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Friends of Wandsworth Common

@wwcommon

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We work to engage the community in the protection, conservation and enhancement of the Common.
Become a Friend, volunteer and join our events.

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Tonight we have something super special to share.

Last Thursday morning, horsepower came with hooves to Wandsworth Common.

Across Bolingbroke Field, a beautiful Clydesdale and Shire from @oakwood_clydesdales worked side by side, driven by Tom Nixon, cutting the grasses and wildflowers during the yearly hay cut organised by @enableparks

As the pair moved steadily forward, the wheels of the antique mower powered its cutter bar, slicing the stems and laying the crop behind them. No combustion engine just horses, harness and beautifully maintained antique machinery.

Yet this was far more than a glimpse of farming history. A wildflower meadow like this one depends on being cut.

Leaving the field to grow through Spring and Summer allows plants to flower and set seed, while feeding and sheltering pollinators and other wildlife. A late cut, followed by removal of the hay, checks scrub and coarse grasses and takes nutrients out of the soil. That sounds counter-intuitive, but many meadow wildflowers compete best in leaner ground, where vigorous grasses are less able to swamp them.

The cut opens the sward too, letting light reach the soil and giving fallen seed somewhere to germinate, an annual reset that helps keep a meadow a meadow.

Working horses bring their own ecological advantages. Their lighter tread causes less soil compaction than heavy machinery, protecting soil structure and drainage. Ground-driven equipment also means lower emissions and gentler disturbance within the meadow.

For our lead photographer @lenarobinsonkg this was an especially lovely morning. With her New Zealand childhood shaped by farming and a lifetime around horses, she loved catching up with Tom, not only about the team but about farming in two parts of the world across multiple generations.

There is something rather wonderful about old knowledge finding its place in the care of a modern London common. See you next year horses.

Photographic Credit: Raw Photography of @ftsq_go_on
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#Floralishus
#floralishusfieldtrip
#WandsworthCommon
#wildflowermeadow
#WorkingHorses taken in Wandsworth Common by @wwcommon

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8 days ago

Welcome to this weeks #FernFriday with @exotic.fern.group

These Male Ferns (Dryopteris filix-mas), growing around the Bowling Green on Wandsworth Common, are looking a little battle-worn.

There are plenty of brown, dried and dying fronds, evidence of what has been a very tough Summer for ferns here. We’ve watched some other species pretty much disappear altogether. Yet these Male Ferns have hung on and with the return of some rain, there’s encouraging green growth amongst the brown.

- Brown doesn’t necessarily mean dead: During prolonged heat and dry conditions, established Male Ferns can lose or sacrifice fronds while their underground rhizomes remain alive. When moisture returns, that surviving crown may be able to produce fresh growth.

- Built with reserves: The thick rhizome acts as more than an anchor. It stores resources below ground, giving an established fern something to draw upon when conditions above ground become difficult.

- Don’t dismiss the dead stuff: Those collapsing old fronds still have a job. As they break down, they return organic matter to the soil and can help create a cooler, moisture-retaining layer around the plant.

And now, the rain…after watching so many ferns struggle this Summer, seeing green emerging amongst all that brown feels particularly significant.

Not untouched. Not looking perfect. But still here. Sometimes survival is enough.

#floralishus
#floralishusfriday
#MaleFern
#wandsworthcommon taken in Wandsworth Common by @wwcommon

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18 days ago

7 REASONS TO BE HOPEFUL ABOUT
CLIMATE CHANGE (and the state of the planet)
with local author Fred Pearce
Thurs Sep 10th, 6.30 for 7pm, Naturescope
Book via friends@wandsworthcommon.org

Fred Pearce has been reporting from the frontline of climate change and environmental recovery for over four decades and what he has seen has given him reason - in fact, seven reasons - for (cautious) hope.

Find out how nature is finding ways to thrive in unexpected places; how the population bomb has been defused; how our consumerist societies are finally approaching ‘peak stuff’; and how a combination of ancient wisdom and modern technology can help us correct our course.
From tech fixes to nature’s surprising resurgence and the virtues of Commons like ours, Fred sees hope amid the gloom.
“It’s all to play for”, he says.

Also bookable through Wandsworth Council’s #SustainableSeptember

#togetheronclimatechange

Book via friends@wandsworthcommon.org taken in Wandsworth Common by @wwcommon

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a month ago

A very cute day out at the Friends of Wandsworth Common Dog Show today 🐾 congrats to all the dogs who took part!

Thank you to The Friends of Wandsworth Common @wwcommon and The City Dog Club @thecitydogclub for organising.

#londondogshow #londondogs #dogsoflondon #wandsworth #wandsworthcommon taken in Wandsworth Common by @wwcommon

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10

a month ago

DOG SHOW this weekend! 🐶 Join the Friends of Wandsworth Common @wwcommon for their annual dog show on Wandsworth Common this Sunday 6th September from 12pm - 4pm!

Registration takes place between 10am - noon with the show running from 12pm - 4pm.

Categories include:

🏅Best rescue
🏅Best puppy
🏅Best young handler under 16 years
🏅Best senior
🏅Best loose lead
🏅Best adult
🏅Best trick
🏅Dog most like its owner

The event will take place on the Bellevue Field in Wandsworth Common, opposite the Hope Pub.

All dogs welcome!

For more info about the Friends of Wandsworth Common, visit their website - link in bio @wwcommon
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#Balham #Tooting #TootingCommon #TootingBec #Streatham taken in Balham, London, England by @wwcommon

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a month ago

WANDSWORTH COMMON DOG SHOW 🐶 The Friends of Wandsworth Common’s annual dog show on Wandsworth Common is back this Sunday 6th September, with the show running from 12-4pm on the Bellevue Road field (opposite Chez Bruce).

Categories include:
🐾 Best puppy
🐾 Best senior
🐾 Best young handler under 16yrs
🐾 Best rescue
🐾 Best loose lead
🐾 Best adult

Good luck to all the dogs taking part and thanks to @wwcommon and @thecitydogclub for organising.

📅 Sunday 7th September
⏰ 12-4pm (registration from 10am-12pm)
📍 Bellevue Road Field, Wandsworth Common

#wandsworth #wandsworthcommon #dogshow #londondogshow #swlondon taken in Wandsworth Common by @wwcommon

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a month ago

Don’t miss the #wandsworthcommon dog show this Sunday.

On Bellevue Field, opposite @hopepubwandsworth

Registration 10-12
Show 12-4 advertised, but due to the forecast heat we’ve reduced the running time by 30mins. Keep an eye on our website for time changes.

The forecast is hot and sunny so bear in mind what you and your dog can cope with. We’ll have plenty of water and a cooling tent in case of need. Vets and animal welfare also on site.

9 super classes
Amazing prizes from our local sponsors

Food & drink stalls, as well as the local cafés

Full details on our website or follow the QR code by @wwcommon

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a month ago

Job done!

Our trees are struggling. We have several volunteers out watering on #WandsworthCommon, with watering cans and a few bowsers.

Please get in touch if you’d like to help. If you’re already watering, let us know where. We can team you up with others nearby.

Every little helps in this weather. You can even do it while walking the dog!

Thank you
🌳🌳🌳 taken in Wandsworth Common by @wwcommon

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2 months ago

A warm late-Summer morning, a box full of egg cartons and a rather wonderful collection of overnight visitors.

We were back at the NatureScope on @wwcommon for another of the regular moth identification mornings with @tillett.richard2026 & @tillettlaila and @barbaras_feathered_friends discovering some of the extraordinary moths quietly sharing the Common with us.

The process is wonderfully simple, overnight, moths are attracted to a light trap containing egg cartons, giving them dark spaces in which to settle. The following morning, the trap is opened carefully in the glasshouse, carton by carton.

Moths are temporarily placed into specimen pots, identified, admired and photographed, before they are released back into the garden.

Here’s what emerged from the box this time around:

Dark Sword-grass, Jersey Tiger, Large Yellow Underwing, Pale Mottled Willow, Setaceous Hebrew Character, Shuttle-shaped Dart, Small Mottled Willow, Turnip Moth and Vine’s Rustic were among those recorded.

Then came the micro-moths, including Chestnut Tortrix, Codling Moth, Grass Veneer, Light Brown Apple Moth, Rush Veneer and Rusty Oak Moth.

Shuttle-shaped Darts were the most numerous in the trap, while Jersey Tigers included one striking yellow form. And a Humming-bird Hawkmoth had been spotted in the wildflower area beside the NatureScope the previous evening.

Regular moth recording gives us another fascinating window into the biodiversity of Wandsworth Common. Moths can be pollinators and an important food source for birds, bats and other wildlife, part of a much bigger ecological story happening around us.

You can walk across the Common countless times without knowing most of these creatures are there. Then someone opens a box of egg cartons and suddenly an entire nocturnal world comes into view.

Photography credit: @barbaras_feathered_friends & @lenarobinsonkg aka Raw Photography of @ftsq_go_on
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#floralishusfieldtrip
#WandsworthCommon
#Moths
#Floralishus
#Biodiversity taken in Wandsworth Common by @wwcommon

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2 months ago

Love Parks Week has had us looking at our local parks in a completely different way.

When most people think of fruit, they think of orchards or supermarket shelves. Yet wander through parks such as Wandsworth Common, Battersea Park, King’s George’s Park or Bishop’s Park and you’ll discover an astonishing collection of berries, hips, drupes and seed-filled fruits decorating trees, shrubs and climbers.

From sweet blackberries, figs, grapes, sloes and plums to colourful rosehips, crabapples, hawthorn berries and pyracantha, our parks become living fruit displays.

Alongside them are striking but highly toxic species including yew, ivy, Arum maculatum, Jerusalem cherry and stinking iris. Beautiful to photograph, essential for wildlife, but definitely not for our dinner plates.

What we casually call a “berry” isn’t always a berry in botanical terms. Blackberries are actually made up of many tiny fruits called drupelets, while figs are an extraordinary inside-out structure known as a syconium, hiding hundreds of tiny flowers within.

Many of these fruits weren’t planted for people at all. Hawthorn, ivy, holly, pyracantha and snowberry provide valuable autumn and winter food for birds, while colourful hips and berries help disperse seeds far beyond the parent plant.

Several of these plants have rich stories too. Hawthorn has long symbolised hope and protection in British folklore, figs appear throughout art, literature and religion as symbols of abundance, while the deep blue-black sloes have flavoured hedgerow recipes for centuries.

@keepbritaintidy #loveparksweek is a reminder that parks aren’t simply places to walk through. They’re living ecosystems, changing with every season. This time of year, they become nature’s fruit bowl, one that’s as fascinating as it is beautiful.

Next time you’re in your local park, look a little closer. You may be surprised just how much fruit is growing around you.

Photography Credit: Raw Photography of @ftsq_go_on
Information Credit: @lenarobinsonkg @keepbritaintidy @chatgpt
Location: Multiple Parks, London, England
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#Floralishus
#UrbanNature
#fruits
#parklife taken in London, England by @wwcommon

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2 months ago

Welcome to this week’s #floralishustreetuesday which happens to fall during #LoveParksWeek which was created by @keepbritaintidy It’s why we wanted to celebrate a place that is one of our favourite places #WandsworthCommon

Across every season we’ve photographed its trees, from Spring blossom and Summer canopies to Autumn colour and the beautiful silhouettes of Winter. Every visit reminds me that a tree isn’t just part of the landscape. It’s part of the Common’s living history.

A few things you might not know:

• Wandsworth Common isn’t actually a park. It’s historic common land with medieval origins, protected by legislation that helps preserve its landscape, wildlife and public access for future generations.

• It’s a Green Flag Award winner. This internationally recognised award celebrates parks and commons that excel in biodiversity, heritage, environmental management and community involvement, a reflection of the care this special place receives.

• Its trees don’t manage themselves. From careful pollarding and woodland management to planting new trees for future generations, @enableparks works alongside @wandsworth_council @wwcommon to help the Common thrive. Volunteers which regularly includes our lead photographer @lenarobinsonkg also give their time through wildlife walks, conservation projects and practical work throughout the year.

• Every tree tells a different story. Ancient Oaks support hundreds of species, Maples and Oaks host remarkable galls, Willows shelter birds and insects and even fallen timber becomes a habitat. A healthy common isn’t just about beautiful trees, it’s about the incredible web of life they support.

The more time we spend there, the more we realise that the greatest gift of places like Wandsworth Common isn’t simply the trees themselves.

It’s knowing that generations before us planted, protected and cared for them, so that today we can walk beneath their branches.

Here’s to everyone helping ensure the next generation can do exactly the same.

#floralishus
#treestreestrees taken in Wandsworth Common by @wwcommon

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2 months ago

Welcome to this week’s Floralishus Seedy Sunday | A Special Love Parks Week Edition

This week we’re celebrating @keepbritaintidy #loveparksweek with a simple challenge.

Wherever you are, visit a local park, common, woodland or green space and see what seeds you can find.

Perhaps it’s an acorn on an oak, a pine cone on the path, grasses catching the light, a dried seed pod or something you’ve never noticed before.

You don’t need to know what it is.

You don’t need a perfect photograph.

You just need to notice it.

Our parks are incredible places for wildlife, biodiversity and wellbeing. They reward curiosity, especially when we slow down and look a little closer.

📸 Share your discovery.

🏷 Use #FloralishusSeedySunday

📍 Tag @flora.lishus

We’ll try to share as many of your finds as we can.

Phone photos are welcome.

Mystery finds are welcome.

First-time contributors are especially welcome.

Let’s celebrate Love Parks Week by seeing our local green spaces through fresh eyes.

What seeds will you discover today in a park near you?

Photography Credit: Raw Photography of @ftsq_go_on
Information Credit: @lenarobinsonkg @keepbritaintidy @chatgpt
Location: Multiple London Parks
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#floralishus
#seeds
#seedheads taken in London, United Kingdom by @wwcommon

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2 months ago