Roe Green Walled Garden Open Day Saturday June 1st 11am-4pm

 

Barn Hill Conservation Group erect panels to educate and inform the public about their work in Fryent Country Park

 

 

Barn Hill Conservation Group who look after the vast Fryent Country Park and the small and beautiful Roe Green wallked gardem, won a grant last year for work on the Gaderbrook that runs though the park. After one of the contractors decided not to charge them for the work the group allocated it to install new interpretative panels in the park and these were unveiled this morning in bright sunshine.

In the video above Maurice Gold gives the background to the group's work which has been going on for more than 40 years to the benefit of all Brent residents. They were one of the first environmental groups in the borough, long before such an interest was fashionable.

 

The Barn Hill Conservation Group

UPDATE: VEOLIA APOLOGISES Veolia's cheek at claiming credit for an award to a conservation garden they don't maintain

 

The long establised Barn Hill Conservation Group were put out when they saw a tweet from Veolia congratulating themselves and Brent Council for a London in Bloom Gold Winners award to Roe Green Walled Garden in Kingsbury for the best Small Conservation Area.

In fact the Garden is wholly maintained by the volunteers who work there on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturday - Veolia has no involvement.

A volunteer commented that there are two questions: 

 

Why did London in Bloom send the certificate ( on the right  in photograph above) to Veolia rather than to Barn Hill Conservation Group? 

 

Why did Veolia not only accept a certificate for something to which they were not entitled  but then publicise it?

The Conservation Group do an amazing job in the garden, as the photographsbelow shows, and have been doing so for far longer than Veolia has managed the parks contract.

Roe Green Walled Garden

The Conservation Group also does immensely valuable voluntary conservation work in the vast Fryent Country Park every Sunday: 

 

 Fryent Country Park won a Gold in the Country Parks category.

I hope Veolia have the grace to tweet an apology.

Shortly after this story was published Veolia apologised. Thank you.

 

'Elusive' butterfly spotted in Fryent Country Park by Conservation Group

 

Brown Hairstreak butterfly 

Barn Hill Conservation Group in its latest Newsletter  report some good news in this summer which has not been kind to butterlies and moths. On 14th August, on the Beane Hill Butterfly Transect study, a butterfly was resting on a plant and opened its wings. It was unmistakenly a female Brown Hairstreak – the first adult ever seen at Fryent Country Park. This confirms the presence of the Brown Hairstreak at the Park following the first record of eggs on New Year’s Day 2019. The Brown Hairstreak is an elusive butterfly to observe and has only recently moved into North and West London, and depends on blackthorn for the larval food. 

The Brown Hairstreak is on the "at risk" species list, because it relies on hedgerows. Having it in our local Country Park, which has deliberately retained old hedgerows, managed by BHCG, is a great story for a holiday weekend.

Meanwhile Harry Mackie  has reported on the website Next Door two  sightings in  in his Queens Walk garden,  10 minute's walk from the borders of the park.

 

Mint Moth

Holly Blue butterfly

The Gaderbrook flowing freely after today's heavy rain

 Fryent Country Park acts like a giant sponge in periods of sustained  heavy rain. Some of the ponds and ditches overflow dispersing into the meadows and the meadows become saturated. Much of the excess water ends up in the Gaderbrook.

The video above shows the Gaderbrook at its fullest and you can even hear the rush of the water above the noise from the road and the Jubilee tube line.

Barn Hill Conservation Group is working on the banks of the Gaderbrook at the moment.   They are an amazing group who were hard at work this morning, in the rain in the area around Barn Hill Pond.  They are always in need of volunteers so if you want to get plenty of exercise during winter lockdown get in touch. This is what they posted about their work (edited):

GADERBROOK AND PRESTON EASTFIELD

The aim of the work here is to restore this section of the Gaderbrook stream alongside Preston Eastfield.

The Gaderbrook arises from the surface water ditches of the meadows and hedgerows in Fryent Country Country Park.  It also takes surface water from Fryent Way and from parts of the suburban estate between here and Kingsbury Road, That area is due to the countours of the local geology.

Alongside the Gaderbrook, the work aims to reduce scrubeso that the stream receives more light. That should encourage wildflowers and inprove the view of the streamside.

Within Preston Eastfield, a hedgerow will be created (or restored?) from a line of scrub trees, set back from the streamside. On the other side of that hedgerow the footpath is being widened.

The aim? A more attractive path, a hedgerow and streamside habitats.

While we hope that more plants will establish in the improved light, you may occasionally notice that the stream is polluted  (Ed: see last frames of the video). This is due to wrongly connected plambing from propertis that feed into the strean.  If you notice this, please report it to the Environment Agency pollution hotline.

Barn Hill Conservation Group LINK

More on the state of Brent's parks & the 'meadows' debate

There's quite a debate going on regarding the state of Brent's parks on social media.  The 'creation' of meadows  was a decision based on saving money (£0.5m) backed by a claim that it would support natural diversity LINK. It has been implemented by  simply  not cutting the grass. Some are happy for sections of the parks to be left unmown hoping it will provide diversity for nature but others point out that real wild flower meadows need proper planning and maintenance.

Local resident Jaine Lunn succeeded in persuading Brent Council and their contractor Veolia to reduce the unmown area  in King Edward VII park to enable children to play ball games

Meanwhile a reader has sent me the above photograph of the 'cricket pitch' at King Edward VII park in Wembley commenting, 'I forgot how much they spent on doing this but they shouldn't have bothered.'

There is an extensive discussion about the issue on the View from Dollis Hill Facebook page regarding Gladstone Park. LINK

As a contribution to the meadows debate here are pictures of the meadows and 'scrape' at Mason's Field in Kingsbury where the Barn Hill Conservation Group has transformed a former playing field into a meadow. The transformation involved a substantial amount of work by volunteers including planting thousands of plug plants. See LINK.

Similar work was done at the University of Westminster wild flower meadow which is hand-scythed at the end of the season.

Mason's Field on Friday:

By contrast this is a view of one of the Gladstone Park meadows:

Blooming marvellous! Double award for Barn Hill Conservation Group



Barn Hill Conservation Group are celebrating a double award from London in Bloom.

The Roe Green Walled Garden won Gold in the small Conservation Area category.

The garden is one of the gems of Brent, lovingly tended by volunteers, and replete with vegetables and flowers and fascinating installations dedicated to giving a home to wildlife.

You can visit on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturdays between 10.30am and 2.30pm.







The second award, also a Gold, went to Fryent Country Park and was the overall winner in the Best Country Park Category.

The Conservation Group worked with Brent Council and Barn Hill Residents Association to clear rubbish and the remains of camps from the 250 acre park deposited about 2 years ago.

There is now a dedicated team of residents who collect litter whilst working in the park and leave it a collection points for the Council to collect.

The Conservation Group work in the park every Sunday not only clearing litter and flytips but undertaking conservation work including keeping footpaths clear,  carrying out new planting and surveying the park's wildlife.

Further information can be found on their website HERE

Red Kites spotted over Fryent Country Park, Kingsbury

The Barn Hill Conservation Group August Newsletter has reported sightings of Red Kites over Fryent Country Park.

Pete Stevens of the Southern England Kite Group told me that this is not the first sighting over London of these magnificent birds but I think it is the first in our area.

He told me that young kites in their first year often explore away from their home territory and that probably accounts for the sighting. They tend to return to the area where they fledged to nest but suggested local naturalists should listen out for them calling to each other if they are seen in the Spring. This was one indicator of them nesting in the area.

Background information

Red kites were driven to extinction in England by human persecution by the end of the nineteenth century. A small population survived in Wales, but there was little chance of these birds repopulating their original areas.

Between 1989 and 1994, kites from Spain were imported and released into the Chilterns by the RSPB and English Nature (now Natural England). Red kites started breeding in the Chilterns in 1992 and now there could be over 1,000 breeding pairs in the area. The reintroduction has been so successful it is not possible to monitor all the nests, so the overall size of the population can only be estimated. Source

Where to see Red Kites

Reports of sightings can be made directly to the Southern England Kite Group via their website www.sekg.org.uk or by calling Pete Stevens on 07761 205 833

A Brent treasure: Roe Green Walled Garden Open Day Saturday September 10th

There will be an  Open Day at Roe Green Walled Garden in Kingsbury on Saturday September 10th from 10.30am until 4pm. This is another Brent resource, passionately supported by volunteers of the Barn Hill Conservation Group, that deserves to be better known. To whet your appetite here is some background from the Group:

Roe Green Walled Garden

The little known oasis is located within Roe Green Park, Kingsbury next to Kingsbury Manor House.

In order to locate the garden start opposite the junction of Kingsbury Road with Valley Drive and follow the road into Roe Green Park, bear left at the fork and continue to the Walled Garden. Buses 183 and 204 stop by the junction; and Kingsbury tube station is nearby.

History

The garden was originally part of the estate of the house now called Kingsbury Manor. The house was built in 1899 for the Duchess of Sutherland and her third husband Sir Albert Kaye Rollit, who was M.P. for Islington from 1886 to 1906. It was then a country house, surrounded by farmland, and was called 'The Cottage'.

By 1909 the house was occupied by Countess Bubna, daughter of the Duchess; it later changed hands several times. In 1929 George Cloke bought the house and changed its name to 'Kingsbury Manor'. He sold the house and grounds to Middlesex County Council in 1938, and the house become a home for elderly people, while the walled garden was part of a Council Depot used for the training of Parks staff. 

John Logie Baird, inventor of television, rented the nearby Coach House in 1928. It was there that he received the first television signals from Berlin. The concrete bases of his two television masts can still be seen near the building, which is now used by the Nursery. 

In 1989 Barn Hill Conservation Group were offered the use of the facilities, including the workshop, greenhouse and cold frames, and agreed to look after the garden. It was then in a rather neglected state, and members of the Group worked every Thursday morning to tidy and improve it. 

The Group's tree nursery was established just outside the garden, growing trees from seed collected in Fryent Country Park. The young trees have been used to replant some of the old hedgerows there. 

Several new features were introduced, one of the first being the organic vegetable garden. Compost containers were built to recycle the weeds that seem to grow everywhere. Another recycling project was the dry-stone wall, constructed in the traditional way, but from rubble instead of stone. 

A new pond was dug to encourage wildlife - frogs, toads and newts - while the old round pond was left for the fish. Homes, from recycled wood, for a variety of creatures, can be seen in one corner, and birds are encouraged by nest boxes and feeders. 

Awards and Financing

The Green Flag Community Award (formerly Green Pennant Award) recognises high quality green spaces that are managed by voluntary and community groups. The Award is part of the Green Flag Award scheme (Keep Britain Tidy), the national standard for quality parks and green spaces. Each site is judged on its own merits and suitability to the community it serves. Awards are given on an annual basis and winners must apply each year to renew their Green Pennant status. Roe Green Walled Garden has won this award each year since 2005. 

Barn Hill Conservation Group have received a number of grants through the years to improve the garden - one to pave the area outside the workshop, another to re-point the East wall; but our largest grant was for our new Conservation Centre building (now named 'The Cottage' after the name of the original manor House). This new building is proving to be a great asset, and for which we give many thanks to the National Lotteries Charity Board.  The Group have also been given a grant from Brent’s Ward Working which was used to part finance a gazebo, and more recently a grant form Santander which will be used to help finance a greenhouse/classroom.  In addition to grants and donations the group are also financed from sales of bric-a-brac, books, plants, logs and wood-craft.

Current details

The Walled garden, has been maintained by the Barn Hill Conservation Group (a completely welcoming and inclusive group) since 1989, is a wonderful tranquil and peaceful area to sit, walk and browse with free entry open every Tuesday Thursday and Saturday between 10 and 2. 

The gardens enjoys visits from the local schools and other community groups

It is home to Great Crested newts, a Bee Hive and a constructed home for bugs and insects 

 

Events 

The group host several open days during the year and two years ago hosted a Russian Tea Ceremony which was presented from a Russian Group that made Kolomna Pastila using British apples to discover the tastes of the time of Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy. 

Our next open day is Saturday 10^th September 2016 between 10.30 and 4, but is also open for visitors on Tuesday’s Thursday’s and Saturdays between 10 & 2.

Further Information

The group also do conservation every Sunday on Fryent Country Park a list of meeting places and events can be found on our website http://www.bhcg.btck.co.uk/ or contact can be made by phone on 020 8206 0492 or email barnhillconservationgroup@gmail.com

Roe Green Walled Garden Open Day on Saturday

Roe Green Walled Garden – well worth a visit

 Guest blog by Philip Grant

Following Martin’s short blog publicising its open day on Saturday LINK, I went along to renew my acquaintance with this “secret garden”. I say that as I had lived within half a mile of Roe Green Walled Garden for fifteen years before my family discovered this beautiful haven, tucked away at the top of a driveway in the park. Now, this community garden run by volunteers from the Barn Hill Conservation Group is better publicised, and attracted many other visitors.

Some of the Open Day attractions on the lawn

 

A quiet wildlife corner of the walled garden

 

Part of the sunny long borde

 If you have not been to this garden before (or if you have, but are not sure when it is open), you don’t need to wait for another open day to pay it a visit. The garden is open from 10am to 2pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. There are quiet spots to sit and relax, an area for children to play, educational displays, and sales of recycled items as well as the pleasant flower, fruit and vegetable gardens to stroll around. The garden has an informal atmosphere, and there are usually volunteers around glad to answer any questions. If you want to stay and give them a hand with any of the garden tasks, so much the better, but there is no pressure to do so. If you want to find out more about the garden, or their work on Fryent Country Park, please visit their website: http://bhcg.btck.co.uk/.

Philip Grant.

Fly-tipping is hard work compared with ringing for a bulky collection

Barn Hill pond

I took advantage of the 'lighter shade of grey' skies and temporary cessation of rain this morning for a brisk walk around the perimeter of Fryent Country Park.

The park is waterlogged at present with a number of temporary streams and ponds. In contrast with the Spring the ponds are full which bodes well for a better year for amphibians in 2013.

Barn Hill Conservation Group LINK who do so much to conserve and enhance the park have picked up  320 large black bags of litter as well as bigger items since January this year.  It never ceases to amaze me what lengths people go to in order to dump rubbish.

This morning in the field below the pedestrian bridge to Shakespeare Drive a huge suitcase had been dumped into the hedgerow.  This would have required parking a car by Michael Sobell Primary School, trundling the case up the tarmacked  slope to the bridge, down the steep grassy slope on the other side and then bumping it across the meadow. The case had been opened and the contents scattered across the grass. This included dozens of pairs of trainers, a Gok Wan fashion book, a guide to embroidery, an exercise book of poetry  and items of clothing.

The clothing could have been bagged and left out with the recycling, the shoes at one of the street side collection banks (the nearest is on the corner of Valley Drive/Kingsbury Road) and the books donated to a charity shop or one of the community libraries. I took advantage of the sunshine on New Year's Day to clear the dump.

The recent figures on the big rise in private rental accommodation does perhaps point to one of the reasons for the increase in fly-tipping. With tenancies changing frequently new tenants throw out stuff left by the old tenants and these are frequently left in front gardens or by the road side. This accounts for the number of mattresses scattered throughout the borough.

One idea I would like the council to consider is issuing leaflets to Letting Agents to go to  new tenants about the recycling services and particularly bulky collections. It would be helpful if this could be translated into Eastern European languages and any others felt appropriate.

Here is a reminder about what can be picked up through the bulky collection service:

Item	Such as	Items must be
Furniture-plastic, wooden or metal	Beds, mattresses and bedframes, sofas, tables (larger tables may count as 2 or more items due to their size), wardrobes, armchairs and chairs.	Small enough to be carried and loaded on to a vehicle by no more than two workers
Flooring	Linoleum and floor tiles	Bagged or bundled. Wooden flooring or ceramic tiles are not accepted.
Metal	Metal filing cabinets less than 40kg and fire guards.
Carpets		Manageable by two people, otherwise it must be cut into smaller sections, rolled and tied. Each section counts as a separate item. Underlay is also classed as a separate item.
Large electrical goods	Washing machines, cookers, microwaves, fridges, freezers, dishwashers, dryers and vacuum cleaners.
Small electrical item	TVs, monitors, Hi-Fi systems and radios
Glass or mirrors	Glass top table, mirrored parts of doors or cabinets and fish tanks.	Wrapped in a safe and secure manne