Welcome to East Ham Nature Reserve Heritage and Conservation Volunteers
The April newsletter is available to download in the newsletter tab.
The nature reserve is open every day, so please visit. Please don’t pick any flowers. The bees and butterflies need them much more than you do. Download a map of the site EHNR_NewMap[47882]
The Heritage and Conservation Volunteers meet every Wednesday and the last Saturday of each month 10am – 1pm. Please come and help, there is lots of work to do and it’s great for your mental and physical health. No need to book. Just arrive at the Norman Road entrance at 10am.
Please note that Saturday afternoon walks have been discontinued because of lack of interest. They may return in the summer.
Conservation and Heritage Volunteering Wednesday sessions
These are every Wednesday 10am-1pm, but you don’t have to stay for the whole session. Hot drinks and biscuits at 11.30am.
Tasks include :
clearing goosegrass and ivy,
removing ivy from trees,
making dead hedges
Hoeing, scything and raking areas in meadows and woodland to sow wildflower seed later.
Heritage volunteering!
Saint Mary Magdalene church is one of the oldest in London, dating back to the 12th century. It stands in the largest parish churchyard (not cemetery) in the country, which is now East Ham Nature Reserve. There are approximately 7,500 named graves with stories to tell. We need help uncovering gravestones, many of which are covered in ivy, and recording their GPS position so we can find them again. As a starting point there are 64 war graves we would like to find and record to make a war grave trail. If you are interested in helping, please email Penny at newhamgg@gmail.com
Volunteering Saturday session
There is a Saturday session on the last weekend of each month. The next Saturday session will be 30th March 10am to 1pm. Tasks will probably include clearing goosegrass and ivy in the woodland and sowing wildflower seeds.
Tea and biscuits at 11.30.
Friends of East Ham NatureReserve
Being outside in natural spaces is so good for mental and physical health that, as well as conservation and heritage volunteering, we have a group of Friends of East Ham Nature Reserve, who receive a monthly newsletter about the nature reserve. Contact Penny at friendsofEHNR@gmail.com if you would like to join.
The idea is to get people out and about in our space, which is very different from the parks in Newham. Although it is close to the A13 and surrounded by houses, it feels like a bit of countryside, with a little country church. Come and enjoy the peace and quiet.
Green Gym is not a gym!
If sweaty gyms are not for you, why not join our friendly group. We work in the open air, which is great for mental and physical health, giving nature a helping hand at the same time. We maintain the diversity of habitats at the nature reserve. We do a variety of tasks from digging out brambles to planting wildflowers and clearing ivy from gravestones and paths. You can also learn to do more specialised tasks like hedge laying, coppicing and scything. There is something suitable for everyone and you can work at your own pace.
The common lizards are hibernating whilst the weather is cold. They will be back when it gets warm again. There was a slow worm under one of the survey mats on 6th March. We will be doing a survey of reptiles later in the year.
If you look under logs there are plenty of minibeasts like wood lice, slugs, centipedes and snails to look at. Make sure you leave everything exactly as you found it. Under the big weeping willow by the visitor centre there is a stone urn with lots of ladybirds and ladybird pupae.
The mature ivy, where it has climbed up gravestones and formed a bush, is laden with berries. Some are still green, but they will turn black as they ripen. They are a very important food source for birds in winter and the ivy bush is a good roosting site in cold weather.
Ivy flowers on a frosty morning
We have a commissioned art work near the bridge, a willow circle like a slow worm eating its tail!
The idea is that it will gradually decay, becoming habitats and food for animals and plants, which will themselves decay. It illustrates the cycle of life that is essential to existence.
It has now broken and will be removed to decay quietly on the compost heap to form a habitat for fungi and animals.
Our address is East Ham Nature Reserve, Norman Road, London E6 6HN.
We meet every Wednesday and the last Saturday of each month 10am-1pm. Even if you don’t want to work, come along at 11.30am for hot drinks, biscuits and chat.
If you would like to join our group, please let Penny know by emailing newhamgg@gmail.com or you can just turn up.
Please note that we only have enough equipment for small groups. If you want to bring a group of people, or for corporate volunteering, please contact Sarah Dodds sarah.dodds@newham.gov.uk
If you come to work please wear suitable clothes and shoes (there are a lot of brambles and stinging nettles on the site). We provide gloves and tools.
Please note that, as all our tasks involve using sharp tools, we cannot take responsibility for under 16s. Children are welcome, but must be supervised at all times by a responsible adult.
For more information email Penny at newhamgg@gmail.com
or phone Frances 078 4597 3156
We are an independent community group, which is a member of the TCV Community
Network, but is not run by TCV leaders.
There is a second Newham Green Gym, which is the Greenway Orchard Project, run by trained TCV leaders. They focus particularly on mental health issues. For information go to http://www.tcv.org.uk/london/green-gym-london/newham-green-gym