Friday October 30 th 2026 at 6 pm
The officers and committee agree to remain the same, apart from Sandie Mercer, who has retired as secretary but remains as a committee member. Our grateful thanks to Sandie for her stalwart support from the very beginning of F of P.
Lynn Hieatt has been co-opted onto the committee as secretary for emails and our website.
Treasurer’s report: (attached below)
Our thanks to Jean Bevan for steering us through another crucial financial year, and thanks also to our many generous donors.
Queens’ development, Owlstone Croft: This has continued all year with unrelenting noise, HGV’s, dust and air pollution.
Conditions: Olwen has been vigilant over the breaking of conditions with lights on site at night; other residents have reported HGV’s moving without the agreed banksmen, and excessive noise and vibration to houses in Owlstone road. We continue to be vigilant, and to be dismayed by the proximity and mass of the development on the reserve boundary.
Card sales: We had two very successful Greeting card sales, despite very inclement weather.
Card storage is now in the Social Club, as David Williams is retiring. Many grateful thanks to David for years of inspirational endeavour and expertise , extending the profile of the Nature reserve, raising funds for F of P, and for giving great visual pleasure to us all .
NB: This year’s sale is indoors, on Nov 28th in the Social Club, where we will be part of the monthly open morning.
We are now looking for a new home for storing the gazebo, so if someone has space in a garage or shed please let us know.
Fairy doors trail: This was as usual delightful for small children, from December 2025 to February, 2026 . Thanks to Stella and David Tranah for this annual joy..
2026
Following 3-month-long negotiations with the City Council officers, we were eventually given permission to plant 6 mature Downy birches on the boundary with Owlstone Croft, to replace the fallen poplars which had been an important bat feeding and flight path.
The new trees were professionally planted by Mercer’s tree company, and watered weekly by them from May till October. This watering was augmented by Dario and Brian, who also watered them regularly for 6 months, and by many Friends watering them on walks through the reserve. The trees all seem to have survived the drought and heatwaves. Thank you to generous donations, which made the purchasing, planting and watering of the trees possible.
In March, Olwen gave us an in-depth update on wildlife in Newnham, explaining the positive and the negative aspects, the threats to our local environment and the ways in which we can all work towards biodiversity.
Olwen also writes seasonal blogs on Paradise for our notice boards and website.
Susie McLaren continues to monitor and update our new interactive website, giving us information about all aspects of wildlife in the reserve. This can be accessed and added to by anyone walking in the reserve, by using the QR code on the notice boards.
In June Dick Newell, of Action for Swifts, gave us a sobering update.
He emphasised the decline in swift numbers nationally, giving the reasons for this, together with many positive ideas for encouraging more swifts in our neighbourhood. After the talk Dick visited several houses where owners are keen to have swift boxes. Despite the heatwaves, the Newnham swift chicks on cameras fledged successfully. The Newnham colony is now about 25 strong at the height of the season with an estimated 8 nesting pairs.
Summer picnic and concert: Sheep’s Green, June 27th.
This was a delightful occasion on a warm summer’s evening, well attended by Friends and neighbours. We all enjoyed the summer mood music played by the Newnham saxophone quartet … (this year with a printed programme), and our thanks to David and the quartet for such an enjoyable time.
Birdsong survey: Anita has done a survey of autumn birdsong in Paradise, which will be in a separate report.
We end the year tonight with a talk on Ecolinguistics by Professor Stephen Cowley.
