Saturday 24th September meet Five Arches at 6.30pm see poster

We shall be at the Information Centre behind the stable block from 10am to 1230pm. pop in during your visit or walk. Future events Bat Experience 24th September, Five Arches & AGM/Public Meeting 27th September at ‘The Bothy’ St James Church- full details to follow. contact ffcm06@gmail.com

We are supporting this event with the Information Centre and a stall, a great opportunity to find out more about Foots Cray Place

The Information Centre will be open this Saturday 2nd July from 10am to 1230pm come along and meet the Friends find out some more about the Meadows and our Group.

To coincide with our plans to upgrade our banking and introduce more flexible ways of collecting membership subscriptions we have decided to postpone this years AGM to Tuesday 27th September starting at 7am with the venue to be confirmed. However, you can still join as a member with details on our members page.

We have received the following update from Tim Barnes Tree Officer at Bexley on Friday 13th May 2022

I just wanted to email you with a brief update regarding some urgent tree work operations that are taking place on the Ellenborough Road entrance to the park.

There is a large twin-stem poplar that we are currently having reduced. We have asked for an outside contractor to come in and carry out the work and they began work yesterday. However, after speaking with the contractor it has become clear that this will be a multiple day project certainly spanning into next week. Although work will not continue over the weekend, much of the debris will still be on site. However, the team will endeavour to keep the gate and pathways clear on Saturday and Sunday.

It is my hope that this work will have minimal affect on the park users and we hope to keep any inconveniences to a minimum.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Kind regards,

Tim Barnes

Trees & Woodlands Officer

Parks & Open Spaces

London Borough of Bexley

We at the Friends are now looking towards spring and summer on the Meadows. We will keep you informed of what is happening here as well as notifying our members directly. we welcome your observations and comments via our contact page or by e mail ffcm06@gmail.com. do come along on the morning of Saturday 7th May 2022 when we next plan on opening the Information Centre.

The iconic Sidcup scene of swans at the ‘Five Arches’. Swans have intermittently visited the Meadows this winter the image above was taken on Sunday 13^th March will they stay? Let us hope so.  

Spring Watch – Remember to give nature a space especially during the nesting season.

How are the daff’s doing at Rectory lane?

Enjoy your visit

Our end of Summer Spectacular is this Saturday with our Bat Experience, Meet at Five Arches at 7.30pm For Full Details click Here

The Information Centre will be open to the public on Saturday 7th August between 10.00am and 1.00pm.

We will be joined by: –

Emily Millhouse    London Tails of Amphibian Discovery (T.O.A.D) Project Manager with froglife https://www.froglife.org/

Funded through The National Lottery Heritage Fund

Who will be available to answer any questions you might have on the conservation of amphibians and reptiles – frogs, toads, newts, snakes and lizards – and saving the habitats they depend on.

Exploring Local Places, Foots Cray Place Saturday 24^th July 2021 10am – 4pm. The Friends and Bexley Archaeology Group are co hosting an event as part of the Festival of Archaeology. For full details click the link to see the Poster.

My thanks to Kat at the EA for updating the Friends on this week’s talk of water quality on the Rivers Shuttle & Cray MH FFCM

On Monday (21/06/21) we were made aware of a fish kill involving several hundred dead fish on the River Shuttle at Bexley Woods. Our Water Quality and Fisheries Officers visited later that morning to investigate. Although there were no obvious signs of pollution present we noted a general discolouration and a recent deposit of silt. Thames Water, who operate the sewerage system, along with their contractors also attended. No issues could be found with the river water nor the nearby sewer network. Unfortunately the source and cause of the fish kill still remains unknown. We are having lab analysis carried out on the river water and the investigation remains open. Whatever caused the fish mortality, is likely to have been flushed downstream and diluted. The remaining fish carcasses will decompose naturally without having a negative impact on water quality.

We have received separate reports of fish in distress on the River Cray near Foots Cray Meadow. This was also attended and water quality readings suggested this was the result of a possible algae bloom and is not related to the River Shuttle incident.

Rivers receive water from many different sources including road and yard drainage. Unknown pollutants may enter drainage networks which flow into local watercourses any time but especially in urban catchments following rainfall. Natural waters can also contain strains of blue-green algae, which can be toxic to humans and animals. We carry out bacteriological testing at designated bathing waters to inform swimmers of risk but not in this area. We are therefore not in a position to comment on whether a watercourse is safe to enter for either humans or their pets.

If you have any further concerns regarding health and safety, we would advise contacting the Environmental Health Team at your local authority who is best placed to deal with these sorts of queries.

Likewise, if you do observe any pollution, please report this through to our incident hotline on 0800 80 70 60.

Kind regards,

Kat

Katherine Tye | Fisheries Technical Officer

FBG North | Kent and South London