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THAMES21 TRAINING COURSES ON RIVER RESTORATION AND WATER POLLUTIONThe following may be of interest to those involved - or thinking of getting involved - with work on local rivers or other waterbodies:
Thames21 is working on new training courses to help level up River Action Groups and community groups with new skills to help them look after their local waterways.
Their current working titles are ‘An Introduction to River Restoration
( book.plinth.org.uk/e/mN6kOfsHk887zFrHdfCM ) ’ & ‘Water Quality Monitoring
( book.plinth.org.uk/e/YtNbkQgKtsT2fByNZX2I ) ’.
These course are both still in their trial phases. After gaining feedback from our RAG leaders and other interested people, we will be rolling them out on a regular basis from late 2024/early 2025 onwards.
If either of these sound useful or interesting to you, then please register your interest at the following link: Training Course Interest
( forms.office.com/e/c2NEpDAThR )
forms.office.com
SAVE CROSSNESS NATURE RESERVE CAMPAIGN FUNDRAISER - tickets now on sale for event to help fund legal and expert witness support.An exciting fundraising event is taking place at the Lesnes Abbey Lodge (SE2 0AX) on Saturday 2nd Nov 2-4pm where a 'Wild Bexley' PowerPoint presentation will be given by Ralph Todd (founder of RSPB Bexley) about wildlife sites within the borough, including Crossness; there will be talks by myself; updates from members of the Save Crossness Nature Reserve campaign group, as well as refreshments, raffles and auctions.
The event is ticketed in order to help raise funds for the campaign, so for an afternoon of enlightening talks, an opportunity to get your hands on some fabulous prizes, and of course some fabulous
company whilst also raising funds to protect this important nature reserve (all monies raised will be held by Southwark Law Centre), do please purchase a ticket and come along:
www.ticketsource.co.uk/scnr
We can't wait to see you there!
[If you can't make it the campaign crowdfunding page is still open for busines:
www.crowdjustice.com/case/scnr/ ]
Many of you are by now aware that Crossness Nature Reserve is under threat from development by neighbouring landowners, Cory Energy. If you're not familiar with the proposal. I would suggest visiting the campaign group's website for further information: Save Crossness Nature Reserve at Erith Marshes
www.savecrossnessnaturereserve.org/
but in the meantime, this is what we are facing:
Cory have submitted a planning application to the Secretary of State to build a Carbon Capture Plant on parts of the Crossness Nature Reserve to the north and east. The marshland landscape has already changed beyond recognition, not least by Cory's second waste incinerator currently under construction to the north, with areas to the east - once alive with the song of breeding Skylark - being used as construction compounds and car parks.
The proposed carbon capture plant would be devastating for the reserve, resulting in the complete loss of our East Paddocks and Stable Paddocks to huge industrial infrastructure; huge elevated pipework on our West Paddock and Sea Wall Field; and permanent buildings on the areas currently being used for construction compounds along Norman Road. And while Cory are claiming that they will be creating a larger nature reserve by enhancing Peabody's Norman Road Field to the south-east, this is
an area that already exists for wildlife, already has ecological value, and is already under a Section 106 agreement to be managed for biodiversity. Tweaking existing habitat does not make for a larger nature reserve.
The whole proposal is very contentious and the Save Crossness Nature Reserve campaign group has been working tirelessly to fight these plans. However, such a campaign costs money in order to secure relevant expertise. Do please see the group's website for more information about the threat and how you can help - thank
you.
Look forward to seeing you on the 2nd Nov.
Best wishes
Karen Sutton
Crossness Nature Reserve Manager
Save Crossness Nature Reserve Campaign event tickets from TicketSource
www.ticketsource.co.uk
Buy tickets for Save Crossness Nature Reserve Campaign's upcoming events. Click the link for further information and to secure your tickets now!
CROSSNESS NATURE RESERVE UPDATE - THE RARE SHRILL CARDER BEE, AND HOW IT COULD BE IMPACTED BY CORY THREATKaren Sutton, Crossness Nature Reserve Manager
Shrill Carder bees
Some people will be aware that we have England's rarest and most threatened bumblebee species - the Shrill Carder Bee - at Crossness, but recently film maker Jay Jochnowicz, managed to capture some wonderful video footage of 3 or 4 Shrill Carder bees in Norman Road Field (NRF). The Norman Road Field isn't owned by Thames Water and doesn't form an official part of Crossness Nature Reserve (CNR), but rather it sits to the south-east of CNR and is owned by Peabody Estates as Section 106 habitat for their previous Tilfen Land development impacts on Veridion Park.
However, many visitors to the reserve enter through NRF, following
Public Footpath 2.
This is also the area that Cory is earmarking for mitigation for its proposed Decarbonisation Plant that it hopes to build on and around Crossness Nature Reserve.
Their ecological surveyors didn't pick up Shrill Carder Bee in this location, but as a rare ground-nesting bee species, their plans to create wetland features here could have devastating impacts for this bee which is now restricted to small isolated areas of the South and East of England and in Wales. Research has found that Shrill
Carders do not forage as far from their nests as other species, so need flower-rich habitats and undisturbed nesting grounds. It nests in rough, tussocky grassland, within clumps of grass or just below ground.
Please see Jay's lovely footage here:
drive.google.com/file/d/1pQ9sMCU6zkqY6ZMbxluK3wNi19_hVyuC/view
and for more information on Cory's plans to destroy parts of Crossness Nature Reserve and what you can do to support the campaign against this devastating loss, please see the Save Crossness Nature Reserve campaign group's website:
www.savecrossnessnaturereserve.org/
Recording your wildlife sightings
Do please let us know what wildlife you spot when you visit Crossness Nature Reserve. There is a log book in the upstairs bird hide (only accessible to Friends Group members) where you can record your sightings (or you can email your sightings), but could I please remind people to record the number spotted. If a number isn't stated, we have to assume that just one was seen. So when we see 'Black-headed Gull' recorded on the foreshore, we have to
record it as one, when in all likelihood, there were c300. We submit our records to local biological record centres such as GiGL, which in turn are used to assess the ecological importance of sites in the planning process. With Cory wishing to build on Crossness Nature Reserve, it is more important than ever to record numbers - thank you very much and a special thank you to those that diligently record their sightings.
I would also like to thank volunteer Mike Robinson, who spends an inordinate amount of time collating our records for us, and to Ralph Todd who coordinates bird records each quarter.
Another rare plant species
We already have several plants that are recorded on the Kent Rare Plant Register, including Marsh Dock (Rumex palustris) and Frog Rush (Juncus ranarius) - the latter being so rare that it was considered extinct in Kent until it was relocated by Rodney Burton in 2019 in the West Paddock. We now have another species to add to the list, discovered by Mike Robinson on the Thames Path by the raised viewing platform: Sickle Medick (Medicago sativa subs. falcata), distinguished from related plants by the horseshoe-shaped seeds.
Karen Sutton
karen.sutton@thameswater.co.uk
Save Crossness Nature Reserve | Erith Marshes
www.savecrossnessnaturereserve.org
A campaign to Save Crossness Nature Reserve from Cory taking land at Crossness Nature Reserve, Erith Marshes (Belvedere) to build their Carbon Capture Storage (CCS) facility.
CRAY CATCHMENT VOLUNTEERS WIN THAMES21 AWARDSThe efforts of River Cray volunteers were recognised in two of the four awards categories at a recent annual Thames21 event, which in this instance also celebrated the group's 20th birthday.
Elio Gregori, a relatively recent recruit, who works with the Friends of the Cray at Crayford removing litter and doing selective vegetation management, helps at Thames Road Wetland and has also participated in a number of projects on other rivers across London, won the Star Volunteer Award.
The Celia Hensman Award, commemorating the founder of Thames21, has hitherto only been awarded to one person per year. On this occasion the judges had difficulty picking a clear-cut winner, so besides the principal award, also issued a Highly Commended certificate, which was granted to Chris Rose, Volunteer Site Manager at Thames Road Wetland. The citation referenced 14 years of service at the site, inspiring other volunteers and conserving wildlife, including making a significant contribution to bringing the nationally scarce Marsh Sow-thistle back from extinction in Bexley (and thus London as a whole).
WOODLANDS FARM - WILDLIFE SURVEY EVENTSWe have a couple of upcoming surveys. As usual please let me know if you are able to attend.
I am planning on doing a Moth survey on Friday 20th September meeting at 9am in the farmyard [presumably to sort through what's in traps from the night before ..... If the weather has been OK, an opportunity to see the beauty and diversity of Moths. 'BW']
Bee Survey on Monday 23rd September at 2pm.
Thank you and hopefully see you at one of them!
Hannah Ricketts
Education Officer
<education@thewoodlandsfarmtrust.org>
The Woodlands Farm Trust
331 Shooters Hill
Welling
Kent
DA16 3RP
Tel: 0208 3198900
Website: www.thewoodlandsfarmtrust.org
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Crossness Harvest Mouse hunt draws a blank
The Harvest Mouse nest hunts at Crossness on 12th and 26th November have failed to find unequivocal evidence that Britain’s smallest rodent was present either on the northern part of the site, or southern marsh. Both had an example of … Continue reading
Identifying sparrows
The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) has produced a handy little video to help identify British sparrows and sparrow like birds. Distinguish between House Sparrows, Tree Sparrows and similar looking birds. Additional information and call guides are at the website http://www.bto.org/about-birds/bird-id/bird-id-common-sparrows-reed-bunting?dm_i=IG4,2XFPA,H7T58M,AKQU2,1
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Boris bridges part of flawed ‘tarmac and traffic’ plan. What are the alternatives?
Darren Johnson AM, who is hosting today’s meeting for anti road-bridge campaigners, has released a report highlighting the projected spend by Boris Johnson on road traffic schemes (the north of Bexley is one of the areas where traffic would increase … Continue reading
Posted in Bexley Council, Car parking, GLA, Planning, Thames bridges, Traffic, Uncategorized
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Thames river crossings seminar for campaigners – Nov 18th, City Hall
Thames river crossings seminar hosted by Darren Johnson, Green Party Member of the London Assembly The Green Party is the only party operating in Bexley that is publicly opposed to the new road crossing proposals (Beckton-Gallions Reach, Rainham-Belvedere) currently being … Continue reading
Expanded conservation role for Karen Sutton as she takes charge of portfolio of sites
Congratulations to Crossness Nature Reserve manager Karen Sutton who has been promoted to Biodiversity Team Manager at Thames Water. There will be a huge sigh of relief locally to hear the news that she will still be managing Crossness Nature … Continue reading
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Bexley Park Woods – nest-box scheme success
By Ralph Todd Local conservation volunteer, Duncan Devine, was joined on Wednesday 15th October by colleagues from the Friends of the Shuttle to inspect and clean the 16 nest-boxes he had built and put up with the help of local … Continue reading
Rainbows, Brownies and Girl guides learn about water, wildlife and sustainability at Crossness
On Saturday 11th October, Thames Water’s Crossness Nature Reserve and Crossness Sewage Treatment Works hosted lots of Rainbows, Brownies and Girl guides groups from across the Bexley borough. As the first borough to receive our rolling metering programme, we thought … Continue reading
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Date set for road bridges meeting
Transport for London is promoting the idea of two road bridges across the Thames into Bexley. As previously announced here (see October 7th posting) London Assembly member Darren Johnson AM (Green Party) will host a public meeting on river crossings. … Continue reading
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Crossness records preview: July – Sept 2014
Ahead of the next Friends of Crossness Nature Reserve newsletter, a preview of the site’s summer records has now been received from Manager Karen Sutton. Thanks are due to volunteer Roger Taylor for spreadsheeting the raw data. Insect highlights were … Continue reading
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Roads to Nowhere campaigner conference 2014
Of interest to anti-road bridge, anti putative Bexley by-pass and anti ever more traffic campaigners, and those looking for positive alternatives: On 18 October Better Transport is hosting a training conference for anyone who wants to stop a new wave … Continue reading
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