Sutton Nature Conservation Volunteers

15/10/2026

Thursday 15th October 2026 - Another large team were joined by a corporate volunteer for today escapades divided between Carraway Place and Wandle Edge.

Meeting at Carraway Place, a smaller division of the team were soon off to Wandle Edge for a quick clear up of pre-cut arisings at that location allowing the more static team the chance to build up a head of steam.

As brush-cutting began on the two main areas of grassland the rest of the squad set about coppicing Hazel and Willow from the pond edge, popping out suckering Poplar regrowth, re-feeding dead hedges and rationalising the compost heap ready for a re-stacking with all the new material.

13/10/2026

Tuesday 13th October 2026 - Although todays contingent of a team was back on the small side it did allow the squad to move between two sites, one with very limited parking.

The day began with ominous grey clouds overhead at Wandle Valley Wetland which matured to a heavy but thankfully brief downpour an hour or two in. When the rain wasn't at full pelt the team set about clearing the brushcutter and tractor arisings from a week or two ago, rationalised the spread of the compost heap, cleared up a few bags worth of strewn litter, bashed back bramble, brushcut the small island and lifted a few low hanging branches to let a bit more light in.

Moving onto Therapia Lane Rough, as the main open areas of grassland got a brush-cutting the rest of the team set about pruning Sycamore regrowth and attacking areas of Bramble pushing in from the fenceline.

12/10/2026

There are some great projects seeking Neighbourhood Funding. We are particularly keen to support projects in Beddington and Wallington (Roundshaw Woods) and the Warren

If you are looking to make improvements to spaces in your local area such as renovating of a community centre, planting street trees or installing new play equipment this may be the funding option for you.

08/10/2026

Thursday 8th October 2026 - Another large turnout of volunteers allowed works to be easily carried out and completed over three sites.

With a slight chill in the air only alleviated by the sunshine creeping over the treeline, the team were easily split into two to start their first works at Queen Mary's Park and Corrigan Rec. As the away team headed off to clear the Corrigan Butterfly banks of pre-cut vegetation the division at Q.M.P started by brush-cutting theirs and creating some scallops in the surrounding Bramble banks.

Re-uniting just before the lunch-time break, the final stage of the day was the nearby Queen Marys Woodland where the team made preparations for the return of the Sheep by trimming up the perimeter of the retaining fence-line to allow more grassland to be grazed, clearing out Bramble from woodland edges where the wild flower species are making a strong showing and taking advantage of the very low level of water in the pond to clear usually in-accessesable areas of marginal vegetation.

06/10/2026

Tuesday 6th October 2026 - With a rounded turnout of volunteers, it was a day of double site visits taking in Kimpton Balancing Pond and Cheam Rec.

As the slight chill of the morning ceded to warm sunshine the team first attended to the clearing of grassy arising on two thirds of Kimpton as the final third got brush-cut before making a move to Cheam Rec, here as some of the team got stuck into Bramble cutting and self-seeded tree thinning the tractor and lawn mower worked in unison to get the re-wilded areas of grass cut.

01/10/2026

Thursday 1st October 2026 - After Tuesdays colossal turnout of volunteers even a team of 5 seemed skeletal.

Working at the Wandle Valley Flood Storage Area and adjoining new Open Space, the volunteers nearly bit off more than they could chew as they set about raking up the grass cuttings following the meadow cuts.

With a combination of overnight rain and low creeping vegetation just below the tractors cut-line the team really had to pull together to get things all shifted by the end of the day!

29/09/2026

Tuesday 29th September 2026 - The team size just seemed to grow and grow on todays mission, fortunately being based around the vicinity of Beddington Park there was plenty of scope to divert the volunteer power.

Kicking off the day at Carew Manor Wetlands the team began by raking and disposing of the main meadow cuttings whilst a head of steam was built up on the island with the brush-cutter spinning into action. Making quick work attention was soon lavished on areas of protruding Bramble, low hanging pathway branches and a fairly condensed patch of Himalayan Balsam taking the team to tea break.

Moving into Beddington Park proper, the squad was briefly split as a smaller detachment collected up piles of grass cuttings from around the stock pond area before rejoining the remaining squad clearing swathes of Bramble and trimming back branches from around the Wet Meadow area in preparation for the extension works to the fence-line.

24/09/2026

Thursday 24th September 2026 - A hint of mugginess was in the air as the volunteers managed to cover a trio of sites with enough time to wedge a visit to the waste transfer station at Mitcham too.

Following on from Tuesdays outing the day began at The Warren where the team managed to complete the rake up to the lower enclosure and carry out some selected thinning to mainly Sycamore regrowth on the fence-line whilst the top enclosure one received its cut.

After raking to the fresh cuttings was completed it was then off to the Butterfly Bank of Mellows Park to clear the trimmings from a cut yesterday before moving to Carshalton Park to cut and gather the vegetation from this Butterfly Bank to fill the remaining space in the trailer.

24/09/2026

Tuesday 22nd September - It was a scorching day for the team as they continued the current mission of removing this season's grass growth.

Despite a couple of notable absences, the return of another volunteer ensured we kept up the recent multiple site visit record at Well fields South and East and The Warren.

17/09/2026

Thursday 17th September 2026 - The team of volunteers managed to tackle two sites for todays activities, Belmont Pastures and another return to the sprawling Roundshaw Downs.

Beginning at Belmont, the team may have missed the rain falling during the early morning but they still had to deal with its aftermath as they set about raking and shifting the pre-cut arisings that had absorbed much of the moisture. With a bit of harrowing from the Tractor to gather the last strands of grass the squad then set about a spot of plug planting to the pastures as well as snipping back straggling Bramble.

Seizing the opportunity of being able to drive on the site whilst the ground is still firm, the afternoon had the team return to Roundshaw Downs to make a comprehensive sweep of the sprawling vista, making many stops to load the trailer to capacity with arising self produced over the last couple of weeks and remnants left over from the contractor harrowing.