-

Autumn comes to the Wood

Wrinkled Peach fungus. (Photo by Chris Cannelle)

As the evenings draw in and the weather has become cooler and wetter, autumn has certainly arrived in the Wood. With it has come an explosion of fungi, but especially exciting has been the discovery that the very rare Wrinkled Peach fungus is growing in the Wood. This fungus is on the global red list of endangered fungi, so it is especially important that it has been discovered in the Wood. These amazing photos of the fungi were taken by Wood volunteer and fungi expert, Chris Cannelle.

(Photo by Chris Cannelle)

Elsewhere, path improvements have continued. Contractors have done an excellent job in extending the improved path network, linking the Cedar of Lebanon boardwalk with the folly and on from there, through the "trampled triangle" to the previously improved section. 

Improved path leading up from the Folly to the Cedar of Lebanon. 


Improvements in the "trampled triangle", the new path to the right leads to the Glade.

Volunteers have done their bit by installing some new steps on the upper path near the Cox's Walk eastern entrance. These will help protect tree roots which had been exposed by erosion from feet, especially since the closure of the footbridge.

New steps with deeper surfacing to protect tree roots which had been exposed.

Finally, in anticipation of the rebuilding works on the Cox's Walk footbridge, the path in from the western gate has been resurfaced and realigned by the contractors.  This has presented the opportunity to review the protected area downslope, which had been fenced in to allow regeneration of the ground cover. This area has been enlarged by volunteers in order to include the previous path alignment which had become seriously damaged by foot erosion. 

New path surfacing and alignment leading to the western gate for Cox's Walk.

Enlarged recovery area.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

-
Image
  Protecting our Wood The trees making up our woodland are a mixture of native species and garden survivors from Victorian development. Before the expansion of London, the Wood was used extensively to provide raw materials for ship-building on the Thames and timber for general building in domestic and agricultural use. As such, many species were coppiced to maintain a steady and reliable supply of wood. Species suitable for this type of woodland management include ash, hornbeam and hazel. When a tree is coppiced, its main trunk is cut down to the ground and soon new side shoots will emerge to grow upwards. Depending on the size and age of this growth, the shoots can be harvested for various uses such as canes, posts and palings. Coppicing can extend the life of the tree enormously and the resulting patchwork of light and dark increases biodiversity. Without coppicing, the woodland will grow old and degenerate, species diversity declines and ecological health suffers. Unfortunately,...
Read more
-
Image
Drains and More Steps   The drainage system on Crescent Wood Road has been causing big problems for the Wood. When there is heavy rain and especially during a thunder storm, polluted water overflows from the drain covers in the road and cascades into the Wood. This has caused damage to the newly improved section of path and steps near the tunnel mouth. It seems Thames Water thinks it has done everything it needs to do, however, the problem remains.  Consequently, the Wood's volunteers have started to put in place mitigation to help tackle this.  Slowly but surely, new steps are being added to the main path down from the Crescent Wood Road entrance. These should help where heavy footfall and water damage have eroded the path to make it uneven. The new steps use materials from the Wood such as branches as well as recycled material such as scaffolding and decking boards. The steps are backfilled with crushed concrete and then topped with li...
Read more
-
Image
Finding the Villas....Part 3 Fairwood Of all the villas along Sydenham Hill, Fairwood has left the best-known relic, the folly and its accompanying cascade. However , the re are other clues as to its existance. Just inside the fence along Sydenham Hill, there is a gate-post complete with ironwork, there are footings for greenhouses and, against the wall separating it from Beechgrove, there is lead flashing suggesting a hot house of some sort. There are also the remains of the main terrace and its cellars.     Remains of Fairwood.   Gate post for Fairwood's drive. Fairwood's cellar wall, in the background, a chute, perhaps for coal deliveries? Steps leading down from the terrace to the garden. The wall between Fairwood and Beechgrove. What was once a lean-to greenhouse, note remnants of a plaster coating and eyes in the brickwork for training vines.  O.S. maps show terraces in Fairwood's garden. The sudden change in level suggests this is one of them. Half way down f...
Read more