08 Sunday Mar 2015
Posted in Blog
A number of volunteers have now been trained in First Aid and Task Leadership which is great news and means we can organise our own days to undertake tasks in the wood such as litter picks, scrub clearance and light pruning. We are insured through the The Conservation Volunteer insurance scheme.
06 Saturday Dec 2014
Posted in Blog, fundraising
Transition Ashtead are holding a CHRISTMAS EVENING with a special guest speaker Lucy Quinnell who will give a presentation about Teazle Wood. Come and learn about the latest surveys, the rich diversity of plants and wildlife and the fascinating history of Leatherhead’s only remaining ancient woodland. Lucy’s talk will be followed by mince pies and festive drinks!
Thursday 11th December 7.30pm to 9pm
Ashtead Peace Memorial Hall,
Woodfield Lane, Ashtead KT21 2BE
Free entry, no tickets needed but donations to our chosen Christmas charity ‘Friends of Teazle Wood’ much appreciated!
05 Wednesday Feb 2014
Posted in Blog, environment, woods
Lucy – I had a really long ‘phone conversation with the Leatherhead Tesco store manager this morning (I’ve met him before, but as you all know, we’ve struggled so far to get really effective co-operation going). I’m meeting him again later this week to at last be able to show him the whole Teazle Wood story in detail, and especially the detailed story thus far of us trying to solve the dreadful litter and store waste problems.
He seems genuinely on board this time – he has apologised profusely for not having responded before and for the store failures to date, and he has been out with his staff already and cleared some of the big debris from the north edge of the store. He was appalled and embarrassed by the ongoing mess, and he really wants to work with us all and get this behind us. It was refreshing to finally speak to someone who now acknowledges the problem, rather than making excuses for it.
THANKS to all of you who helped make the ‘Teazle Wood calling Tesco’ voice much louder (especially the facebook gang, for keeping up the pressure; Caroline- for so much support on this one, and Dawn Fielding of the Lower Mole Project) – we must obviously ensure that this time the ideas and suggestions are acted on and maintained, but I am feeling very hopeful that there will shortly be: posters in the store to engage the staff; Tesco volunteer days like the Unilever / Wates ones; a managed bin on the Tesco site near the entrance to the wood; much better staff engagement, awareness and pride; fencing along the concrete barrier to catch blown litter; and ultimately – a better corporate role model for the kids who use the wood, and no damaging plastics / food waste / ice / etc. discarded into our natural environment to do harm.
I fully anticipate being able to report asap a new lid on the infamous open sewer!!
19 Sunday Jan 2014
Posted in Blog, environment, woods
Lucy and I spent a couple of hours clearing out rubbish in the stream which runs along the boundary with the back of Tesco. The litter problem is unfortunately still with us, about 80% of what we picked is new unused plastic bags used for their home deliveries. We also found ice that had been dumped from the freezer boxes, it is illegal to dump anything into water courses. We also know that when the road is swept instead of putting the rubbish into bags it is often tipped over the low wall into the stream. We have started a project to tackle the issue, see the TWEEP tab for more information.
24 Tuesday Dec 2013
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What a great year for Teazle Wood – so much has been achieved, and so many people came together to achieve it.Thank you to all the volunteers who have helped with the project so far – your contribution is so valuable. The goodwill and expertise we have aboard is amazing and, as always, greatly appreciated.
When I think back to all that has happened, one of the images that keeps popping up in my mind is the string of volunteers in September linking hands to collectively pull debris from one of the big ponds. The amount cleared in a few days, by hand, was remarkable. It reminded me of the ‘Giant Turnip’ story – everyone pulling together to achieve an outcome.
(For anyone who doesn’t know the story, “a grandfather plants a turnip, which grows so large that he cannot pull it up himself. He asks the grandmother for help, and they together still cannot pull it up. Successively more people are recruited to help, until they finally pull the turnip up together.
The specific ordering and set of people and sometimes animals varies. However in original Russian version the order is quite fixed, it is the grandfather (dedka), the grandmother (babka), the granddaughter (vnuchka), the female-dog (zhuchka), the female-cat (koshka) and finally the female-mouse (myshka). The moral of the story is that only with the help of the weakest and smallest creature (the mouse) can the giant turnip or radish (repka) be pulled up.” Thank you, Wikipedia!).
Have a wonderful Christmas, and a peaceful 2014. We will be doing more guided walks in Teazle Wood in late April, when the bluebells and wild garlic should be at their beautiful best (and the mosquitoes won’t yet be out in force!). Do e-mail me if you would like to be notified of dates and times.
17 Sunday Nov 2013
Posted in Blog, environment, woods
Found a large group of in Teazle Wood today – perfect, white and clean, these look like they should be delicious but are poisonous 😦 Here’s one (not our photo). Scraping the base of the stem reveals a strong yellow colour – the common name is ‘yellow stainer’. We are looking forward to seeing the second list of Teazle Wood fungi, which this time is being created by Dr. Brian Spooner, Head of Mycology at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, who was in the wood today with members of the Surrey Fungus Study Group. How lucky we are to have the voluntary expertise of people like Brian and David and their colleagues. Thank you to all of them.
17 Sunday Nov 2013
Posted in Blog, environment, woods
For anyone seriously into fungi, this is what we found in Teazle Wood on Sunday with David Hawksworth. Another survey is happening today.
Teazle Wood Fungi (2013)
Non-lichenized fungi
Ascodichaena rugosa: young oak twigs, 3.xi.2013
Auricularia auricula-judae: on stout branch, 3.xi.2013
Collybia fusipes: amongst leaf litter, 3.xi.2013
Coprinellus micaceus (syn. Coprinus micaceus): on rotten stumps, 1.x.2013, 3.xi.2013
Crepidotus mollis: on dead cut stump, 3.xi.2013
Daldinia concentrica: on Fraxinus excelsior trunk and log, 3.xi.2013
Ganoderma australe: on dead standing trunk, ? Fagus sylvatica, 1.x.2013, 3.xi.2013
Hymenochaeta rubiginosa: on fallen branch, 1.x.2013
Hypholoma fasiculare: on dead wood under leaf litter, 3.xi.2013
Hypoxylon fuscum: on dead Corylus avellana branches, 3.xi.2013
Kretzschmaria deusta (syn. Ustulina deusta): on fallen log, ? Fagus sylvatica, 1.x.2013
Laccaria amethystea: amongst leaf litter, 3.xi.2013
Laccaria laccata: amongst leaf litter, 1.x.2013, 3.xi.2013
Laetiporus sulphureus; on trunks, 3.xi.2013
Leucopaxilllus giganteus (syn. Clitocybe gigantea): in groups near tree bases, 3.xi.2013
Mycena acicula: from decaying wood fragments amongst leaves, 3.xi.2013
Mycena galopus var. nigra (syn. M. leucogala): amongst leaf litter arising from dead twigs, 3.xi.2013
Mycosphaerella punctiformis: fallen dead Quercus leaves, 1.x.2013, 3.xi.2013
Pleurotus ostreatus: fallen dead log, 1.x.2013
Pluteus cervinus: on fallen log, 3.xi.2013
Psathyrella microrrhiza: on ground amongst fallen leaves, 3.xi.2013
Psathyrella piluliformis (syn. P. hydrophila): on rotten fallen log, 1.x.2013
Rhytisma acerinum: on Acer pseudoplatanus leaves, 1.x.2013, 3.xi.2013
Rhodotus palmatus: on inclined dead trunk, 3.xi.2013 [Retained for K (M)]
Russula cyanoxantha: amongst leaf litter, 1.x.2013
Russula nobilis (syn. R. mairei): amongst leaf litter, 1.x.2013
Schizopora paradoxa: on dead twigs on the ground, 3.xi.2013
Stereum rugosum: dead branches, 3.xi.2013
Trametes versicolor (syn. Coriolus versicolor): on dead stump, 3.xi.2013
Uncinula bicornis: on living leaves of Acer campestre, 3.xi.2013
Xylaria hypoxylon: on logs, 1.x.2013, 3.xi.2013
Lichenized fungi
Candelariella reflexa
Evernia prunastri
Flavoparmelia caperata
Hypopgymnia physodes
Hypotrachyna revoluta
Lecanora chlarotera
Lecanora hagenii
Lecidella elaeochroma
Lepraria incana
Melanelixia subaurifera
Normandina pulchella
Parmelia saxatilis
Parmelia sulcata
Parmotrema perlatum
Phylctis argena
Physcia adscendens
Physcia tenella
Xanthoria parietina
06 Wednesday Nov 2013
Posted in Blog, environment, woods
30 Wednesday Oct 2013
from Lucy:
We’ve done a recce in Teazle Wood today to check for any wind damage – nothing much to report; just a leafy Field Maple branch by the bridge at the entrance, which we will cut up and move this week. More worrying is the build-up of litter from the back of Tesco again, spoiling all the hard work carried out by volunteers in September. AND, the Tesco sewer remains without a lid (8 months now, despite meetings and e-mails). AND, tonight Tesco has yet again deposited its freezer ice along the stream at the boundary with the wood, despite having been asked not to do this. We have had salt, freezer ice, fish counter ice, rubbish and sour milk dumped in this stream all year – it has to stop, Tesco. It is illegal, and goes against everything claimed on the Tesco website about community, environment, neighbourliness, customer service, etc. We have been so patient and constructive, but we’re finding it depressing now…
13 Sunday Oct 2013
Posted in Blog, environment, fundraising
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Because of the heavy rain, we have decided to move the guided walk with Professor David Hawksworth CBE to Sunday 3rd November. I will also individually contact everyone who has booked by e-mail or ‘phone. Please re-book to: lucyquinnell@aol.com
