From the beginning of April new contractors have taken over the horticultural maintenance of Waterlow Park.  We have waved goodbye to Glendales who have looked after the park for the past decade and said hello to Connaught plc.  The new company is very familiar to councils across England for their work in estate management providing new social housing and maintenance of existing estates. Their work in parks and public spaces is a relatively new venture but one which has grown considerably in the past two years.  They are responsible for Hillingdon, and work in Wandsworth, Tower Hamlets and Essex County Council but Camden, according to their own press release, is the biggest contract yet with 70 parks and open spaces to manage. Though park users will be soon noticing the new liveried (and silent electric) vehicles, fortunately the faces of the staff will remain familiar as the gardeners, Titus and Atilla, have been reappointed.  Sadly though, Petrina Srerszemowska the head gardener, for entirely unrelated reasons, has left to return to her native Australia and tells us she has already joined the Friends of her local park!  She will be missed by many a park user and certainly by the Friends of Waterlow Park. We wish her well in her new job.

In the last few months concerns have been raised about some irresponsible dog walkers regularly allowing their dogs to foul in the park. This is unacceptable for health and hygiene reasons. 

Natural coir rolls have been used around the top pond to provide a base for planting pond-edge vegetation. This should improve wildlife use of the pond along with making it more attractive.

In November (2009), the Friends of Waterlow Park spent a day talking to the people who use the park. The purpose was to hear what they had to say about the Park and to discuss three ideas to improve it: re-opening the aviary, starting a dog club with opportunities for training, and involving local people in a gardening club. Altogether we spoke to 75 people who between them allowed us to complete 57 questionnaires. (Couples and groups were counted as one response.) Everyone we spoke to loved the park, using it for exercise, with their children or simply for pleasure. Just under three quarters of the people supported the re-opening of the aviary. There was concern about dog fouling and that a few owners failed to respond to requests to control them. However, there was a feeling that anyone who behaved in this way was unlikely to respond to offers of training through a dog club. People thought a gardening club would attract volunteers who wanted to be involved in garden projects but not many felt that they had time to become involved. Read the full report.

On November 25th, two of the Friends committee took part in the launch of the Carbon Army at Lauderdale House. The Carbon Army is a new initiative of B.T.C.V. a charitable  organization that recruits volunteers to work with environmental projects. To celebrate the launch, B.T.C.V. and Camden Parks Department,  re-planted the border behind Lauderdale House. In two hours, about 25 volunteers planted over 100 fruit bushes and herbs. The plants include step-over apple trees, a crab apple tree, rosemary and sage together with hundreds of Allium bulbs. The weather was lovely, the park looked beautiful and all the visitors to the launch had the opportunity to see and talk to volunteers, the gardeners and BTCV personnel. The border looked good when the planting was finished and we are looking forward to next spring and summer when our work should bear fruit. More information can be found about the carbon army and BTCV on their website: www.btcv.org.uk

Visitors to the Park may have noticed the extensive amount of work being carried out by tree surgeons.  Although much of it is routine work -- removing dead trees, and cutting back canopies -- some of it is part of a long term maintenance plan being gradually introduced by the tree team at Camden. This includes removing self seeded trees around the ponds to open up the original vistas as well as lifting canopies to enable eventual underplanting and to make some of the walks less gloomy. 

The brambles, a habitat favoured by the rats and very little else, are also being attacked this year, particularly around the arena and around the pond areas.  This will enable the naturalised woodland planting to reestablish itself and with it a habitat that is more friendly to birds, bees and butterflies as well as prettier for the visitor. 

When this work is complete and varous safety measures are put in place the wild life pond at the top of the park will be opened to the public.

Shortly too the border that runs along the northern perimeter of Lauderdale terrace is to get a facelift.  The Carbon Army together with Camden's Park and Open Spaces will be replanting the border with a mix of fruit trees and bushes and culinary herbs.  If you want to watch or join in come along on the 25th November. For times check the noticeboard.

London in Bloom promotes, supports and encourages gardening, horticulture and environmental sustainability across the 31 boroughs and two cities of Greater London. As such, it is one of 17 regional campaigns which make up Britain in Bloom - Europe’s largest horticultural campaign. The sustainability and involvement of the local community all contributed to this outstanding achievement for a beautiful space in North London.

A number of people have raised concerns with FoWP that some dog owners in Waterlow Park do not clear up after their dogs, which has health and hygiene implications, or that their dogs behave aggressively. Non-dog owners find by this intolerable, as do many responsible dog owners, and in some parks dogs have been totally excluded. This is a situation we do not want to see happening in Waterlow Park. So the Friends want to investigate setting up a “Dog Club”. This would be open to all dog owners in the Park. It would aim to encourage responsible dog ownership and to run some activities and provide some advice and training run by a qualified dog behaviourist. If you are interested in helping set this up do contact us

The aviary in Waterlow Park has been empty for many years and is falling into disrepair. The choice now is use it  or dismantle it as its increasingly unsightly. Its original purpose was to house tropical birds. Subsequently it was used as an animal hospital. Camden will soon be undertaking a consultation on the aviary’s future. The Friends welcome this initiative and have suggested that budgerigars are the best birds for the aviary, as they are a domesticated species rather than wild, and with the right care, will live long and healthy lives in the park. Their bright colours and readiness to breed will provide a focal point for mothers and children, as well as being educational.

Across London, there are more than 2000 parks, gardens and open spaces. Some are managed by their borough councils, others are privately managed. Most of them have groups of ‘Friends’ who represent the interests of their local communities to the managers. These Friends groups work in partnership with officers to make sure the parks are safe, well looked after and accessible for local people.  In October, a small working group arranged a day for Friends Groups to discuss issues of common interest and to share ideas and experiences.  More than 80 people attended and at least 35 parks and open spaces in London were represented. Topics discussed in small groups included; funding for groups and projects, organizing events, involving local communities, citizen participation in science, urban development, monitoring and management in open spaces, training volunteers, and biodiversity. People buzzed with ideas and we heard about several initiatives that might work in Waterlow Park. For example, one group of friends had started weekly fitness sessions for older people and hired a professional trainer to lead the group. They had also involved the local primary school which had led to children walking hand in hand with some of the pensioners, much to each others enjoyment. Other groups had started walking groups and cycling groups.

One group had started a dog club to deal with the issue of fouling and general owner mis-behaviour. The club now runs dog training sessions for local people. Other Friends had set up bird watching groups, horticulture groups and tree planting groups.

There were practical examples of how local volunteers can become engaged with their parks too. At lunchtime, delicious food was prepared by ladies from the Broadwater Farm Kitchen and visitors were taken on a tour of Lordship Recreation Ground. We were led by a very knowledgeable ‘seasoned volunteer guide’, whose detailed accounts of its history and current plans for restoration were a treat to listen to. The day ended with an agreement that a London wide Forum would be established to continue to help Friends groups make contacts and share ideas and experiences with each other. The Waterlow Friends will up-date this web site with any further developments that take place with this London wide Forum.

C.F. 22/10/09

Two areas of Waterlow Park are part of a London-wide research project on house sparrows. Working with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the London Borough of Camden is trialling different wildflower seed mixes to see which best support house sparrows. This is one of the trial plots. We’ll be monitoring it for wildlife and to see how often  sparrows visit. The area will be temporarily roped off whilst the meadows are establishing. 
 
To find out more, contact the RSPB London Office on 020 7808 1260 or london@rspb.org.uk; alternatively contact London Borough of Camden's Nature Conservation Section on 020 7974 8816.  

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The new Play Area is now open and being enjoyed by younger park users.