Brian up the hill

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 [email protected] 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

I was having a permitted exercise outing today and was saddened to see that someone has been at the wild garlic in Sydenham Hill Woods. It hasn't even had a chance to flower yet, however the main clump has been trampled and it is obvious that much of what is left has been picked. It is such a shame that it hasn't been left for everyone to enjoy, especially as the woods are such an amazing sanctuary for everyone at the moment. What can I say?

No milk or eggs in addition to everything else that has been stripped bare in the last couple of weeks. Fruit and veg in short supply too. I agree that Sainsbury's management seem incapable of showing some leadership and guts by enforcing rationing of those items which are being bought in a frenzy of panic. However, they are not alone there as Bozo is missing in action too. Or lack of action. At least if these item were rationed and the policy enforced, everyone would stand a chance of having what they need. Maybe they are scared of alienating those who are grabbing what they can, leaving everyone else to go hang. I fear that when the crisis subsides, there will be an unprecedented amount of food thrown away as the greedy and selfish clear out their stockpiles.

In reply to TE44, as volunteers we care deeply about conserving the woods and we most certainly do not avail ourselves of the wild garlic. It grows in the sames area as the native bluebells and as I said, trampling does immense damage. We have put some fencing and dead hedging in the area but sadly that does not deter everyone and some people criticise this policy as being too restrictive. We have fenced off some areas to allow them to recover from trampling. Unfortunately, it is the more vulnerable native plants which are most sensitive to trampling and this allows tougher more invasive species like bramble and ivy to take over. The wild garlic in the woods is quite limited in extent and is certainly nothing like the rampant growth you would see in an area like Gower. It is best left where is grows so everyone can enjoy its brief appearance. I did see picking bluebells mentioned and the same applies to those. Please don't! Many thanks to the appreciative comments. We are very lucky to have such an amazing place on our doorstep and together we can all keep it like that.

Being a volunteer in Sydenham Hill Woods, we work very hard to keep them in shape. We maintain the paths, pick up litter, remove invasive species, survey the wildlife and many other tasks besides. We would ask that no-one picks wild garlic in these woods. Not only is it illegal but trampling causes permanent damage to the ecosystem there. This is especially so now the ground is sodden by the enormous amounts of rain we've had. There is a noticeable deterioration in the state of the main paths from the extra footfall resulting from the closure of Cox's Walk bridge. We are doing our best to address this but please do not exacerbate it by trampling over sensitive areas in search of wild garlic. Furthermore, the areas where is is found are also important for our native bluebells and trampling will cause serious damage to these as well. Please don't.

Thanks to Penguin68 for the petition link. Yes, Kiera is right about the London Wildlife Trust objecting. It is worth remembering that LWT is a charity and is responsible for everyday management of the wood, including the mundane tasks like litter picking and dealing with dog mess as well as making the paths safer and mitigating excessive mud by building new paths and boardwalks. To do this, it relies on unpaid volunteers to give their time and efforts freely. As they abut a public right of way. ie Cox's Walk, the trees are earmarked for felling by Southwark Highways Department. The issue is not that the bridge needs to be repaired, it does. Also it is an historical landmark due to its link with Pissarro. The issue is that the trees do not seem to be the direct cause of structural damage and they could be retained, especially as they form an important aesthetic grouping as sentinels for the bridge. Furthermore, their removal will have a dramatic effect on the balance of groundwater in the immediate area. Ground stabilty could be affected as it adjusts to the increased weight and pressure of water which otherwise would have been taken up by the trees and released back into the atmosphere as transpiration. There should be a way to rebuild the abutments without removing the trees. If you agree, please sign the petition as linked above if you have not done so already.

There is a proposal by Southwark Council to fell two mature oak trees in Sydenham Hill Wood. They are on the western (Dulwich) side of the Cox's Walk footbridge. The reason given is that major repairs can be carried out to the bridge's abutments and the bridge itself. Although there is no doubt that these repairs are necessary, the question arises as to why the trees need to be cut down. It would seem that the bridge was rebuilt in the 1980s when the trees were already mature, so it is doubtful that they are the cause of the damage to the structure. Extensive root ingress by ivy seems more likely to be the cause. Removing the trees could cause heave to destabilise the cutting slope as water which would have been take up by the trees, remains in the soil. Furthermore, the main reason for removing the trees would seem to be allow easier access for Southwark Highways Department, an issue which did not seem to prevent the rebuilding works in the eighties. Oaks are vital to the woodland ecosystem, especially mature oaks like these. Surely a more ecologically sound way could be devised of making the repairs, without felling two important trees like these?

I can confirm that it was the rent increase courtesy of the landlord that persuaded Jamie to pack up and close. This is what he told me. He is offering home cuts but will be coming up from the Kent coast so I presume he will do this in batches once he has enough to justify the trip. If I'm allowed to give out his number, it is 07973 469631