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ACTIVITY MORNINGS

We are planning to hold an activity morning on

Saturday Dec 12th

Jan-April dates to be confirmed

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ACTIVITY MORNINGS

We are going ahead with our planned Activity morning on Saturday December 12th.  In view of the fact that we are in Tier 2 restrictions, can you please contact Bruce Mackay in advance so activities in small separate groups can be organised. You can contact  him either by email (brucemackay47@gmail.com) or by telephone 07980 983239.

Despite the pouring rain, there was a very good turn out in November and we would like to thank  everyone for working so hard in such terrible conditions. The weather forecast for next Saturday is reasonable at the moment.

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There will be more activity mornings Jan-April 2021 and we will give you all the dates later in December

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So we meet as usual at the top of Temple Fortune Hill at 10am.

Remember to bring your own gloves. We will provide some tools but it would be helpful if you could bring your own cutters or secateurs. Sadly we will not be providing a drink/refreshments due to Covid restrictions so please bring your own. .

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Obviously please do not come if anyone in your household have symptoms of the virus.

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ZOOM TALKS
As restrictions are likely to continue over the next few months, the Committee has decide to arrange a couple of zoom talks. The first one will take place in January provisionally on Wednesday January 20th at 7.30. David Darrell Lambert will talk about bird life in the London area. We will ask you to email us for a link so you can join up on the day. We will confirm the date later in December.

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We have decided that there can be no organised walks in the wood for the remainder of 2020 but hope to resume them in 2021. Likewise restrictions mean that we cannot hold any evening meetings at the moment. 

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PROTECTING BIGWOOD

Footfall (and paw-fall too) have increased substantially following the onset of the pandemic not least because of the greater awareness of the value of woodland to health and welfare. So too has wear and tear in the wood increased. At the same time the resources that the Council devotes to the wood are ever dwindling and the contractors they do use are increasingly general workers without particular knowledge of woods.  So never has there been greater need for the work that we the Friends do, the protection to the wood that we offer and the importance of a very close relationship with Barnet Greenspaces who own the wood. Our current five year plan agreed with Barnet comes to an end in 2021 and we need to consider carefully what should be our priorities going forward. We will be discussing our objectives and the strategies to achieve them at our next committee meeting towards the end of this month. If any Friends have views or ideas, they would be welcome. Please email us.

 

LITTER IN THE WOOD

Litter remains a problem and some of us regularly pick up litter as we go round the wood. If any one else wants to help and would like a litter picker, please contact us. We have a number of Friends who are regularly are picking up litter but please can all the Friends help to keep the wood clear of litter. 

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DEAD WOOD

We reported on the importance of dead wood in the July Newsletter. The official UK standard for healthy woodland habitat requires 20m3 of deadwood per hectare and most woodlands in the UK, including Big Wood, is below this level. It is important therefore that all dead trunks and fallen branches are left where they fall or are left standing.

A reminder that ageing trees and dead wood are vital for a healthy woodland habitat. A huge swathe of the woodland ecosystem relies on tree wear and tear- hollows, dead branches and fallen trees. 

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TREES INFO

There is a marvellous short clip about the management of oak trees and the importance of not compacting the roots in Kew Gardens following the great storm of 1987. Anyone who is interested click on the following:-

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/stories-51282656/the-oak-tree-in-key-gardens-that-taught-the-world-a-lesson

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ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS

Thanks to all of you who have already renewed your subscription to the Friends of Big Wood for 2020.May we remind everyone else to renew as we need funds to carry out all our planned activities and surveys. Please complete and return the membership renewal.

The annual subscriptions for 2020, are unchanged at £15 for an individual or £20 per household. We ask you to complete and return the membership renewal sheet attached.

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WEB SITE
Remember that all details are here on our web site so do signpost your local friends and neighbours to visit the site and encourage them join the Association and to be Friends Of Big Wood.

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DATA  PROTECTION
The Friends of Big Wood Organisation is aware of the new General Data Protection Legislation. Organisations such as ours, which keep a register of names purely for recreational reasons, are exempt from the new regulations. We would advise you all that the data stored is purely to enable us to provide information about Big Wood and no information will be passed to any third party. If, nevertheless, you would like your details deleted from the list, please email us

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