Four people and a springer spaniel called Buddy came to last Sunday’s ragwort pulling work party. This was really discouraging.
Ragwort work party
Criminal damage
The bench by the decorated bridge has been damaged and will probably have to be replaced. One of the supports has been snapped right off. There is no sign of rot in the wood; it must have taken considerable force to achieve. A bench like this one, and its installation, costs £500.
Insect Life
An email today from a reader:
Dear FoSCP,
I came across this lovely specimen yesterday whilst out walking my dogs. Sunbathing on the bench opposite the stream (it was, not me!). Can you tell me what it is?
Thank you
Simes Handley
Wiltshire’s Housing Plan
The latest update:
The Inspector has returned one of the documents of the WHSAP submission with the requirement that it be put forward for public consultation.
It’s ragwort pulling time
We need your help.
Our farmer has cut down a lot of the summer’s ragwort in the park’s three big fields but there is more that will have to be pulled by hand. If we are to avoid the regular use of herbicides in the park, we have to accept that pulling ragwort by hand will become an annual chore. We need lots of volunteers.
parkrunner of the year!
Frank Lamerton, long-time Friend of the park and regular work party volunteer, is Southwick Country Park’s parkrunner of the year.
WHSAP update
The Wiltshire Housing Site Allocation Plan was submitted to the Secretary of State on July 31st 2018. The documents that were submitted can be accessed here.
The bin in the picnic area has been mended by FoSCP volunteers and our Countryside Officer. Unfortunately the missing part to the gate latch has not been found; whoever took it must have brought their own spanner because the bolts that attached it have been unscrewed. Somebody apparently came equipped to steal half a gate latch….
Damage in the picnic area
The waste bin in the picnic area has been pushed over and the catch on the gate broken. Hopefully, with a lot of manpower and effort, we can right the bin; a new bin in a concrete base is very expensive.
Half of the gate latch has been thrown or carried away. If anybody sees it, please pick it up and report it to FoSCP; use the contact details here on the website. If we have the other half, we can mend it.
We know that the huge majority of the park’s users are careful and considerate, that it is a small minority who damage things. Please report any vandalism that you see.
FoSCP.
A message from a park user:
” I wonder if you might be able to post an appeal on my behalf for my stepson’s lost sunglasses. Lost in the park along the path between the main entrance and the litter bin at the end of Lambrok Meadow. They’re black Oakeys with green logos and blue lenses. Lost today around 6:00pm. I’d be most grateful. Thank you”
If you have found the sunglasses, contact us and we will put you in touch with their owner.
Night Flyers
‘Path’ by Neave Duggan (aged 12)
Path by Neave Duggan
Path by Neave Duggan
Path by Neave Duggan
Rag Week
The heatwave has brought the ragwort into flower early. There isn’t a lot of it, but it’s blooming beautifully; threatened by drought, it will seed rapidly and each plant can produce as many as 150,000 seeds. So….. it’s time for all those who complained about the spraying in the spring to turn out to pull ragwort.
The vandalism spreads
At half term, there was more damage to the trees in the copse at the top of Village Green, fortunately nothing fatal this time but still significant. There was evidence of a camp. The rough grassland, left for wildlife, where we have been planting native daffodils, had been trampled flat in places. We picked up the litter and hoped it was an isolated incident.
A red squirrel?
We received this, by email, from Simon Handley:
Dear FOSCP,
My good lady is convinced that she saw a red squirrel in the park the other day. I saw it too (a fleeting glimpse) and at first I thought it was a chipmunk (??!!) and then thought it seemed a lot redder than grey. Is this possible? It was along the path along the stream between Lambrok Meadow and the large pond. Be grateful for your thoughts.
Kind regards
Simon & Sarah Handley
Hundreds turn out for special NHS parkrun in SCP
Last Saturday Southwick Country parkrun celebrated the 70th anniversary of the NHS. Hundreds of runners took part, many of them in fancy dress.
This is Cathy Warner photographed by Martin Pearce (flickr credit: dungey2002) and FoSCP is willing to bet real spending money she’s not in fancy dress; she’s running in her work clothes. Well done Cathy; well done everybody.
Here is a link to an article in this week’s Wiltshire Times.
A common spotted orchid, photographed today by Julie Newble.
More orchids here
Reasons to scoop poop: £1,000
This is the fourth and last of our spring campaign lectures about scooping poop in the park. Scooping poop may save you a £1,000.
During the few snowy days at the end of the winter, Chris Seymour sent in a series of photographs he took at dawn. A local artist, Anne Lynch, has turned one of them into a painting; thank you for sharing it with us, Anne.
Subject: Thank You!
Sent: 21 May 2018 21:16:38
To: friendsofscp@outlook.com
Dear Friends of Southwick Country Park,
I was out in the park just recently taking our two dogs for their daily walk, when I was fortunate enough to encounter a group of Friends together with a nice lady from the Wiltshire Council Countryside Team.
Vandalism fatally damages SCP trees
The vandals are back. Last night we got this message from DKG:
“Just returned from a walk around the park with Chris S. Unfortunately the vandals are back. Four trees have been ring barked in the copse in Village Green, the same area where we had trouble last year. If it was children they knew what they were doing, looking closely at the damage, they were not using small pocket knives.
I dread to think what will be damaged next. Especially with the summer holidays approaching. Once people think it’s a good idea to damage trees in this way, where/what next? “
Reasons to scoop poop: no. 3
Most bio-degradable poo bags are not really bio-degradable; they are photo-degradable.
Despite the announcement on Wiltshire Council’s website and in the Wiltshire Times, the Traffic Regulation Order notices that have gone up in the car park do not mean that parking charges will be introduced at Southwick Country Park. They are part of the formal consultation process that the county has to complete in order to change their car parking strategy. Such notices have gone up in several car parks across the county.
Marathon Man
Frank Lamerton, Friend of Southwick Country Park, ran the London Marathon last weekend in 4 hours 19 minutes and 14 seconds. Out of the 174 runners over the age of seventy, he came 13th. It was the hottest London Marathon on record and Frank came in somewhere around number 13,500 among 41,000 finishers.
Southwick Country Park Nature Reserve 