Friends of the River Pool

07/03/2026

One of our volunteers sings in a choir so we thought you might be interested.

https://www.tickettailor.com/events/londonphoenixchoir/2090798 and this is the link for tickets

London Phoenix Choir Sing Shakespeare – Rudolph Steiner House, 35 Park Road, London, Thu 26 Mar 2026

07/03/2026

We are constantly trying to vary the flow of the river to encourage biodiversity. This week we added 2 flow deflectors to the river. They change the flow of the water to create areas of still water to protect the smaller fish and faster flow in the centre of the river to narrow the flow paths and encourage the deposition of sediment to create natural pool-and-riffle sequences. It takes a lot of work to create a natural river in an urban setting.

27/12/2025

I guess this was inevitable. We'll ask them to chain it to the bridge when we manage to retrieve it!

18/12/2025

Advance notice. We are in touch with Lewisham Council and will give you more details as soon as we get them. All we know at the moment is that the new bridge will be wider and straighter than the current one.

14/08/2025

In November last year we planted about 170 small trees in hedges in a couple of locations in the Linear Park . The biggest hedge was along the fence near the Bell Green Pond. It's been a challenging first summer for them but we've looked after them . Yesterday we weeded and watered all of them and it was gratifying to see that we've lost less than 10 trees. The survival rate for these young trees can be as low as 10% so we've done well. It will be a few years before you will see a healthy hedgerow but it will be worth it!

13/08/2025

Please come and visit some of Lewishams Fab Community Gardens in the August open Garden Week
Wed 20th
💚Coco Collective 12-2pm Bellingham Black Gate 71 Firhill Rd SE6 3SE
💚Beckenham Park 11-1 Gardeners Cottage BR3 1UL
Friday 22nd
💚Forster Park Sensory Garden 10.15-12.00
💚Orchard Gardens Edible Garden 10.00 - 13.00
Sat 23rd
💚Bridge House Gardens 11-13.00 workshops and cooking
Sun 24th
💚Coco Collective Catford Site Weavers Allotments 104 engleheart rd SE6 3SE 11-1pm
💚 Grow Lewisham The Plot Downham BR1 5RD

Get a chance to join the weekly garden session or just have a view and look at some of the brilliant community projects and gardens that have been created in

13/08/2025

UPDATE - The SIM card has been retrieved but it seems that hitting it with a hammer while it was recording corrupted the final file. It definitely happened at 4pm in Tuesday 12th of August and there is circumstantial evidence to indicate who did it but not enough to post it here. It seems someone didn't read the sign that explained it's purpose and objected to filming of any kind. I don't know if we will replace it.

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I don't understand! This was a wildlife camera. There's a sign near it explaining what it is and that it's no use for taking photos. Someone deliberately went to the river with a hammer and bolt cutters and either tried to steal it or destroy it. They failed and only took the batteries but it's beyond repair and this part of our water vole monitoring project can no longer continue. When I work out how to retrieve the SIM card I will probably have footage of whoever did it. But why!