Saturday 13 August 2011

Norman Park and Hayes

The line of the River Ravensbourne across Norman Park, looking north from the east side by the bridge.  Zig Zag Walk from Norman Park to Oakfield Road, Keston.  Set up by Ewa Prokop, Led by Jenny Price.  12 August 2011.
Another visitor enjoying the wild flowers in Norman Park
next to the River Ravensbourne. 12 August 2011.
This was another local walk with Bromley Countryside Services. It was planned by Ewa Prokop before she left; Jenny Price, who has survived the recent cutbacks, led it.

You can pick out Ewa's walks from each of Bromley's six-month programmes and see that she aimed to cover as much of the borough as possible, following pathways and walking through green spaces. This one started quite close to the town of Bromley.

The river Ravensbourne runs through Norman Park. It is never much more than a stream and here. the river itself it very far from impressive, but its path is beautiful. It used to follow a concreted channel, but has now been brought back to a near-natural state. Trees have been planted. The ground around it has been scraped and allowed to regrow natural wildflowers; though it is quite likely that the grass cutters have brought seeds in from elsewhere. Those blue flowers are chicory, which grows in profusion here now, just as it does in Jubilee Country Park, who use its flower as their logo.

Crossing a field in the direction of Barnet Wood.  Zig Zag Walk from Norman Park to Oakfield Road, Keston.  Set up by Ewa Prokop, Led by Jenny Price.  12 August 2011.
Crossing a field in the direction of Barnet Wood.
Walk led by Jenny Price (right) on 12 August 2011.
Most of the park is close-cropped grass and is used for sports, fairs and fireworks, so the contrast is startling.

The walk passed by Scrogginhall Wood, with its old pollarded oak trees, then the lake of a trout farm, where we saw some damselflies, and on across Hayes Street Farm.

Through fields and past woodland, and it ended on a local road, from where most of the group made their way back along a main road. Jenny's transport was back in the car park where we started .. but this was a local walk for me so I followed another route which led me home.

These photos were taken with my Ixus 100. It was an overcast day, so the colours look a little dull, but it was warm and pleasant for the walk.

A pair of Common Blue damselflies, Enallagma cyathigrum, in tandem on an oak shoot by the trout farm on Hayes Street Farm.  Zig Zag Walk from Norman Park to Oakfield Road, Keston.  Set up by Ewa Prokop, Led by Jenny Price.  12 August 2011.
A pair of Common Blue damselflies, Enallagma cyathigrum, in tandem on an oak shoot by the trout farm
on Hayes Street Farm.  12 August 2011.

1 comment:

  1. Oh, I wish I'd been there. The dog is behaving as if he thought he might find more than damselfies, a true hound, and that oak twig with the damselflies on it is one of your prettiest photos.

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