Judith Stanley-Smith of Cayley Primary School writes: Thanks to funding from the Tower Hill Trust’s Tower Habitats biodiversity grants and from Igneo Infrastructure Partners, and the hard work of some corporate volunteers, we have a new wildlife pond as the centrepiece to our Wild Life Works school garden. We formed a very good team with the Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park to realise the project in the October half term. Pond expert Terry Lyle, Richard Nimmo and Kenneth Greenaway advised on materials, supplied tools and some volunteers and lots of moral support! On the first day the JCB driver…
Author: John Archer
Tower Hamlets won the City category in the 2022 London in Bloom awards, one of a record 12 Gold awards won by sites and organisations in Tower Hamlets. Canary Wharf won the Town or City Centre category for the second year running, and picked up a second Gold award in the Business Landscape section. Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park repeated its 2021 hat trick of gold awards in the Large Conservation Site, Large Cemetery and Heritage Park or Garden categories. Victoria Park and the Tower of London also won Gold in the latter category, with Victoria Park doubling up with another…
James Clark of Wilder Communities writes: Wilder Communities has now completed our most recent green project in the Malmesbury Estate, in partnership with Trees for Cities and with the benefit of a grant from the Tower Hill Trust. Bulb and meadow planting There were two days of bulb planting in October 2021 during which the areas of focus were Harley Grove and Lawrence Close. During the first day, we were delighted to see around 100 young children from Malmesbury Primary School join. Many had never planted anything before and they were all fascinated about all the worms! The second day…
Ken Greenway, Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park Manager, writes: The Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park are running some exciting new events this spring, with evening walks looking at wildlife in various parts of Tower Hamlets, and a course teaching you all about how to identify and grow wildflowers. All these events are free, though donations are always welcome. Advance booking is essential. Spaces book up quickly, but it’s worth joining the waiting list as people do cancel. Please wear weather appropriate clothes and closed shoes (no sandals/flip flops/crocs). Bring your own snacks and drinks. Do not attend any of these…
Local entomologist and photographer Gino Brignoli writes: I managed to get out and take a few photographs over the Easter weekend, and was fortunate enough to find the ant Lasius emarginatus at Bethnal Green Nature Reserve. The identification has been verified by Mike Fox, the National Ant Recorder. These ants are fairly common in continental Europe and have been known from the Channel Isles for some time, but have only recently become established in mainland Britain (a colony was first discovered in Islington in 2008). Since then, the species has been found in parts of London and a few isolated…
Butterfly Conservation’s Big City Butterflies project, in conjunction with the Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, is delivering a series of events for community groups and residents to learn how to identify butterflies, and how to manage and create habitats to support them. Virtual Butterfly Identification and Recording Workshop Join Steve from the Big City Butterflies project to learn how to identify common species found in London and how to record them. Follow up guided walk at Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park available on 8 May. Thursday 5 May 6:30pm – 7:30pm on Zoom The event is free but numbers are…
The Field Studies Council is running a project called BioLinks, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, to deliver training in invertebrate identification and recording across London, focussing on under-recorded and difficult groups. The project is running several courses at Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park. These include introductory courses on ants and earthworms in March and bees in May, and a Field Recorder Day on in August. Learn To Love Ants This course on 2 March 2022 is an introduction to one of our planet’s most numerous insect groups, introducing aspects of their biology, ecology and behaviour. Important ecosystem engineers and highly…
Clare Hawkins, Chief Executive Officer of Stepney City Farm, writes: The team down at Stepney City Farm have been kept busy during the last year; we’ve been developing an acre and a half of land which was recently reinstated to the Farm following ten years of occupation by Crossrail. The Farm is a flagship of environmental education in urban Tower Hamlets, and encouraging biodiversity is a key priority for the site. Over 200 metres of mixed native hedgerow has been planted around new animal fields, and a grant from the Greater London Authority secured the building of a fantastic new…
Around a million people from across the UK are set to take part in the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch by counting the birds in their gardens over the weekend of 28-30 January 2022. They’ll also make a record of the other wildlife they see throughout the year, providing a vital snapshot of UK nature. The largest wildlife survey in the world, the Big Garden Birdwatch has been running for over 30 years. Last year, with people more or less confined to their homes by Covid-19 restrictions, was a record year. Over a million people took part and over 17 million…
James Squires from TCV, The Conservation Volunteers, writes: On Friday 19 November, a small group of volunteers from building company Wates, together with staff from TCV, attended Prospect Park in Bow to plant a new hedge along the southern perimeter wall and push on with the meadow creation on the northern side of the park. A double row of native tree whips, including hazel, hawthorn, beech and buckthorn, was planted, totaling just short of 500 trees. In years to come, these will provide an attractive green screen between the park and the road, absorbing pollutants and reducing noise. Additionally, the…