The storm before the calm

So signs are now appearing of the main HLF project capital works which will go on through to the end of next year.

Most of the large scale jobs are going out to tender at this point but there are a few signs of change appearing.  The original Rochdale Road entrance which was being used as the Sodexo storage yard has now been cleared out and plans are under way for the relocation of the substation.

Rochdale Road Entrance

The opening up of this original entrance will make a big difference to the hub area of the park by the cafe and Bowls Pavilion.

The dripping wells around Marnock Lake have been investigated and appear to be dripping once again.  Contractors are now just working out the final engineering issues to ensure their continuous drippage.

Well well well, it drips again

And the park entrance from Upper Grosvenor Road has been cleared of the scrappy trees and scrub in advance of some landscape improvement and new signage to make that entrance more welcoming and attractive.

Upper Grosvenor Road Entrance

As with a lot of the work to be carried out in the park there will be periods when areas will look a little bit untidy and bare. But this will be a necessary stage before they take on their new and improved look. So don't worry, it's just the storm before the calm.

Summer sun and fun and other stuff

Catching insects and closely examining them in trays with magnifiers is perhaps not everyone's cup of tea.  But kids do seem to enjoy it! On Friday 18th July a good 30 or so kids turned up for Creepy Crawly Quest and Craft event (funded by HLF) and blessed with good weather they had a successful afternoon sweeping the grassy banks with nets and exploring their acquisitions. Quite an array of the park's tiny residents were temporarily swooped out of their usual daily lives including grasshoppers, crickets, spiders, aphids, capsids, caterpillars, ladybirds, butterflies, and beetles.  The children also learned how to create pitfall traps and many ended the day with their own home made bug magnet (many of which had so many magnets on them, I doubt they will ever come off the fridge, ever).

James catching butterflies

Wednesday 6th August was National Playday.  Kent High Weald Partnership (KHWP) with support from FofGH and the park's CEO did a fantastic job putting on their annual event to celebrate this official day for play.  There was a great turnout of local (and some not so local) families to try their hands at willow weaving, fire lighting, shelter building, and crafts, listen to stories told by Kate, get their faces painted, and generally just have fun playing games.  FofGH's picture and scavenger trails also proved very popular with prizes to be won from the Fields In Trust kit.

Story time at Playday with Kate Jackson

We are looking forward to the bat walk next week and everyone must keep their fingers crossed for the weather.  There are definitely bats in the park as KHWP discovered last summer on their walk and also the Community Engagement Officer (that is I) treated a few of the residents from Crossways Community to a successful little bat walk the other week. We should hope to see and hear Common Pipistrelle, Soprano Pipistrelle, Noctule and maybe even Serotine is we are very lucky.


The GH Park Volunteer Team is still small but growing slowly and doing lots of great work. We have tackled some invasive Himalayan balsam, repaired some of the boardwalk that was damaged by falling trees and vandalism, carried out butterfly surveys and begun opening up the outdoor classroom and woodland paths.  It is great to see the outdoor classroom area being used by locals for playing and den building already! We still have the litter problem to tackle but that will undoubtedly be an ongoing battle.  A great group of youngsters from Catch 22 doing their National Citizen Service kindly gave up a day to blitz the litter behind the skate park - filling up over 20 bags worth!  Good news and bad really.

Shelter building in the outdoor classroom area

In other news...

I shall be working closely with the Friends group as we begin planning the community orchard.  Roger and Celia Worraker who were behind the successful creation of the Five Oak Green community orchard have provided us with lots of great advice and support. This will be an exciting project that I hope many of you will be involved with. Look out for news and events coming this autumn.

Five Oak Green Community Orchard

Following on from the fun street art workshops where we discovered the need for skate park improvements, there has been further consultation with skate park users about how we can best improve it with the limited budget we have.  The original park designers, Gravity, came up with the first draft plan which has now been scrutinized by local skaters, BMX'ers and scooter'ers and we look forward to seeing revised plans as a result.

Gravity's first draft improvement suggestions

The power of small wins

It's amazing how therapeutic a couple of hours of pulling up Himalayan balsam can be! Unlike many other invasive and non-native plants, this one comes out of the ground quite easily with a little tug.  It is a fast spreading annual weed which suppresses our native plants and is becoming very well established along UK river banks and woodlands.  And unfortunately we have it at Grosvenor and Hilbert.

And so it was, last Thursday, our practical volunteer team's maiden voyage into the conservation of our park's landscape.  Welcome to Peter, Ben, Susan and Lucy the dog - the first attendees to the new Thursday volunteer programme.  They certainly proved themselves and did the park justice by getting at a large chunk of Himalayan balsam out before it set seed. 

Volunteer vs alien

Lucy and her beloved ball

Watch this space for the next adventure of the Grosvenor and Hilbert Volunteer Team!

Happy Birthday to the Park!

Sunday 29th June marked the 125th Anniversary of the opening of Grosvenor Recreation Ground back in 1889.  So how could we let such a momentous day go by without a celebration?

On Sunday afternoon, the Friends of Grosvenor and Hilbert Park hosted a heart-warming classic birthday party in the park. Families were laid out on rugs, delicious picnics were eaten, giant jenga was stacked and tumbled, hoola hoops were hoola'd, games were played, and then there was the cake...

Scrumptious cake made by Ireland's Bakery

Councillor Ben Chapelard did a fantastic job of ceremoniously cutting the cake, then we all sang Happy Birthday and drank fizz! What splendid fun!

Free Commemorative Postcard

Last week also saw the practical volunteer programme begin. It was low key start to the regular Thursday volunteering, mostly tools and tool storage got sorted.  But it was a beautiful sunny day as is this week's task looking to be also.

Volunteer tools

Calling All Teens!

As part of the Hertiage Lottery Fund project in the park, there will be a new "teen zone" next to the skate park. The form this is to take is yet to be decided. So who best to ask what form it should take than the teens themselves.

A special consultation event was held this afternoon to ask the local kids what they would like to see next to the skate park.  Two suggestions were favoured: a parkour park; and an extension of the current skate park.

As a little encouragement to get the kids to come, Overspray kindly put on an aerosol art workshop. This went down a storm, not surprisingly as it essentially kids having a go at graffitti!

So what will it be? Parkour or more skate park? Watch this space...

Family Fun Day

And what family fun was had!  The sun shone, the music played, the dogs showed, and the people came. With a record breaking turnout of what we estimate to be around 7000 people, 2014 Friends of Grosvenor and Hilbert Park Family Fun Day was a huge success.  There was something for everyone: the famous dog show; bouncy castles; games; crafts; donkey rides; hog roast; live music and performances; home made cakes; tombola; vintage cars; bowls; a beer tent; and plenty more.

A huge thank you to all the volunteers and FOGH committee members without which we would not have had this great event.

Must be donkey's break time!

Bouncy fun

Colouring in with Kent High Weald

Having a go at bowls!

Modelling the new FOGH tabard

Expect next year to be even bigger and better!  With more food, beet and toilets! :o)

Rolling in the Rain

Friends Of Grosvenor and Hilbert's Park Easter Eggstravaganza event was a fantastic display of the defiant British spirit at its best.  Despite fairly dismal weather conditions, local volunteers and families rocked up with smiles on their faces to get egg rolling, egg dressing, cookie decorating, treasure hunting, and sunflower planting.

Eggsciting egg-rolling!

Cookie decorating, yum!

The best dressed egg competition was tough, with some amazing entries from our local youngsters...

Eggscellent entries all round!

The results of the egg dressing competition are published on the FOfGH's facebook page: facebook.com/GrosvenorHilbert

Well done everyone who turned out and got soggy - it was great fun!