The Big Lunch 2014

Some lovely photos from the the Big Lunch 2014 at Galleywall. We had a great turnout, and lovely weather for it.

Boiling up the kettle for a brew using our new tripod.

Pond dipping with sticks!

Picnicking in the meadow.

More pond-dipping, with the proper equipment, on the hunt for aquatic mini-beasts.

Tipping out and identifying mini-beasts. Lots of life in our pond!

Hunting other mini-beasts in the meadow.

An insect visitor. Another sign that the reserve is doing what we want: providing habitat for all sorts of insects, plants, and animals.

Making new signs

This month we were sign-making at Galleywall. Unfortunately no photos (watch this space...) but we drew and decorated two big sheets of plywood with GALLEYWALL NATURE RESERVE in nice big letters, surrounded by flowers, minibeasts, and vines.

We also planted some climbing beans around the bean wigwam, and a sharp-eyed young visitor spotted that some bees seem to have set up home in one of our nesting boxes. They didn't look like honeybees, and apparently bumblebees like bird boxes as nests. So it looks like we have a little bumblebee nest! The bees we saw flying around the entrance are apparently male bees waiting for the queen to come out. Bumblebee nests are much smaller than honeybee nests, with only 400 or so bees at most -- the queen, lots of workers, and the eggs. It's great to know that we are providing habitat for such an important insect!

Many thanks to everyone who came along to help out. We hope to get the signs varnished in the next few weeks and put them up on Open Gardens Day in June.

We'll next be open on June 1st (1:30-3:30) for the Big Lunch 2014. Bring along a picnic and enjoy the lovely peace and greenery of the reserve.

April flowers (and no showers) down at Galleywall

A nice sunny afternoon at the reserve yesterday meant a little light tidying up. A couple of valiant volunteers mowed some of the meadow with the push mower after the petrol one broke. We also did some litter picking and pulled the odd nettle from around the path (and one or two Japanese knotweed shoots — ten years of hand weeding and it’s still not quite gone!). And checked over the shelter canvas in case of rain on the next reserve visit.

Of course, we also all spent some time admiring the flowers:

Cowslips in the meadow.

The hawthorn trees are covered in blooms.

Wild strawberry flowers promise wild strawberries later in the year.

Bluebells on the slope under the trees.

And fungi are growing on the fungus logs in the permaculture area.

The next monthly event is sign making on Sunday 18th May, 1:30-3:30. Let your inner artist out and help make some signs both beautiful and informative, for inside the reserve and out. We’ll also be holding our AGM directly afterwards which everyone is welcome to attend.

Summer 2014 events

Check out our events for Summer 2014. Come down to the reserve to enjoy the activities and events, or just to sit around in the (hopefully...) sunshine!

Our new canopy!

Just in time for autumn to start making itself known, Galleywall has a lovely new canvas canopy that volunteers, visitors, and school groups can shelter under in time of need.

Here it is after just being put up for the first time:

The central pole is mounted with a handle at the bottom and a block arrangement at the top so the canopy can be furled around the pole by turning the handle. This is the setup at the top, as designed by Alan:

The guy ropes are all attached to old bike inner tubes. These are stretchy, so they're easier to get around the pegs and poles than a non-stretchy guy rope, and it also means that they won't damage our mushroom logs or tree branches.

A wonderful design job from Alan! Many thanks to A & B Textiles and Sailmakers in Gillingham who made the canvas canopy to Alan's spec, and to Shaun Packham in Bermondsey who provided the pole.

I'm now positively looking forward to the next rainy open day so we can show it off... so come along on Sunday 6th October, 13:30-15:30, to see it in action and help us tidy up a bit for autumn.

New gate for the reserve!

This year, blacksmith Sean Marshall has been working with pupils from local schools, with the assistance of Jenny Hickman, to design and make a new gate for the reserve. The big reveal was a couple of weeks ago, and this is our lovely new gate:



Southwark News came along and wrote an article about it, too:





As you'll see from the photos, the gate isn't yet fully installed, but it should be up soon.

Next Galleywall Open Day will be Sunday 1st September, 13:00-15:00. Do come along, either to help out a bit or just to have a wander round and enjoy the space.