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.

 Starting in April 2013 activities are planned for the first Sunday of the month from 1-3 pm and all are welcome to come along.
There will be work on the habitat wall  in April - a unique aspect of the reserve which uses the wall as a habitat for insects, in May a session on growing plants in small places, in June making bat boxes, in July identifying native plants, in August harvesting fruits, in September wildflower management and in October vertical gardening.
No need to book, just drop in.

summer 2012 news

Galleywall Nature Reserve continues to attract new volunteers and there have been regular school and community activities throughout the early part of the summer. From September 2012 onwards we are going to be open on the first Sunday of each month from 1-3. These sessions are drop in and we welcome anyone with an interest in keeping this little corner of urban Bermondsey green.
Please do come if you can. If you have an interest in being involved as part of the maintenance team, as a volunteer warden or as a thinker and planner of green spaces please be in touch with either Jane Stokes, and janesto16@btconnect.com or Alan Chadborn at achadborn@googlemail.com
If you have a school or community group who would like to be involved, again, be in touch with one of us.
We are proud of what we have achieved, in keeping this tiny part of inner city London free from development and would love to share it with you!