Friends of Crofton and Sparrow Woods

Wishing you all the very best for the holiday season – we hope that everyone has a relaxing and enjoyable time. 

We are delighted that our December e-Newsletter is now with members. It includes an article on the latest threat to our woodland, as well as good news on fungi and bird boxes and a report on this year’s butterfly surveys. 

Join our mailing list to receive your copy. (Hard copy versions can be provided locally on request.)

Come and join our alternate Tuesday morning Work Group. A great opportunity to give something back to your community and local nature.

We meet fortnightly at 10am on a Tuesday at different locations around Crofton and Sparrow Woods - join our mailing list to be reminded the meeting points as they do sometimes change from the plan. 

Bromley Council's contractor, idverde, kindly lend us tools - or you are welcome to bring your own.  The tasks are very varied. At the moment we are coppicing - part of a cycle of every 7 years or so cutting down hazel and holly. This allows more light to the ground through the tree canopy - which is great for our local flora and fauna. Coppicing has been undertaken for hundreds of years in these woodlands. Without it ivasive species take over and the woods become very dark with less variety of plant life - you can see that from some of the areas which are not Council owned and therefore un maintained. 

For the fit and keen there is plenty of tree felling and lopping, and for the less fit plenty of branch trimming and piling up. There is also litter picking, and plant identfication. So whatever your age or level of fitness there is plenty for all!

No need to commit to every fortnight - plenty of members just come when they can around their other commitments. 

We have a short break around 11.30am and finish around 12.15 - although you are welcome to leave earlier.

Come along and make a positive differencce!

These damp days are perfect conditions for fungi season. The mud has started, but the paths are still accessible if you are wearing waterproof shoes, so we recommend a walk in Crofton and Sparrow Woods to see fabulous fungi. 

Here are some sightings from the last few days. They have been identified using a free App called Obsidentify. It is not 100% accurate, but a great help. (But don't use it to identify edible fungi - just assume you shouldn't eat any of them.)

Fly agaric (Amanita muscaria)

Deceiver mushroom (Laccaria laccata)

Brown Roll Rim (Paxillus involutus)

Possibly Armillaria species - simply covered with with talc-like spores

Candlesnuff (Xylaria hypoxylon)

Rosy Bonnet (Mycena rosea)

Morning, everyone, Having seen the rain and the forecast for this morning I've reluctantly decided to cancel the working group for this morning. I'll try to find an alternative date as soon as possible. Thanks and hope you all have a good weekend (despite the rain!). Caroline

Come and join the fun for only £40 and support a great cause. (Pre-booking essential.) 

All ages welcome. This a session for amateurs - so no skill or experience needed - just come along and get creative.

Tools, instruction, material and equipment provided. 

Join us on  23 November 2024  from 2.30pm to 4.30pm 

Location: GEA Hall, 36, Woodhurst Avenue, Petts Wood, BR5 1AR 

Secure your place with a £10 deposit - Limited places available 

Email: friendscroftonandsparrowwoods@gmail.com or call 07968 269008 if you don’t use email

We look forward to meeting you and having an enjoyable afternoon. 

Join the Friends of Crofton and Sparrow Woods to receive a free copy of our quarterly e-newsletter packed with news about the woods, its wildlife and history.

The September newsletter has gone out to members - join now to receive your copy. The membership form is available under the Forms tab on this website. Membership is free, although we would love you to donate £5 annually if you are willing.

If you don't like e-newsletters we can deliver hard copy locally free of charge.

There is a new and dangerous threat to the UK’s honeybees - Asian hornets. 

Asian hornets prey on pollinators including honeybees. A single Asian hornet can consume up to 50 bees daily – they can efficiently process a honeybee in under two minutes. So there is a big campaign to locate and destroy Asian hornet nests to prevent them becoming established in the UK. Early nests are commonly found in low places such as hedges, brambles and garden structures. Later in the year nests can be found higher up in trees. 

The first thing to do is spot the different between the Asian hornet and the European hornet – which is being seen more often in Crofton and Sparrow Woods.  

The Asian hornet has an entirely black velvety thorax, is never active at night and overall looks slightly smaller and much darker than our local species. There is a government programme to control them. So, if you find one please use the Asian Hornet Watch app or online at www.nonnativespecies.org/asianhornet to report the sighting.

In August a Group member found a hornet nest in the trunk of an oak - which last year had been occupied by bees. The good news is that these have been identified as European hornets. Her photo and videos are included below. 

The next Woodland Work Group meeting is  on Tuesday 17 September, and we then meet every fortnight. Come and join in - all fitness levels accommodated. We will be meeting at the dead end of St Thomas Drive, and then walking into the woods to St Thomas Glade for a session of scrub clearance. 

If you are not very familiar with the woods – don’t worry, I will wait at the entrance to the woods at the end of St Thomas Drive until 10.am. 

I do hope that you will be able to join the Work Group. Adult non-members welcome. Please come prepared – heavy shoes are a must, as well as gardening gloves, saws, loppers, and secateurs if you have them. Idverde equipment will be available. You may also want to bring a drink. The session will finish at 12.15pm – although you are welcome to leave sooner. BUT, you need to tell the idverde ranger, or myself that you are leaving early, or we will worry that we have lost you in the woods.

Date for your diary: Coffee Morning and Cake Sale Saturday 5 October 10am to noon The Friends of Crofton and Sparrow Woods popular get together for a chat over a drink and excellent cake at Petts Wood Methodist church.

The next Woodland Work Group meeting is next week, on Tuesday 3 September. This is the first Work Group of the autumn season, and we will then be meeting every fortnight from the 3^rd. 

Come and join in - all fitness levels accommodated.

We will be meeting at the dead end of St Thomas Drive, and then walking into the woods to St Thomas Glade for a session of scrub clearance. If you are not very familiar with the woods – don’t worry, I will wait at the entrance to the woods at the end of St Thomas Drive until 10.am. I do hope that you will be able to join the Work Group. Adult non-members welcome. 

Please come prepared – heavy shoes are a must, as well as gardening gloves, saws, loppers, and secateurs if you have them. Idverde equipment will be available. You may also want to bring a drink. The session will finish at 12.15pm – although you are welcome to leave sooner. BUT, you need to tell the idverde ranger, or myself that you are leaving early, or we will worry that we have lost you in the woods.

Date for your diary: Coffee Morning and Cake Sale Saturday 5 October 10am to noon The Friends of Crofton and Sparrow Woods popular get together for a chat over a drink and excellent cake at Petts Wood Methodist church.

Have you spotted a new fence going up towards the south of the woods adjacent to the Farnborough Park Estate alongside the old access track to the former Smallpox Hospital? 

The Friends of Crofton and Sparrow Woods received website and telephone contact over the past week expressing concern about changes to the woodland in the area behind the Farnborough Park Estate - circled in red on the map below. 

The area is private land, and last week was fenced off with an impressive green metal fence. This week there has been a large wood bonfire. The activity has caused people concern that there may be plans to develop the land, and that since it is part of the area of Special Scientific interest (the blue area on the map) it is required to be protected for wildlife, so felling all the trees would not be acceptable. 

On 9 July some member of this Group, along with Luke Blanchard from idverde and a member of Bromley Council’s Tree Team, went along to see what was going on for ourselves. We were very fortunate in our timing, and one of the two chaps fuelling the bonfire was the landowner and helpfully filled us in on the background and reassured about his intentions to protect and improve the woodland. 

The owner lives in a nearby house and already owns a small strip of woodland which has been fenced off. He bought the bought the piece of land in question privately from the Norman Estates people a few years ago. This was to ensure that it would not be built upon - rumours have circulated for years about the vulnerability of the area to building development. He has become concerned about dog waste bags and the woodland becoming increasingly dark due to lack of management. He has therefore installed a fence to restrict access to his family, and is managing the woodland to remove dead wood. He was receptive to the suggestion that Cherry Laurel should also be removed. He allowed idverde and the Council to walk around his site and heard their advice about the need for Natural England permission for most work within the SSSI, and on bonfire locations, tree management etc. 

So, if you get asked about the work over the summer, you can be reassuring that the landowner has no plans to destroy the woodland or develop the site for housing. Positive news to start the summer – all we need now is the rain to stop!

Butterfly Recorder Peter Smart reported the first sighting of the White Admiral butterfly in Crofton Woods on Tuesday 25 June - so keep your eyes peeled when walking in the woods on a sunny day. Peter's photo is below: