A stroll in Hornchurch Country Park

On Sunday 31^st May Paul led us on an approximately 3 mile nature walk around Hornchurch Country Park. This was a former RAF base used in the 1^st & 2^nd World Wars, and was an important Spitfire base protecting London in the Battle of Britain, hence the model Spitfire used as a climbing exercise near the Squadron’s Approach entrance. Now, thankfully, it is a haven of peace and serenity, given over to wildlife and the enjoyment of the public. The Ingrebourne River meanders through the Park and the Ingrebourne Valley Nature Reserve and the wildflowers, plants, trees, insects and birdlife was varied and plentiful. Paul, our leader, was the source of a wealth of knowledge and information. We were lucky to hear a Cuckoo and to see a Bee Orchid, amongst other birds and plants.

We reached Ingrebourne Hill, a man-made summit, and Paul guided us through taking accurate compass bearings (not always as easy as it sounds) of various distant landmarks in Essex, Kent and London. Pam’s dog, Robbie, found a new (and much bigger) friend up there to play with as we concentrated on our compasses.

Afterwards some of us enjoyed a pub lunch before heading home.

This is one of the things I love about this club – this is somewhere fairly close at hand which I would not normally have visited but how worthwhile, enjoyable and informative our outing here proved to be.

Lynne E., 4th June 2015

Paul Ferris, Fred, Jenefer, Lynne, Maz, Pam, Peter, Trevor

...some trees that we looked at:
Ash
Aspen
Elder
Field Maple
Hawthorn
Poplar
Silver Birch

...some flowers:
Bee Orchid
Birdsfoot Trefoil
Blackthorn
Black Medick
Buttercup
Californian Poppy
Chard
Comfrey
Common Vetch
Cow Parsley
Cranesbills (including Cut-leaved)
Dog Rose
Dogwood
Fennel
Grass Vetchling
Hairy Tare
Hoary Cress
Hop Trefoil
Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon (Goatsbeard)
Mallow
Mugwort
Ox-eye Daisy
Poppy
Red Campion
a Spurge (Euphorbia)
Shepherd's Purse
Stinging Nettle
Tufted Vetch
White Campion
White Bryony
White Dead-nettle

...and some birds that we saw or heard:
Blackcap
Canada Goose
Chiffchaff
Common Whitethroat
Coot
Cuckoo
House Martin
House Sparrow
Lapwing (Peewit)
Sedge Warbler
Skylark
Starling
Swift
Willow Warbler
Wood Pigeon

Paul Ferris, 5th June 2015

Nine went to Kettlewell

The trip started well with news that the planned railstrike was cancelled – no need to worry about getting stranded in Yorkshire at the end of the weekend. Though it wouldn’t be a bad place to be stranded….

We went by train to Leeds, and then onto Skipton, finally taking a bus ‘up dale’ to Kettlewell. We had tea at Zarina’s café (reportedly highly rated by cyclists) whilst waiting for the hostel to open. Until recently the hostel was run by the YHA but it was recently put up for sale and is now owned and run as an independent hostel by a couple, Floss and Saul, who took the plunge along with their two children. The hostel was originally built as a guest house called Whernside House and has been part of the YHA for over 70 years, and since 2004 has also housed the village post office. Currently Floss and Saul appear to be running the whole enterprise including cooking and serving breakfast, dinner and packed lunches! Floss and Saul have plans to renovate the hostel in time but what the hostel lacks in finesse is more than compensated for by their friendly helpful attitude.

The next day Lynne led a walk up Buckden Pike, starting at the top end of the village. The sun shone and the birds sang, and up the hill we went, Great Whernside to our right (not the one that forms part of the Three Peaks – easy to get caught out). The paths were reasonable though towards the top we got bogged down by – well, bog! The path goes past the Polish war memorial erected in memory of five Polish airmen who died when their RAF bomber crashed on the hillside in a severe snowstorm during a training mission. The sole survivor, Joseph Fusniak, managed to crawl down the hillside despite an ankle injury, by following the tracks of a fox. (for more details and a video interview with Joseph Fusniak see  http://www.buckdenpike.co.uk/mainstory.html)

The views from the cairn at the top were fine and clear particularly westward towards Pen-y-ghent. The skylarks, peewits and curlews were still entertaining us with their song, but we also spotted a bird on the ground that looked a little lost. We got quite close and it didn’t seem to mind (later we discovered it was a dunlin).

We descended into the village of Buckden and some of us had tea – great café in a wonderful garden. Proper Yorkshire tea! The way back to Kettlewell was along the Dales Way by the river. We added more birds to our tally – dipper, swallow, swift, pied wagtails – and with the help of some twitchers - also a common sandpiper.

The next day we walked more of the Dales way, going from Kettlewell to Grassington. The day was greyer but it didn’t rain as had been threatened by all the forecasters. The path hugged the side of the ridge and gave us a fantastic view of Kilnsey Crag, much favoured by rock climbers. Grassington provided more tea and cake, and a variety of small shops to browse in. Some walked back and others caught the bus.

Before we left on Monday morning (catching the bus back to Skipton) we gathered with the villagers to watch the start of the Morris dancing event. Groups from all over the UK had come to the ‘Republic of Yorkshire’ for this event which was entertainingly compered. The final dance involved audience participation – yes reader, we joined in!!

 Jenefer S. 2nd May 2015

The Rovsco Hall Primroses

And what happened to those Beached Whales? I’m talking of course about the EFOG scout hut (ROVSCO Hall) primroses. Well what a project that was! There must have been hundreds of them. At our first working party in April, we shifted a whole load of them on to the bank where the horse chestnut trees are against the fence. They settled in very happily there and hopefully are out of harm’s way re builders.

I had lots of other primrose digging sessions with different people. Even after the jumbo bags of jumbos had been dumped on primrose patches, I was able to retrieve them when that bit had been de-jumboed. Well here’s where they all went: Loads to Efog members’ gardens. To Ken and Clive’s church gardens. To Copped Hall and to Cody Dock. To Tarzy Wood in Wanstead. To the Corner House garden in Wanstead, and new patches I’m developing with the Wanstead Community Gardening group all around the station area. In the end, before the bulldozers moved in, I couldn’t see a single primrose plant still lurking. I’m pretty sure we more or less got the lot.

The new scout hut is going up now and it looks HUGE. What remains of the garden looks like World War 1 trenches. No chance of any of the primroses surviving had we left them there. When it’s all over and done, the new hut built, I would like to move the bank primroses back to where they are visible to passers-by through the metal gates. Hope this will be possible because they were a delight to local people. Many thanks to all who helped. It was a brilliant project. 

Marian. 27th May 2015

Weekend on the Norfolk Broads

Having holidayed on the Norfolk Broads for some 15 – 20 years with my 18 Plus Group, I opened it to EFOG members and 3 of them (Fozi, Marian and Ian) took the plunge (not literally) for the first weekend in May. Here’s a summary of the weekend.

Arriving at Stratford station I made my way to the café to see who else had arrived. Three of my Plus group were already there, so I wandered off to see if anyone was waiting on the platform. On returning, Fozi and Ian had arrived and were chatting with the others. Marian and the other Plusser’s soon arrived and so we went for our train. At Acle station we met with Steve, the last of the group. The four EFOG folk (me included) plus Francesca, who was on our boat during the day, piled into his car for the short ride to the boat yard. Having checked in and gone through the daily checks we needed to carry out, and with the others having settled on their boat, we were ready to cast off for our adventure on the high seas (well the rivers Thurne, Bure and Ant).

I took the boat out of the boatyard and after a short stint at the helm, it was time for the Efog folk to have a go at the helm. Marian and Ian had previously been on canal boats so had some experience, although the cruisers handle quite differently from narrow boats, whereas Fozi had never done anything like this before. Many beginners over-compensate if the boat goes slightly off course, so end up zig-zagging across the river. However, all three of them did a superb job of handling the boat, keeping it on line and over to the correct side of the river (mostly!). I certainly wouldn’t have guessed it was their first time at the helm of a 40 foot cruiser.

Our stop on the first night was Salhouse Broad, a quiet (I thought!) broad off the main river, which required us to moor stern (the back of the boat) on. With Marian, Ian and Fran to guide us and handle the ropes at the back, we slowly reversed the boat against the bank (almost looking like I knew what I was doing!) and tied up for the night. The weather had been perfect, everyone had done well, and it was an ideal spot to moor. After a walk along woodland tracks and country lanes to the local pub, for some food and drink, we returned to the boat for a good night’s kip, With just 4 of us on a boat which could take 8 people it meant we had plenty of space.

I awoke at 4.30 to hear the rain hammering down on the boat, only challenged in its’ intensity, by probably the loudest dawn chorus I’ve ever heard. Now I like wildlife as much as most people, but at 4.30 a.m, ducks geese and other assorted birdlife, please BE QUIET!. After a leisurely breakfast, and having filled up the boat’s water tanks, we headed off to the town of Wroxham. Unlike yesterday, when the fine weather meant we had the roof of the boat down, we had to have the roof closed today, with me standing outside in the drizzle, leaving the steering to the rest of the crew, who were really getting the hang of it. At Wroxham, we found a riverside cafe, and watched the professional bridge pilots taking hire boats through the low and narrow arched bridge, making it look easy.

Departing Wroxham, we headed back down the river, along which we had come, passing the village of Horning, and heading up the picturesque but narrow river Ant, probably my favourite river on the Broads, to Stalham. We passed under the low and narrow Ludham Bridge, passing How Hill nature reserve and the wide expansive Barton Broads, now with the boat’s roof down, enjoying the glorious sunshine, which the afternoon brought. As we approached Stalham, with woods either side of the river, we spotted our first kingfisher, darting low across the water (5 spotted during the week, our best total ever).

Monday morning saw Fozi having to leave us to get home, so after “chef Steve” had cooked breakfast for both boats, Fozi caught a taxi back to Wroxham to catch the train. We then cast off, heading back down the river Ant. We stopped at How Hill for a break. Some headed out around the nature trail, some looking around the marsh-man’s cottage and gardens, whilst others were more interested in the contents of the ice cream fridge! After How Hill we then made our way to moor up for an afternoon stop at St. Benet’s Abbey, the remains of an old abbey, and somewhere we had never stopped before. Marian, Ian and some of the others went to look around the remains whilst I stayed with the boats. This would be our last stop with the 2 boats travelling together, as the other boat, which was booked for a week, was heading across Breydon Water to the southern broads whilst we were going to either Ranworth or Ludham, to return to the boatyard next morning.

With everyone having returned, we said farewell to the folk on the other boat. Fran having decided to stay with us, we cast off and headed to Ranworth, a short cruise away. Ranworth (or diesel-water as we usually call it!) is very popular and looked to be full, but as we approached the moorings, a boat left so we went into the vacated space. Marian wandered off to explore the area, whilst Fran, Ian and I spent some time at the moorings before visiting St Helen’s Church, where we met up with Marian, who had been up the church tower to enjoy the panoramic views of the Broads from the tower. We then visited the Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s reserve, watching some of the birdlife on the broads.

Tuesday morning was an early start as we had an hour’s cruising to get the boat back to the yard by 9 a.m. This gave everyone a chance for one final spell at the helm. Arriving at the boatyard we moored up, and headed for the cafe , and met Steve who was also going home today. He drove us to Acle, where Marian and Ian were catching the train, and then dropped Fran and I off at Reedham to join up with Elliott and (young) Dean for the rest of the week.

It was a really enjoyable weekend, very relaxing and Fozi, Marian and Ian all did a fantastic job in helping on the boat, both at the helm and doing the ropes when mooring up and casting off (Fran and I weren’t bad either). Any takers for next year!. One last thing for those who went, Fran took the helm for a stern on mooring on the last night and landed it faultlessly at the first attempt.

Trev Eley, 24th May 2015