A few of us walked a 5 mile leisurely ramble admiring the new plantings and enjoying the sunny crisp day. Frost-covered leaves and cobwebs seemed to take on a new beauty and we were delighted to pass many folks (some with dogs) all passing the time of day and delighted to have ‘found’ this wonderful new series of footpaths

October 18th 2022…A really unexpectedly hot day saw a group of volunteers in Oakwood Park prepared to plant a great selection of water habitat plants in the upper of the five ponds created in the park. It is a major brave undertaking with five quite large ponds and several small swales (scrapes) interlaced via gullies that meander downwards from the top of the park.

Many dog walkers and locals seemed to be unaware of these developments and were really interested in what was taking place and we had an opportunity to discuss this with them.

Admittedly the area possibly looked at its worst during this early stage but once the water enters the top pond, it will slowly fill and when it reaches the top of each pond it is planned that it will then overflow into the gullies which then meander attractively down the slope via all the lower swales and ponds slowly filling each as ithe weather dictates

This is a well planned and large undertaking. A concern expressed was that it was now quite muddy and looks unattractive in what was a previously natural area. However, when the whole concept was explained (with the added benefit of the great weather) the concerned folk were able to envisage the planned beauty with water fringed with plants and teeming with wildlife.

Prior to this scheme polluted water with run offs from local streets caused many problem floods downstream and the benefit of flood prevention plus the importance of the whole scheme naturely filtering the potentially polluted water was an important consideration.

Many Friends of Enfield Chase work with other volunteers on local projects and this is the final week of regular events. Yes, the project in it’s current form comes to a close. There were special thanks to ALL who have participated, helped the borough, had a bit of fun, and maybe even learned a bit from Gareth, Angus, Sam, and Digby at Thames21 andThe Waterways Team of Enfield Borough Council, who enabled this involvement and continue to improve the environment,…for us all.

Lots of fascinating work is currently being planned…so ‘watch this space’

Thames21 is working with Enfield Council and the community to restore the borough’s rivers. They are doing this by working together to create new woodlands and wetlands and by providing exciting volunteering opportunities out in nature.

At the start of the day…All the equipment unloaded and the plants ready for planting

A safety briefing and then donning heavy duty wellies and hi-vis gillets we were shown the plants and had the various water preferences explained together with an explanation of the best areas to plant them. Armed with dibbers and waterproof gloves we entered the heavy mud of the ponds.

It was quite a strenuous excercise but we covered the whole upper large pond in a remarkably short time. Ten of us planted over 1400 plants during the day…

Taking photos ‘before’ and after’ was not totally satisfying as the ‘after’ pictures (due to the very small size of the plugs) did not really show the result of all our hard work but like our tree-planting everyone will enjoy the results in years to come.

…hard to see any of the tiny plugs..but, honestly, they are there..!!

After heavy rain for the best part of a week we went back and were delighted to see the cell (pond) level had risen considerably so our newly planted plants will have a good chance of survival this time (see below)

Don’t forget we are active throughout the year and welcome any help. All ages are welcome and we are are in the process of involving local schools and youth groups in our future plantings and maintenance. This will benefit everyone by becoming an integral part of the community, learning about nature, enjoying this wonderful environment and being part of the whole new green ethos from a practical as well as a theoretical viewpoint. Many volunteers are conservationists, many work in the community in other fields and many are just willing to be part of a bigger concept…let us add you to this ‘merry bunch’…Seriously though, we look forward to a really big influx of volunteers for the coming season..thanks so much for reading this and we hope you are inspired..

Mid October 2022.

Some of the planted areas did not do too well with the drought probably being the main cause for concern.

One of the large areas had been identified as particularly in need of checking and a few of us met to mark survivors.

The weather was great so armed with aerosols we divided up this planted area and fought our way through the weeds (thinking that maybe they also contributed to the failure rate)

…some unexpected finds were small field mice nesting in their protected new homes

A large number of ‘failures’ were evident at the close of our session but we were surprised to find no common denominator…. some varieties had done well and also some areas had done well, but these were interlaced with the failures.

…what we find so encouraging is the number of people who have now heard of this great area and have already enjoyed it or who fully intend to take dogs/children etc along in the very near future.

JOIN US……

The time is rapidly approaching now when our new preparation and planting programme will commence and we welcome all ages to join us in continuing in developing a whole new forest and parkland. We will join with groups to work at all levels ensuring suitablity of tasks…it should be fun and not tiring physical labour and many new friendships develop from being community-minded and with the overiding aim to leave this unique and wonderful heritage for future generations

A warm quite sunny day in early October ’22 at Rectory Road Farm was the scene of some restorative planting around the edges of some of the scrapes, swales and ponds that had dried out (badly in some cases).

A selection of indigenous plants, including the beautifully scented water mint, were planted.

Rocky our faithful inspector checked the condition (by treading on them in some cases)

Once his tail wagged we knew we were ok to start.

Many were planted below the water line so at the end of the day there was not a lot to show for all our work.

We ended up very, very muddy but happy in the knowledge that in the future the water will attract more wildlife and look much more natural and be a great feature in that field.

We are delighted to repost the following article which appeared in the well-informed Enfield Dispatch at the end of September 2022

Enfield Council wins £500k funding for rewilding Enfield Chase

New ponds have been created as part of Enfield Chase Restoration Project and could be replicated elsewhere

Enfield Council has been awarded £500,000 in government funding to help restore natural habitats around its newly-planted woodland in Enfield Chase.

The government named Enfield Chase as one of 22 landscape recovery schemes it would be supported to help restore lost biodiversity across England.

The £1.3million Enfield Chase Restoration Project was originally launched approximately two years ago with the aim of planting 100,000 trees along a corridor of land between Trent Park and Clay Hill details of which can be seen on our website. an area which once formed part of the historic Enfield Chase royal hunting ground but had been heavily deforested after the 18th Century.

The project later was given the ‘Trees and Water Award’ at a ceremony organised by the Forestry Commission, supported by the Mayor of London in March ’22. from the Forestry Commission.

Now the initial planting phase is complete, the new funding will help the council develop plans for restoring other areas of Enfield Chase, with a focus on restoring the natural courses and conditions of streams; reconnecting these streams with floodplains; creating a “mosaic of habitats”; restoring wetlands; and creating and improving woodland.

Although the government grant will not itself pay for the physical work involved, it will allow the council to develop a wider plan for Enfield Chase and engage with stakeholders.

A council spokesperson said: “We will be working with partners including Thames21 to carry out surveys and identify the best way to carry out the project – maximising outcomes for people and wildlife, access and biodiversity, social and environmental benefits, with a focus on water – i.e. river restoration, wetlands, natural flood management.”

John Cole, from the Friends of Enfield Chase voluntary group, told the Dispatch: “We are really excited about the possibilities but we realise there is a lot more work to be done to take it forward.”

The well-advertised inaugural ‘Friends of Enfield Chase” walk hopes to introduce many people to the pleasures of walking in a such a beautiful area and involve them in new plating and tree and water maintenance

Separately, the council has confirmed that funding has been made available for the planting of between 30,000 and 40,000 trees next year, as an expansion to the initial planting of 1000,00 planted at Enfield Chase since 2020

INAUGURAL WALK….Our inaugural leisurely stroll took place on Saturday October 1st along the wonderful new Enfield Chase section of London’s orbital pathway: The London Loop.

We were delighted to see so many new faces joining us and we do hope that you join us again and also tell your friends and help us introducing this area to many new people

This is Enfield’s newest park area and London’s newest woodland. We saw the wonderful reforestation and rewilding project that was a project initially led by Enfield Council, supported by Thames 21 and 1000’s of volunteers.

We chatted and relaxed in the brilliant sunshine and discussed tree planting, maintenance and our exciting future plans.

Wildlife was spotted all around us in the fields, in Salmon’s Brook (which is now showing signs of re-filling) and ponds and swales. Even dragonflies were darting around. 

Birdwatchers in our party saw red kites, kestrel and meadow pipit (the latter two on the track to Rectory Farm) and in the sky above and in the new woodland.

Many walkers who joined us were amazed at the wonderful unspolit countryside right on our doorstep. The large horizons with beautiful clouds completed the picture

Tree identification handouts were handed out and hopefully will be useful as the whips mature.

John stood below the Viaduct and unvieled to us all a host of fascinating information about its inception, building and history even explaing about its size reduction!

I was reminded of earlier days when we clambered up …put pennies on the line and retrieved them flattened . Please don’t tell my mum!!  (DO NOT TRY THIS…we were very young and extremely foolish)

(All walkers received a unique wild seed packet beautifully designed by our Alison and we look forward to seeing photos of the results at a future time

We feel that everyone enjoyed it and we hope that you will want to become involved with the Friends Of Enfield Chase. We meet a few times a year to plan and there are really great voluteering opportunities for everyone throughout the year.

(Currently they are on Wednesdays but subject to change. Our tree planting will continue during the coming winter months.)

You can benefit in so many ways: being in the fresh air…in a very special environment…meeting like-minded people and being able to contribute to a wonderful legacy for future generations.

Contact us if you require any further information and also join us on Whatsapp and Facebook

We look forward to seeing you

The Friends of Enfield Chase

Hello, and welcome to our new website. We are the Friends of Enfield Chase, and we recently formed to support the newly created Enfield Chase woodlands. Over the last two winters 100,000 trees have been planted to create a new publicly accessible parkland, which also has the added benefit of reducing the risk of flooding. As a group we’ll be involved in practical conservation activities to ensure the woodland grows healthily.