate a World War I tragedy where 18 children died after a bombing raid destroyed the school in 1917. Children from Mayflower Primary School were joined by the Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman, Commander John Ludgate, Deputy Lieutenant for the borough and David Shreeve from the Conservation Foundation to plant a Black Poplar and unveil a plaque in Trinity Gardens, Poplar, where the Upper North Street School originally stood. The Upper North Street School was hit by a German bomb on 13 June…