www.hilly.org.uk

An early morning date for your diary.
This year’s Dawn Chorus Walk will be on Thursday 26th April, 2012.
We will be meeting by the Bothy, along from the bowling green off Hilly Fields Crescent at 5am.

For the first time, we will be taking in Brockley Cemetery for the later part of our walk. We anticipate the whole walk being around two to two and a half hours, but you can of course wander off earlier if you need to be off to work or school runs….

You can check out the amazing variety of birds from our previous walks on the park’s Bird Champion’s Blog….

http://hillyfields.blogspot.co.uk/2011_05_01_archive.html

A quick update on park events…

The programme is a little behind, but fingers crossed they will be open in time for launch of the cricket field. When is that?
l opening of the ParkSport cricket project at Hilly Fields will be on 13th May 2012. It is proposed to hold a 40 over’s match (not a match for over 40s, as I first read it) between Millfields Cricket Club (home team for Hilly fields) and a Mayor’s select eleven (team to be confirmed).

Proposals to make the Shade Garden a memorial garden to Octavia Hill and the Kyrle Society are underway. The Kyrle Society, formed to “Bring Beauty Home to the People” and as you most likely know its treasurer Octavia Hill was instrumental in saving Hilly Fields from the clutches of the developers.

The friends have been trying to secure funding for improvements to the shade garden. This all takes time and lots of energy, so it being the centenary year of Octavia Hill’s death we decided to delay no longer. Starting small, we have cleared one large shrub bed and plan to replant with spring flowering woodland plants.

Finally, look out for our dawn chorus…this year planned for an unearthly hour in May.

Plan of cafe below…

plan for new cafe in converted loo block

IT’S WASSAIL TIME AGAIN!!

It’s time to wassail (wish good health to) our fruit trees on Hilly Fields for 2012, so with this in mind, we are meeting at the orchard site next to the Stone Circle on
Sunday 5 February at 4pm
(earlier this year to make it more child-friendly).

If you are left wondering….Wassail, apparently from the Anglo-Saxon toast Wæs þu hæl, “be thou hale” — i.e., “be in good health”
The Orchard-Visiting wassail refers to the ancient custom of visiting orchards, reciting incantations and singing to the trees in apple orchards, to promote a good harvest for the coming year.

We are pleased to confirm that we will be holding our usual Big Birdwatch in Hilly Fields next weekend.
We’re planning a craft activity for children….not sure what it is yet. Glendale will bring materials for making bird feeders.

You don’t need to be an expert, we’ll have our expanded team of bird champions on hand to lead bird surveys.

We are sticking to our second Tuesday of the month and therefore have our next meeting very close to Christmas. Meetings our open to all friendly park users..and we’ll have festive refreshments to help it along the way.

Usual time 7.30pm in the Bothy, along from the bowling green.

A date for your diary…

Ice Rink on Hilly Fields tennis courts
Saturday 19 November 12-7pm
Sunday 20 November 12-4pm
Come and be amazed at the transformation into an ice skating arena (with synthetic ice)
This is part of the Brockley Design Festival — more details later — but mark the date now. www.brockleydesignfestival.org

We weren’t given notice of this event, but see that they have set up on the cricket field.

Ususal rides, seem to be there, for under 11s, from 12 until 6pm.
New for this year, they are advertising punch and judy and a reptile show, both for Sunday only.

Sorry about the lack of information, we’re just too busy.
Briefly, we are sticking to our normal dates and having the next meeting on Tuesday 13th September at 7.30. It will be held in the Bothy and will be our AGM. The minutes are nearly ready, but want to check through before I post them, can’t do that until the beginning of September now.

STORY TELLING… we have had such positive feedback from the story telling that we have managed to organise an extra event. This will be combined with a craft event. I’m not personally sorting this out, so can’t say much more other than it is planned for the 27th August. Please look out for posters that should be put up in the park. I’m going to try to organise for someone to put it on the website but as I’m not here I can’t promise anything.

Enjoy the park, there are lots of blackberries to pick.

Story Telling in the Park

Please feel welcome to water one of our many new trees in the park, I was surprised to see how dry one of my charges had got whilst I was away.

If there is anything I’ve forgotten, it will have to wait.