Friends of Big Wood Nature Reserve
Newsletter - September - 2024
Looking forward to seeing Friends of Big Wood at our next autumn events.
​​Never a dull moment in Big Wood, and the Friends of Big Wood autumn programme is scheduled to start on the cusp of the season. As usual, we hope to see a number of you at the practical volunteer sessions and/or at the guided walks on trees and fungi (more below).
BIG WOOD AUTUMN ACTIVITY MORNINGS
Our volunteers are crucial to keeping Big Wood in good condition, and activity mornings are always enjoyable, sociable events. No special skills required, just a willingness to do practical gardening-type work.
Please put these dates in your diary and join us on any or all of the following dates!
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Saturday 21st September 

Saturday 12th October 

Sunday 10th November 

Saturday 7th December 

Sunday 15th December 

Conservation activities can include wildflower glade management, clearing invasive and overly vigorous species, dead hedging and path clearance. On the activity mornings, we meet at the Big Wood Temple Fortune Hill entrance in time for a 10am start. Work takes place over a couple of hours with a tea break. Get in touch to find out more: friendsofbigwood1@gmail.com - see also the volunteer handbook link below.
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BIG WOOD GUIDED WALKS
Places on our guided walks are limited. If you want to join any of the ones listed below, please email Lotte Rasmussen on lotte@boyen.co.uk or text her on 07458-322-710, stating your preference. We ask for a £5 donation on the day to help cover the costs - under 16s go free.
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Saturday 28th September, 10am - Big Wood Tree Walk with Jonathan Meares
City of London's Head of Conservation, Jonathan Meares, has kindly agreed to lead a guided walk about the important tree species in Big Wood, especially the oaks and wild service trees. Immensely knowledgeable, Jonathan can tell us about their life cycle, health indications and interactions among the tree community, as well as the importance of dead trees. He can also share management experiences from Highgate Wood and the Heath Extension.
Sunday 20th October, 2pm - Introductory Tree ID Walk with Caroline Beattie
As part of our Big Wood introductory series, we are happy to announce a second guided walk by botanist and Friend of Alexandra Park, Caroline Beattie. Following her mission to cure the 'common plant blindness', Caroline will lead a walk to identify and admire some of our trees. All welcome - from complete beginner to plant enthusiast - whether you can tell a Norway maple from a sycamore at a glance, or you're not sure how to tell a hazel from a hornbeam.
Sunday 3rd November 10 am - Fungi Walk in Big Wood, guided by David Humphries We are delighted that renowned arborist and fungiphile David Humphries has agreed to lead another fascinating guided walk on Fungi in Big Wood. David has been managing the Hampstead Heath trees for over three decades and is the co-author of the 2015 book Fungi on Trees: A Photographic Reference. Also check out this link of his talk for the London Natural History Society
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If you want to join any of these guided walks in Big Wood, please email Lotte Rasmussen on lotte@boyen.co.uk or text her on 07458-322-710, stating your preference. We ask for a £5 donation on the day to help cover the costs - under 16s go free.
Barnet Council are in the process of updating their Greenspaces Volunteering Handbook. It includes straightforward health and safety guidance to ensure that all volunteers remain safe while working in the borough's green spaces. If you take part in the activity mornings, please click on this Volunteer Handbook link and have a read. Get in touch if you have any questions.
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MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS
A big thank you for supporting Big Wood for all our benefit by being members of the Friends of Big Wood. If you haven't renewed your membership yet, please do so now. 

As you will have noticed, we have moved the bulk of the membership renewal admin work over to Membermojo, a GDPR-compliant software widely used by small charities and voluntary organisations. Any queries, contact friendsofbigwood1@gmail.com
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2024 ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS
Many thanks to the members who have already renewed their subscriptions for 2024. This is a reminder to the rest to pay their subs for the year.
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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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MORE ABOUT DEAD WOOD
We reported on the importance of dead wood. 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:-
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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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