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Chairman’s Message taken from the 2018 AGM

Below are the notes that Chairman Tim Barnes used in the October 2018 AGM message to members of the woodland.

“This has been a year of consolidation, and there have been no startling new developments. That is as it should be. The woodlands do not need constant new initiatives but needs to progress the task of maintaining and improving the woods.

This we have done, and I want to mention a few of the actions.  The tree nursery has been set up with the support of children from Halstow School.  I will say more about these links when I come to the Greenwich Growth Fund application which the Friends Of Westcombe Woodlands is about to lodge.

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Autumn Open Day – Sunday 7th October 2018

Our early Autumn Open Day once again continued to attract many people, our list of attendees showed that around 200 people visited on the space of 3 hours, some before we officially opened at 2pm! Those of you who remember how cold the mid-Spring Open Day was were no doubt relieved that the previous day’s heavy rain didn’t continue, and a warm and dry day allowed for many visitors who hadn’t been to the woodland before to fully explore the place.

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First Harvest of Honey!

Jar of honey
Jar of honey

As many of you know, the woodland is home to 3 bee hives, and over the last 2 years of careful guidance from committee member Andrew Slade, at a recent meeting he brought along a small jar of honey which has been harvested from the hives.  Nearly all of the honey produced has been left for the bees to keep them going for the rest of the year.

Volunteer Day – Saturday 1st September 2018

Saturday morning’s volunteer session was very well attended, allowing lots of jobs to be tackled in anticipation of next month’s Autumn Open Day. As can be seen, it was a wonderful, sunny morning in the woodland.

The pond’s water level after the recent rain has risen, but committee member Miriam Hier can be seen clearing some of the vegetation that’s starting to cover the surface area. There’ll always be bramble and weed clearing, and volunteer Paula was playing an active role with the aid of the thick, leather gauntlets to pull up the weeds without getting hurt.

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Volunteer Day – Sunday 5th August 2018

This morning’s volunteer session, not too surprising with Summer holidays in full swing, was very quiet on numbers, although we did welcome 2 new people who live in Seren Park Gardens for the first time.

The Glade’s grass was due for its annual cut. Andrew Slade and Kate Campbell did an excellent job in cutting the grass and removing weeds. The grass cuttings will form part of our newly proposed composting facility.

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