22 June 2016
A wildlife haven in Conway RecThe latest mini-film produced by Palmers Green Tales tells the story of how the pond in the recreation ground off Conway Road was restored by the Friends of Conway Rec. Following some repair work carried out by the council, the pond had become simply a barren stretch of water. The film describes the ingenious techniques used by the Friends to restore it to its former role as a wildlife haven.
An annual visitor is a female mallard, who hatches a brood of.......
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30 May 2016
When Bob Mitchell started his job as a gardener in Broomfield Park he was one of twelve people employed by the council to care for the park. That was in 1984. 32 years later, many of the people whose work keeps the park looking beautiful are volunteers, members of the Friends of Broomfield Park.
Chris Kaufman (left) presents Bob Mitchell with a retirement present on behalf of the Friends of Broomfield ParkNevertheless, there is a big difference between what can be done by volunteers.......
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22 May 2016
The ducks already have, and they seem to like it.
The Broomfield Orchard team will be working on the pond on Sunday afternoons - 2pm to 4.30pm. And they're always on the lookout for more volunteers - contact
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11 May 2016
The first ever Firs Farm Wetlands Festival will be held on 16th July and will celebrate the progress of the project to transform an area of playing fields into a site for pond dipping, nature trails, educational tours, a relaxing walk or family picnicwalking - not to mention, the largest sustainable urban drainage system in the UK, designed to reduce the risk of flooding to local homes.
The celebrations will be hosted and organised by the Friends of Firs Farm. But they need help to fulfil.......
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09 May 2016
A book published by the Fabian Society with support from Groundwork, Keep Britain Tidy, the RSPB and the Woodland Trust addresses the challenge of maintaining the UK's parks and other green spaces in an age of Austerity.
Ed Wallis, the author of Places to Be: Green Spaces for Active Citizenship, sees green spaces as providing a "crucial community ballast". He sees an "opportunity to manage our green space in such way that empowers citizens, bolsters people’s sense of place and.......
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16 April 2016
The Friends of Arnos Park are running a photographic competition. The best picture illustrating "The Joys of Arnos Park" will win an Amazon voucher worth £25.
Entries should be sent by email to
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12 April 2016
Many of you will have heard about the plans of the Friends of Broomfield Park to create a wildlife pond and a community growing space in the park. Well, it is about to happen.
Do you fancy helping to create the new wildlife pond and community growing space in Broomfield Park?
The pond and growing space will be located between the tennis courts and the orchard.
The location of the growing space and wildlife pond - and what they might look like
1. Marking out, stripping the turf and.......
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29 March 2016
Storm Katie arrived in London on Sunday night/Monday morning and did a fair amount of damage. On the Friends of Broomfield Park Facebook page Tomas Adomaitis has posted photographs of the effect on the recently planted lime trees in Broomfield Park. Obviously, it doesn't compare to a pub having its roof ripped off (elsewhere in London), but it's a pity. Hopefully, the Council will be able to fix the ten or so trees that were.......
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23 March 2016
Easter Sunday is the last Sunday in March and therefore the last chance to see this month's Spirals of Life sculptures in Broomfield Conservatory before they give way to the April exhibits.
The March exhibits are sculptures of lilies and ferns created by Cathy Taylor and June Dawes.
Cathy writes:
"Ferns first caught my eye in the beautiful La Mortella Gardens in Ischia, Italy, where the fronds of giant tree ferns interlaced against the sky. Tree ferns are a very old form of life, familiar.......
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22 March 2016
The fourth annual photographic competition held by the Friends of Broomfield Park has been announced. Visitors to the Park are invited to take photographs while there and submit them in one of two categories: Adults and Under 16s.
The competition runs until 4th August, after which a shortlist of entries will be exhibited in Broomfield Conservatory. Visitors to the Conservatory will be able to cast votes for their favourite photographs.
Last year's competition was won by.......
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21 March 2016
Work has started to create a new park on an area of open land just south of the North Circular Road - and local people have been invited to suggest a name.
The new park - currently known as Russell Road Green Space - is partly situated on top of the underground section of the New River which passes beneath the Bowes Road section of the North Circular - slightly to the east of the railway bridge. The land belongs to Thames Water, who are leasing it to Enfield Council. The cost of.......
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15 March 2016
The project to transform an unexciting area of playing fields into a haven for wildlife and attractive open space while simultaneously helping to mitigate flooding reached another milestone on 9th March, when the Firs Farm Wetlands and Cycle Path were formally opened.
See here at the ribbon cutting ceremony are (from left to right) Cllr Bambos Charalambous (Associate Cabinet Member Enfield Southgate), Ian Russell (Senior Engineer from Enfield Council), Cllr Daniel Anderson (Enfield.......
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02 March 2016
The first month of this year's Artist-in-Residence scheme in Broomfield Conservatory was brought to a close with a very popular drop-in workshop, giving visitors an opportunity to learn how to create ceramic leaves.
Cathy Taylor's five-month residency goes by the overall title "Spirals of Life", each month having a different theme, but all within the overall concept of "biological sculptures".
Cathy's report on last Sunday's workshop:
"The ceramics leaf-making workshop in the Conservatory in.......
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02 March 2016
The Friends of Broomfield Park have written to Enfield councillors to express serious concerns about the impact of budget cuts on the management and upkeep of parks in the borough and on Broomfield Park in particular - "one of the jewels in the borough's crown".
The letter from the Friends, sent ahead of last week's full meeting of the Council, listed some of the impacts which the proposed cuts would have: reductions in grass cutting in parks, use of volunteers to pick up litter after.......
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28 February 2016
A charity which helps promote good practice among organisations involved in managing and supporting London's parks and other green spaces is calling on everyone who values them to lobby candidates for the upcoming Mayoral and Greater London Assembly elections.
The London Parks and Green Spaces Forum has written to Friends of Parks groups throughout the capital suggesting points which should be made to candidates. The Forum is particularly concerned about cuts in expenditure on parks by.......
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18 February 2016
Two of the jewels in the crown of Broomfield Park, the Greenery café and the Conservatory, were broken in to on the night of 17/18 February. Both of these are run on a non-profit making basis by teams of volunteers.
The Greenery suffered the most damage. A tree trunk seat was thrown through one window and another window was broken, probably as an easier exit route. The tree trunk was thrown through with enough force to break the metal security bars on the inside of the window. The trunk.......
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11 February 2016
The voluntary group Black Rainbow Events have published their programme of guided walks for 2016. All walks are either within Trent Park or start or finish there.
Trent Park History and MysterySunday 20th March 201610:00am till 12:30pmDistance: no more than 3 miles
Trent Park Link Walk (Trent Park to Arnos Park)Sunday 17th April 201610:00am till 2:00pmDistance: no more than 6 miles
The Beauty of Nature RevealedSunday 22nd May 201610:00am till 12:30pmDistance: no more than 3 miles
The.......
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09 February 2016
Exciting news from Broomfield Conservatory: the Thumbergia Mysorensis is flowering!
If you'd like to see this exotic vine in bloom, head for Broomfield Park on Wednesday or Sunday afternoon, between 2pm and 4pm, when the Conservatory is opened to visitors by the Friends of Broomfield Park.
As its name suggests, the Thumbergia Mysorensis is native to India, though it is also cultivated in southern Spain. Alternative names include Mysore Trumpetvine, Indian Clock Vine, Brick and.......
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27 January 2016
Broomfield Conservatory's artist in residence for 2016 is Cathy Taylor. In conjunction with fellow Friend of Broomfield Park June Dawes, she will be exhibiting her botanical sculptures set among the hothouse plants in Broomfield Conservatory. The exhibition - Spirals of Life - starts this Sunday (31st January) and continues until the end of June........
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21 January 2016
An undercover film crew have revealed the existence of a strange sect in Broomfield Park.
Footage filmed last weekend shows grown men and women dancing around an apple tree decorated with pieces of dry toast.
Further investigations have discovered that this is an ancient ceremony known as wassailing, which also involves music and consumption of alcoholic beverages made from apple juice. The people taking part are clearly attempting to hide their identities by wearing hats and scarves but.......
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