From 2016, all dog owners will be legally required to have their dogs micro-chipped.
You can do this for free in St Jude’s Church Hall on Thursday, 17th December from 10am to midday.
Don’t miss this opportunity.
Category Archives: Wildlife Area
Autumn’s colours
There’s still a lot to do in the Wildlife Area but the recent warm weather is delaying some tasks that need us to wait for the shrubs to loose their leaves. On the trees, however, the leaves are turning and falling so there’s a lot of sweeping to be done.
The Wildlife Area will remain open each weekend in Winter. At the moment, the park hours are 8am to 4:30. Please take a moment to enjoy the changing seasons.
Our gardening sessions will be weather dependent through the winter months so please do ask to join the mailing list to be kept informed. We try not to send endless mails but do like to notify people of our session plans. Volunteers are always welcome to come and help.
The area is also available free of charge for community groups during the week. Contact us for more information and booking.
Donald Macauley
Local Artist
Over the last few months, we have been very privileged to welcome local artist, Donald Macauley into the Wildlife Area as he has painted this wonderful view of the London Plane with the mound and Ilbert Street in the background. The colours from my camera do not do this justice!
Donald grew up in East Anglia during the 1950s where the wild flowers among the corn, clouds of butterflies, and largely quiet, safe roads were his playground.
He has been painting since he was 16 and studied art at Reading University. However, it is only in his early retirement, he has found the time to fully embrace his talent.
He has been living in the Queen’s Park estate since 1984 and we are lucky to have him among us.
Please take a look at Donald’s other work at his website here.
If anyone would like to exhibit his work locally,
do get in touch.
Halloween in the Wildlife Area!
Come and help us find them hiding in the trees and bushes!
Our next Gardening Session will commence in the Wildlife Area at 10am on 31st Oct. More details here.
If you’re making pumpkin lanterns, don’t waste any food! Check here for ideas.
Come along and lend a hand at any time, for as long as you like. We’ll be there until 1pm………….the critters might stay a while longer.
Last Session of September
Freecycle is a wonderful resource. It put us in touch with someone who wanted to get rid of some top soil as he was completely restyling his neighbour’s garden, just over the canal. He kindly delivered about ten bags to us.
We had to sift it carefully to get rid of all the stones and unwanted vegetation but we split ourselves into two teams so that the others could be getting as much grass out of the area in the meadow where we wanted to spread the soil. Wildflowers thrive in poor quality soil but the end patches are full of stones where grass loves to grow and chokes some of the prettier flowers, if left unchecked.
On our way out of the park, we noticed a lot of cardboard packaging had been dumped in the general waste bin so we cleared the plastic and polystyrene elements back into that bin, then flattened the card and put it in the correct, recycling bin.
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Late Summer Chores
As the plants and flowers are dying off, it gives us a chance to tidy up and think about some of the more practical chores.
The wooden shuttering which borders the meadow as been rotting away over the last few years so with the welcome return of John, we were able to use some of the logs to reinstate it.
There was still a lot of weeding to do, to prepare the meadow for next summer.
We were thrilled to see a local resident arrive with his paints and easel. One of the many relaxing things you can do in the Wildlife Area, if gardening seems too strenuous.
Ray took some great photos. My favourite is the mushroom.
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Summer’s End
We’ve been very busy since the Summer Festival.
The Wildlife Area always gets full of domestic grass and more dominant weeds. There’s also a lot of bindweed in the Rose Garden and the triangular bed outside.
Removing the dead heads from roses gives them a chance for a second bloom so they’ve thrived this year. We’ve also weeded the circular shrub bed near the Third Avenue entrance.
A couple of donations of wood chip have been spread to help keep the weeds down and also make the paths better to walk on.
We’ve had to keep an eye on the roof terrace of the Grand Marigold Bug Hotel and netted the front so that any bugs nesting there will be safe and undisturbed. We made the area around the hotel safer to walk on by levelling it with the wood chip.
The Willow Dome needs trimming & weaving each year so we got the ladder & ties out.
In the Wildlife Meadow this year, we had some fantastic teasels. Did you see them? The Echinacea, planted in the side bed last year, multiplied and gave us many wonderful blooms.
We spent some time clearing the weeds from the awkward bank near the boundary hedge. The ground drops away quite sharply there so many of our original plants did not survive. We were kindly given some lovely specimens from the Head Gardener at the Royal College of Physicians which we planted during our last session.
September is also the time for us to let the Wildlife Meadow return to seed. The park attendants let us use their strimmer last session and the Head Gardener of the Royal College of Physicians gave us some more lovely plants to put in the bank by the hedge.
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The Wildlife Area – opening times
The Wildlife Area in Queen’s Park Gardens will now be open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays. It’s a great area for children and adults alike.
Please do come and enjoy the peace and greenery, and visit our new bug hotel. For the comfort of others, we ask that no dogs are brought into this area.
The area is also available free of charge for community groups during the week. Contact us for more information and booking.
Volunteers are always welcome to come and help. Check the side-bar for dates.
Come for as little or as long as you like and receive time credits in exchange for your work. There’s more information here.
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Wildlife Area Weekend Opening
The Wildlife Area in Queen’s Park Gardens will now be open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays. It’s a great area for children and adults alike.
Please do come and enjoy the peace and greenery, and visit our new bug hotel. For the comfort of others, we ask that no dogs are brought into this area.
The area is also available free of charge for community groups during the week. Contact us for more information and booking.
Volunteers are always welcome to come and help. Check the side-bar for dates. Our next session is on Saturday 31st October between 10am and 1pm.
Come for as little or as long as you like and receive time credits in exchange for your work. There’s more information here.
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Recital for Iraqi Christians in Need
St John the Evangelist is a beautiful setting to enjoy music and the acoustics are marvellous.
St John’s will be hosting a recital for Iraqi Christians in Need (ICIN) on
Saturday 5th September at 6 pm.
The evening will feature Carl Bahoshy performing a varied programme, including works by Chopin, Debussy and Rachmaninoff.
Admission is free but a collection will be made.
For more information about Iraqi Christians In Need, please click here.