HourBank (together with People's Bureau and Time4Southwark) are running a Skills Exchange event in March which looks great:
They say:
"Wander round our stalls, pick up some new skills, get something fixed, and have some fun."
Saturday 28th March, 11-4pm, at Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre.
Meanwhile, down on the Nature Reserve, spring is just started to poke its head up... Our first event this year will be Sunday 15th March, when we'll be doing some planting on the bank behind the pond. Watch this space for more information on the rest of the year -- we have lots planned!
February 26, 2015
January 08, 2015
Planning meeting, Tue 13th Jan
It would be great if you could come along to our planning meeting for this year which is scheduled for Tuesday January 13th 2015, 7 pm, at City Hope Church ,121 Drummond Road SE16 2JY, just round the corner from the Blue.
2015 at Galleywall Nature Reserve should be good. We are hoping to install an improved rainwater harvesting system, get our raised beds regularly tended by local people, build a cob hearth and hold more days where children and their families can have fun cooking, making hot drinks safely, and learning how to build and tend a real campfire.
In addition we will be extending our habitat wall, applying to the Guinness book of records to be recognised as having the biggest bug hotel in London, improving our permaculture section and growing more wild food. We will be introducing bees to the reserve.
We hope you can come and help us make these plans a reality. We need your help to open the reserve regularly, and to give us more ideas and build a reliable team to keep the reserve well looked after. DO come along and have your say.
2015 at Galleywall Nature Reserve should be good. We are hoping to install an improved rainwater harvesting system, get our raised beds regularly tended by local people, build a cob hearth and hold more days where children and their families can have fun cooking, making hot drinks safely, and learning how to build and tend a real campfire.
In addition we will be extending our habitat wall, applying to the Guinness book of records to be recognised as having the biggest bug hotel in London, improving our permaculture section and growing more wild food. We will be introducing bees to the reserve.
We hope you can come and help us make these plans a reality. We need your help to open the reserve regularly, and to give us more ideas and build a reliable team to keep the reserve well looked after. DO come along and have your say.
November 18, 2014
Winter flowers
Some winter flowers on the nature reserve:
Creeping buttercup (we had lots of this earlier in the year, but a couple of plants are flowering again in the mild weather).
I don't recognise this one, which was growing under the trees by the gate -- any offers?
The Daubenton's Kale is doing well, too, in the permaculture area.
The reserve will be shut now for a couple of months -- see you in the spring!
October 25, 2014
Permaculture and fungi at Galleywall
Last weekend we had the last of the scheduled 2014 sessions at Galleywall (though there's one extra one -- see below), on Permaculture.
Permaculture is a way of approaching gardening, agriculture, and life sustainably and positively. Check out the Permaculture Principles site (and the previous link to the Permaculture Association) for more information. The drop-in session at the reserve was a lot of fun, and we looked at ways of thinking about permaculture principles, and at some of the permaculture aspects and links of Galleywall.
I also had a look around the reserve and found some cool fungi:
The bottom ones are ink caps but I'm not sure about the top ones (opinions welcome!).
We'll have one more open afternoon at Galleywall, on Sunday 16th November (1:30-3:30pm) before winter. Nothing particular planned -- we'll be brewing tea over the fire, and will do a bit of end-of-year tidying up. Come along to help or just to drink tea and toast a marshmallow or two!
Permaculture is a way of approaching gardening, agriculture, and life sustainably and positively. Check out the Permaculture Principles site (and the previous link to the Permaculture Association) for more information. The drop-in session at the reserve was a lot of fun, and we looked at ways of thinking about permaculture principles, and at some of the permaculture aspects and links of Galleywall.
I also had a look around the reserve and found some cool fungi:
We'll have one more open afternoon at Galleywall, on Sunday 16th November (1:30-3:30pm) before winter. Nothing particular planned -- we'll be brewing tea over the fire, and will do a bit of end-of-year tidying up. Come along to help or just to drink tea and toast a marshmallow or two!
September 24, 2014
Finding out about bees!
We were lucky enough to have a couple of experienced beekeepers come to talk to us at Galleywall on Sunday - and they brought some of their friends with them.
The bees are temporarily shut into the frame when its out on display like this to keep both bees and people safe. In the bottom photo beekeeper Sharon is in the background.
It was really fascinating to watch the bees busily moving around cleaning out cells and feeding from the pot at the top. The queen - a real veteran at 3 years old (in theory queens can live to 5 but this is the oldest queen beekeeper Sharon has seen) - seemed to be laying eggs.
Unfortunately I couldn't get a clear photo of the queen, who was marked with a yellow dot.
We also got a chance to feel some of the wax comb.
We were hoping to get a hive at the reserve this year but due to illness (of the beekeeper not of the bees!) will have to wait until spring. Bees are incredibly important to the environment, and we already have habitat for solitary bees in various places, and had a bumblebee nest in one of our bird boxes this year, so being able to house some honeybees as well is great.
Check out the British Beekeepers Association for more information about honeybees, and many thanks to the beekeepers who came along to talk to us!
The bees are temporarily shut into the frame when its out on display like this to keep both bees and people safe. In the bottom photo beekeeper Sharon is in the background.
It was really fascinating to watch the bees busily moving around cleaning out cells and feeding from the pot at the top. The queen - a real veteran at 3 years old (in theory queens can live to 5 but this is the oldest queen beekeeper Sharon has seen) - seemed to be laying eggs.
Unfortunately I couldn't get a clear photo of the queen, who was marked with a yellow dot.
We also got a chance to feel some of the wax comb.
We were hoping to get a hive at the reserve this year but due to illness (of the beekeeper not of the bees!) will have to wait until spring. Bees are incredibly important to the environment, and we already have habitat for solitary bees in various places, and had a bumblebee nest in one of our bird boxes this year, so being able to house some honeybees as well is great.
Check out the British Beekeepers Association for more information about honeybees, and many thanks to the beekeepers who came along to talk to us!
September 16, 2014
Forest School, and bees this Sunday
Today saw the very first Forest School session at Galleywall, with eight children from Southwark Park School coming to the reserve to explore and get to know it. They'll be back for another five sessions before half term, and we're hoping to run more.
Also this Sunday is our bee-keeping talk, starting at 13:30. Open to everyone and it promises to be really interesting. Feel free to bring along some lunch and explore the reserve a little -- our new Nature Trail should be available too.
Also this Sunday is our bee-keeping talk, starting at 13:30. Open to everyone and it promises to be really interesting. Feel free to bring along some lunch and explore the reserve a little -- our new Nature Trail should be available too.
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