News

A London Wildlife Trust guided walk through remaining fragments of the Great North Wood.

Great North Wood project officers Sam and Edwin will be joined by Roy Vickery from the South London Botanical Institute for a 6 mile walk through remaining fragments of the Great North Wood.

The route will take in Streatham Common Woodland, Biggin Wood and Spa Wood, as well as other open spaces in the area. We will finish at Crystal Palace Overground station

Meet outside the Rookery Café, Streatham Common.
Sunday 15/04/2018 – 12:00pm – 4:00pm

This walk is offered free as part of the Heritage Lottery funded Great North Wood Project. No booking necessary.
£2 suggested donation.

Click here for more information on the Great North Wood

Click here for more information on The South London Botanical Institute

If you missed our wonderful Spring Bird Walk – no fear, the birds haven’t gone away. Come with our resident bird spotter Peter Newmark and stroll around the Common looking and listening for our resident birds as well as summer migrants.

Children welcome, dogs not!

Meet by the Rookery Cafe at 9.30am.
The walk will end around 11.00.

This is a FREE walk guided by a FoSC’s volunteer expert ornithologist. If you enjoy this event please support our continued work by joining the Friends [membership is just £6.00 p.a / concessions available] or donating on the the day.

Help us find out what birds are using which nest boxes on Streatham Common this year.

We shall be watching the boxes to see what species, if any, are going in and out of the boxes, feeding their young.

Bring binoculars if you can.

Meet by the Rookery Cafe at 9.30am.

This is a FREE walk guided by a FoSC’s volunteer expert ornithologist. If you enjoy this event please support our continued work by joining the Friends [membership is just £6.00 p.a / concessions available] or donating on the the day.

Meanwhile:
How to encourage birds into your garden

Stroll around the Common looking and listening for the local birds, which will be in full song, and checking whether our summer migrants have arrived.

Meet by the Rookery Cafe at 9.30am.

The walk will end around 11.00.  [In time for the Easter Egg Hunt!]
Children welcome, dogs not!

Free Event – but we accept donations if you have enjoyed the walk.

If you take any pictures, we would love to see them – tag us on our twitter page @Rookery100 or at our instagram page friends_of_streatham_common

We invite everyone with an interest in Streatham Common to our Annual Public meeting.  If you use the common, the rookery for relaxation, pleasure, for sport, for nature – we would love you to join us.

The Friends work to ensure Streatham Common and the Rookery are well kept and have facilities for all sections of our community, providing community views of the maintenance and development of the area in a way that balances the needs of diverse groups of users. You do not have to be a member to attend.

Thursday 15th March 
7:15pm – 9:45pm 

Venue: Immanuel and St. Andrew’s Church Hall
(at the base of Streatham Common near to Sainsburys)

Agenda:

19:30    Introduction
19:45    A discussion on Lambeth’s music events held on Streatham Common with questions answered by Lambeth’s events team and local councillors.
20:45    The Rookery and SCCoop:  The Streatham Common Co-operative is a not-for-profit social enterprise set up by the Friends, owned by the community, and part funded by Lambeth. They have been running the Rookery since 2015, the Paddling Pool since 2016 and the Local Nature Reserve since 2017.  Find out how it’s going, and tell them your ideas on what should happen next?
21:15    A presentation on what’s happening around the Rookery cascade.
21:30    A summary of what has happened and what is planned on the Common.
21:45    End of meeting

[The original date of this public meeting was planned for 22/03/18, but this clashed with the licensing/planning meeting for the large music event taking place in July. A sub-committee hearing for those wishing to attend will take place at Lambeth Town Hall, Committee Room B6, Brixton Hill, London SW2 1RW 22/03/18 @ 7.00pm]

As you know the Streatham Common Cooperative who look after the Rookery were successful in their bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund who awarded  them nearly £90,000 to renovate and replant the Cascade. Contributions from SCCoop and Lambeth Council bring the total pot to a fantastic £150k.

Research, Design and Replant the Cascade Gardens – Get involved!

A big part of the project is to replant up to 100m² of the garden. This is where you can get involved too. You will be working with professional designer, Lee Heykoop. Working as a group you will research some of the history and plants that would have originally been used and update these ideas into a modern design for the garden. Your ideas and input on the planting design will ensure the Cascade remains a much loved feature into the future.

All levels of experience catered for! You’ll have to hurry we only have 10 places available!
In the first instance please drop Lee an email – Lee.Heykoop@sccoop.org.uk

Construction work has already started on the renovation of the Cascade. As you can see from the pictures below, a huge amount of rubble and sludge has been removed from the pools. Already the original pools have been repaired and rendered. The long process of layering with 3 layers of fibreglass has begun. Construction work to the cascade should be complete by early March and water should be flowing again by Spring. Exciting times!