East London News A Force for the community…
It’s been a summer of awards for the Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park. It began in July, when the Friends of the Cemetery Park were joint winners of the Ethical Wildlife award at the Observer’s Ethical Awards evening. Within weeks, the Friends heard that the Park has achieved Green Flag Community Award status. Here’s a list of events going on at the Park in Mile End.
Forest School Holiday Club
Week 2: 24-28th August, 10am – 2pm Cost: £30 per session or £110 for four sessions
Suitable for children aged 6-14. Please bring a packed lunch and wear suitable clothing for the weather.
Forest School will be making fires, cooking marshmallows, building dens and learning how to whittle wood. they will also be doing wild arts and crafts, pond dipping, bug hunts, team games and exploring the park.. plus much more! To book: Please email Tess on tess.pettinger@fothcp.org with the dates you’d like to book, your child’s/children’s names, their age, and your contact number. Two subsidised places are available for Tower Hamlets parents who are unemployed or on a low income. This is on a first come, first served basis. For more information please contact Tess on the email address above.
Dinner, dinner Batman!
Sunday 23rd August, 5.30pm-10pm, £22 per person
This evening session is for beginners wanting to know a little more about bats, their ecology, biology and behaviour. Upon arrival you’ll be welcomed with a glass of wine, before a simple, three course dinner that will include ingredients foraged from the Cemetery Park is served. You can try making “wild teas” from the foraged ingredients on offer. There will then be a class room session, teaching you all about these much misunderstood and overlooked mammals. The evening will finish off with a bat walk. You will be taken into the Cemetery Park, with a bat detector, to search for these flying mammals as they hunt for their insect prey.
Learn to Scythe
Saturday, 19th September Scything is the environmentally friendlier, not to mention quieter, way of cutting grass – and it’s making a comeback. Step away from your mower and join this one day beginners course led by Clive Leeke from Austrian Scythes. On this hands-on course you will be personally fitted with a scythe, and Clive will teach you how to use it effectively (and safely) to mow your garden, allotment or meadow.
Sounds of the Cemetery
Radio journalist Jo Morris spent days listening to the thoughts and memories of regular visitors to the cemetery and recorded them. Tower Hamlets resident and producer Susanna Grant has collected and woven them together in this unique exploration of the borough’s history as a refuge and home for immigrants. From recollections of playing the Lone Ranger just after the war and recipes for foraged rose hip jam to murderous tales of carrion crows and the history of scrapyard meadow all threaded through with field recordings of wildlife and bird song. Discover how this unique wildlife and nature reserve changes and grows with its residents and surroundings.
You can listen to the 20 minute recording at home – or why not take a portable player to the park and listen as you go round the Park?
This is a FOR NOW production and is supported using public funding by Arts Council England.
Listen on: https://soundcloud.com/for-now-4/meet-me-at-the-cemetery-gates
•For more information, contact the Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park on contact@fothcp.org or 020-8983 1277 or go to: www.fothcp.org
My flat overlooks the Tower Hamlets Cemetery. Imagine my sruprise when, on a wander through one day, I came upon a gravestone with my name. You’ve even got a picture of it here – #19. Now, when I have visitors and we go for a walk, I take them to see it!