Our Famous Tree
A message from DKG
“Just to let you know, my photo of the lone oak with the cloud halo above it was shown on the BBC Weather report this morning”
Church Lane site
The deadline for comments on RPS’s planning application 18/10035/OUT has been extended from the 14th to the 21st of December. The application had not been properly advertised at the beginning of the consultation period.
FoSCP feels strongly that development on this site will damage Lambrok Stream. There are protected and vulnerable species in the park that live or breed or feed in the Lambrok. If you feel the same way, please comment on Wiltshire Council’s planning website.
A seasonal robin from DKG to cheer us up on a cold day. Thanks DKG.
Car Park Super Heroes
Joan and Patrick Jones are the chairman and treasurer of the Friends of Southwick Park. They emailed us:
To all of the Country Park Team and all the wonderful extra helpers.
Joan and I would just like to extend our very biggest thanks to all concerned for the marvellous work that you performed on Sunday. We pulled in to the Country Parkon our way back today and were astounded by the amount and quality of the work you had done. Talk about “Dog poo fairies,” we reckon it was the action of “CAR PARK SUPER HEROES”.
Thank you all so much and we promise to be with you in March. See you Wednesday.
Kindest regards
Joan and Patrick
Tree number 5552
This is tree number 5552: an old pollarded oak standing in the eastern-most corner of Sleeper Field.
Filling the potholes
by DKG and Ian B
Today saw the FoSCP volunteers giving up their Sunday lie-in to turn out at eight o’clock in the morning to fill the potholes in the car park. The early start was intended to keep disruption to the park users to a minimum and we apologise for the inconvenience
Text and Voicemail
FoSCP now has a phone number for text and voicemail.
0774708798
Use it to report litter, things broken or damaged, and abandoned or dumped; the phone will be checked daily by one of our volunteers.
Continue to report antisocial behaviour to the police; their contact details are in the menu.
Who ARE these people?
We received this picture and the following mail today, Wednesday December 5th:
These 2 men, both wearing black jackets, one pushing a pram, one with a cream satchel bag: also with 2 all black, skinny lurcher/ ratter like dogs were firing stones or slingshotting the 2 ducks on the pond today at approx 12:10.
Continue reading “Who ARE these people?”Wood pigeon
Wood pigeons (Columba palumbus) are our largest and most common pigeon. Gregarious, very adaptable and given to flocking in enormous numbers at this time of year, they are an everyday sight in British towns and countryside.
In towns they seem unafraid but in the park they are shy and wary. Often the first indication that they are there at all is the loud clattering and clapping of their wings as they take off and fly away. Their call is the lovely, familiar background noise of spring and summer.
Hibernating mammals
Of all the mammals on our species list, only the bats and the hedgehogs hibernate. We have found the tiniest piece of evidence that there might be dormice in the park, if so, that would be a third hibernating species.
Maintenance in the car park
We think we already have enough volunteers but if we need more, we will ask here, on Facebook and on parkrun’s social media. We apologise for any inconvenience.
10 facts about grey squirrels
Yesterday’s plump and cuddly grey squirrel sent us into an afternoon of Google-based research; here are ten things you may not have known about Sciurus carolinensis.
Continue reading “10 facts about grey squirrels”Squirrel
One of the park’s grey squirrels to cheer us up on a dismal day.
Who did this?
Continue reading
Notes from Southwick Country Park
by Sarah Marsh
A new species has been spotted in the Country Park.
Continue reading “Notes from Southwick Country Park”
Come and join us on Tuesday 27th. We meet in the car park at 9:30am; you’ll need sturdy footwear, thorn-proof gloves and a mug. We provide the coffee to put in the mug and there will be biscuits.
Water Voles
There are three species of vole in Britain: the short-tailed or field vole, the bank vole and the water vole, which is the largest of the three and by far the rarest. Water voles (Arvicola amphibius) have experienced one of the most rapid and serious declines of any British wild mammal ever…
Continue reading “Water Voles”Christmas Market
The Friends of Southwick Country Park will be manning a stall at Hope Nature Centre’s Christmas Market this evening. It begins at 6.00pm; come and look us up.
Have your say…
Several readers on our Facebook page have said that they are having trouble finding the right place to voice their objections to Planning Application 18/10035/OUT; this is the plan for up to 65 houses on the field between Church Lane and Southwick Country Park.
Here is a link directly to the right page.
The comments box can be enlarged from the tag in its bottom right hand corner and you get 32,000 characters (about 5,000 words) to have your say. You can copy and paste into the box from most document formats but we haven’t been able to make it upload photographs yet.
The request for personal information looks more intrusive than it is; you need only fill in the boxes marked with a red asterisk. Don’t forget to press the submit button.
Wiltshire Council’s website is a dreadful place; there is always somebody digging up the pipes or knocking holes in the walls. There are whole days when it speaks only in code. For the sake of the park, be brave; find the right page and have your say.
Continue reading “Have your say…”Protecting the Lambrok
In May of 2017, water voles (Arvicola amphibius) were identified by Wiltshire’s Countryside Team as resident in Lambrok Stream. Water voles are fully protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. They are protected against:
. . .intentional killing, capture or injury and intentional or reckless disturbance, obstruction, damage or destruction of their burrows.
Continue reading “Protecting the Lambrok”Another Church Lane planning submission
RPS, acting for a named client, has submitted an outline planning application for the Church Lane site. The Wiltshire Council reference number for the application is 18/10035/OUT. This morning, searching with this reference produced this result:
Continue reading “Another Church Lane planning submission”Wednesday work party
By DKG
Apologies but only a few photos from Wednesday’s work party. A Collared Dove enjoying the early morning sun and a Dunnock in a bramble bush, the latter not very sharp.
Eurasian collared dove
Collared doves (Streptopelia decaocto) bred in Britain for the first time in 1955, in Norfolk. Within 20 years they had colonised every county in the British Isles, and had even reached Shetland and the Outer Hebrides.
Continue reading “Eurasian collared dove”Apology
Our web host, in its geeky wisdom, has updated us with a new editing suite, parts of which are still under development. Please bear with us; everything is taking twice as long as usual but we have been assured that the result will be worth it.
FoSCP
Jay
Lisa Burge’s photograph of a jay in flight prompted some research; we wondered how many jays our park could support.
Tomorrow is the second Wednesday of the month: a work party day. Come and join us; we meet at 9.30am in the main car park and we work until midday. Bring thornproof gloves, sturdy footwear and a coffee mug. Looking forward to meeting you.
Beautiful autumn colours by DKG:
Another gallery here:
