Brian up the hill

It was a mess long before Southwark took back the contract.

Mulumbu must be in a very privileged area of Lewisham! I’m in LBL, just over the border from Southwark and we’ve lost many street trees over the years and they have never been replaced. In think Lewisham have a stake in the tarmac industry. Out comes the tree, in plops the tarmac! I am impressed with the care and comprehensive planting of street trees in Southwark, well the southern end at least, as that is my own experience. I do agree with Malumbu’s complaint about Lewisham pavements.

When using the Find a Walk-in COVID vaccination point, don’t use the Age Range filter as it seems to send you far away. The Medicos Pharmacy next to the Jenner Health Centre on Stanstead Rd. and the chemist in Croxley Rd., West Dulwich are both offering boosters. Otherwise, yes, there seem to be plenty in New Cross/Lewisham area and Brixton/Tulse Hill/ Norwood but a bit sparse around Dulwich. And yes, I had my COVID booster on Monday morning by walking into the Medicos Pharmacy. No queue and fast, friendly and efficient.

This might be interesting for those who enjoy the local nature reserves and those who haven’t discovered them yet…..

Just to let those who maybe interested know that this Sunday is the Sydenham Wood Open Day, 11:00-15:00. Activities include: Pond dipping (11:00-12:30 and 13:30-14:30) Bug hunting (as above) Childrens’ crafts (11:00-15:00) Face painting unfortunately cancelled as the face painter can no longer make it. Tree trail (all day) Caterpillar carving Cake stall.

Second video 5;01, doesn’t he jump the lights, having just criticised another cyclist for stopping on the crossing? Physician heal thyself!

Yesterday, traffic lights were in place and contraflow operating on Forest Hill Rd.

Get ready for Forest Hill Road to be closed off. A serious leak has developed just north of the Watson General Telegraph pub. Numerous potholes in road surface between the leak and Ryedale. Thames Water might get round to doing something by the summer….perhaps…..maybe.

Thanks New Wave, Yes, silly me, I might have known the root cause was Wrexit.

Given the number of stations in the gym which have been taped off for repair, and the fact they don’t seem to get repaired, it looks like Everyone Active have given up on DLC already.

Alex_b is right. There are signs in the Wood asking people not to allow their dogs off the lead during nesting season and hardly anyone complies. There are notices drawing attention as to why certain conservation strategies have been carried out but there has to be limit as to how many are desirable. As the Wood is a nature reserve and an important one, it would be undesirable and self defeating to have too many notices scattered around. Ultimately it is down to individual responsibility, however, frequent articles in weekend supplements extolling the virtues of foraging certainly don’t help.

Yes, foraging in Sydenham Hill Wood can be one of the problems faced in conservation. The holly berries are a valuable food source for birds, especially in cold spells like the one approaching. Taking the branches with berries deprives them of the food when they need it most. Most of what is being taken will end up in the bin and landfill. Holly is coppiced for use in the Wood but only the male holly which doesn’t produce berries. Buying holly from a sustainable and reputable source would be much better. There is a similar problem in spring when areas of wild garlic are trampled and stripped of much of that plant. It would be nice if people took the time to find out what impact their actions have.

Sainsbury’s in DKH has a cocktails section with gomme syrup along with grenadine.

I?m afraid that I don?t think James is being fair. When Khan became Mayor, TfL?s budget had already been screwed up by dear old Boris, who not only quadrupled its debt to over ?7 billion but also supported and agreed to George Osborne?s removal of the government financial support it had been receiving. This left London as the only western capital which received no support from central government for its public transport. In fact, I believe that before COVID hit, the debt had started to be reduced. The instruction to work from home, as we all know, destroyed the business model of TfL along with the rail franchises and other public transport undertakings. The DfT has given support to TfL through the pandemic but it has consistently failed to offer a settlement which would allow for future planning. The present settlement runs out in a couple of weeks and still nothing has been decided. Most other developed countries, including the USA are investing in public transport as part of a post COVID ?green? recovery, however, the UK is notable in its failure to do so. As for Crossrail, the budget and schedule were already slipping before Khan?s tenure but the contractors were unwilling to admit this and the Department of Transport, under Failing Grayling did not hold them to account. It?s also true that unforeseen difficulties caused costs to rise, especially at Bond Street. It?s worth remembering that Khan had promised to freeze fares as part of his manifesto, so when he won, it was to be expected that he should do just that. It?s not such a radical idea after all. Luxembourg has made all its public transport free, Austria has just introduced an annual public transport pass costing ?365 and Germany a monthly rail pass for ?9. The UK, which hosted COP 26 last autumn and which committed itself to tackling the climate emergency, is the only major European nation to be making cuts to public transport and making cheaper, high polluting transport like air and road. James really should place the blame for TfL?s financial state, along with cuts to public transport, where it belongs. Well and truly in the lap of this government.

Yes, brimstones are some of the earliest butterflies to emerge.

A book has been published about the Great North Wood, the largest fragments of which remaining are Sydenham Hill Wood and Dulwich Wood. Anyone who knows and loves these woods might well be interested in reading this fascinating account of how important they are and have been, to London. https://sandstonepress.com/books/the-wood-that-built-london

Levelling up always meant levelling down!

Be careful to steer clear of Lloyd?s Pharmacy. I made an appointment at Northcross Rd branch to have the flu jab only to have them send me an email a week later thanking me for letting them know I had cancelled. I hadn?t! Fearing some sort of data breach I went in to find out what was going on. The pharmacist told me she had cancelled due to there being no trained pharmacist available to do the vaccination. She said I had to go back and book again online. I said I thought that was an unprofessional and shoddy way to treat customers. Foolishly I made another appointment at the branch in Sainsbury?s DKH, had it confirmed and heard nothing more. However, when I turned up at the appointed time, I was told that they weren?t doing the flu jabs and that I was the third person who had come expecting to have it. They are still advertising the service but I?d say, if you want the flu jab, they are the ones to avoid. All in all a shambolic and completely unprofessional attitude by Lloyds Online. I have complained and await a reply, however, I won?t hold my breath.

It would seem that the planning application to fell the oaks by Cox?s Walk Bridge has been rejected and tree preservation orders placed on them, so watch this space. Yes, the Evening Standard said that the rave was thwarted by the police. Sadly, this isn?t so and the rave was held and long finished before the police became involved. Bat surveys rarely find any bats in the tunnel, they might roost there but it?s thought too cold and draughty for them to hibernate there, so it might not be such a disaster but we don?t know.

I live just over the border in LB Lewisham and all they seem to do is cut down street trees and slap a dollop of tarmac in the hole. Any new trees have to be paid for by residents. I envy you the tree lined streets just over the border.

In answer to NewWave any anyone else who would like to volunteer, the conservation officer for the Wood is Sam and his email is staylor@wildlondon.org.uk The website link specific to the Wood is https://www.wildlondon.org.uk/nature-reserves/sydenham-hill-wood-and-coxs-walk At the moment, volunteer workdays are suspended and when they do restart, it is likely that numbers will be limited by social distancing protocols. In the brief period when they had resumed, volunteers had to book book via Eventbright and groups were limited to a maximum of six. However, let?s be optimistic and hope that it won?t be too long before we can get back to a more normal situation and that groups can be as large as necessary. In the meantime, enjoy the Wood and the pleasure and mental balm it brings.

No-one is suggesting an entry charge for the Wood. Its great to see so much support. At the moment, volunteer work is suspended and given the way things are developing, I would imagine it will some time before it will restart. Even when it does, the groups are limited to six for social distancing protocols. Hopefully, when this situation is passed, we can go back to working in groups of the size that can make a difference. In the meantime, AylwardS suggestion is excellent. The London Wildlife Trust has lost a huge amount of income from having no school visits or corporate team building days. If you can, becoming a member would be a great help. Here is the link again, https://www.wildlondon.org.uk/support-us/join-us And thank you again for all the appreciative comments.

I am a volunteer in Sydenham Hill Wood and I can assure everyone who is concerned by this incident that the London Wildlife Trust has had nothing to do with it and has no knowledge as to why it was done. The council seemingly is in the dark too. In addition to the locks on the entrances, the lock to the gate at Peckarman's Wood/tunnel entrance was cut off and replaced with another hefty padlock. We can only guess but the theory is that there was an illegal gathering, perhaps on New Year's Eve and that locking the gates was to keep out unwanted "guests" and the authorities. Presumably supplies were brought in by car through this gate. Of course, the cost of rectifying this falls on the Wildlife Trust as the padlock will have to be removed and replaced. This was an act of gross selfishness and stupidity, which resulted in people having difficulty in finding a way out as dusk fell. We work hard to maintain the Wood and the last year of so has been extremely difficult. Lockdowns have meant the suspension of volunteer work so any repairs have been done by the conservation officer himself. Footfall in the Wood has increased threefold and this is reflected in the increased amount of damage. We know that the vast majority of visitors love the Wood and appreciate what we try to do but not everyone sees it that way. We have seen fences and dead-hedges destroyed deliberately and even the handrail on the steps up from Cox's Walk bridge being ripped up and thrown onto the cordoned off section of the bridge. However, if anyone is interested, there is a new blog explaining what is done in the Wood and why is is done. This can be seen at https://woodsworkinsydenham.blogspot.com/

There is a crowd-funding appeal to pay for an engineer's report into a sustainable solution to the problem of repairs to Cox's Walk Footbridge and the proposed felling of mature oaks. The engineer has suggested a way forward but a more detailed submission will be needed to present to Southwark. Anyone interested might like to have a look at ...... https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/saveoaks.

Further to previous discussion about the plan by Southwark to fell two mature oaks to allow repairs to be made to Cox's Walk Footbridge, there is a new survey available. It is hoped to gauge how people use the bridge and all completed forms are welcome. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdAbf0zRLbqzglX883DnBZ_lJFGVwawrEsHCNrfwjuk1WEw_A/viewform