It’s a sign! (September 2022): Local sign-writer Pat Pearson has very generously created a beautiful new sign for our community meadow on the old bowling green, unveiled at our Friends’ Picnic in the summer. We’ll be giving the meadow its annual mow soon. This summer was so dry that our wildflowers didn’t do as well as we’ve seen in recent years – and the grass was, of course, very brown – but the rain so far this month has been enough to bring out the Yellow Hawksbeard, as well as many other flowers, which continue to feed the bees and butterflies (including Speckled Wood and Common Blue). At the front of the park, meanwhile, the play area is complete and being well-used by local children!

Play area finally on its way (June 2022): Two years after the council first committed to create a small play area at the park it’s finally on its way, the site having been cleared this week ready for the contractors. It won’t be big but it’s a key part in the process of making the Green more inviting to more people.

New herb planter and clearing the border (June 2022): Whilst we’re allowing the meadow to do its own thing, elsewhere around the old bowling green we’re tidying things up and making space for new planting. Between us, the Friends and Good Gym Haringey have cleared the border to the right of the pavilion and thanks to Adrian we have a new wooden planter which we’ve planted up with herbs and a fig tree donated by Bobby. More planting to come!

The meadow comes to life! (May 2022): we love this time of year at the Green when the wildflowers start to appear – some down by us, some a pleasant surprise as the meadow re-wilds itself.

Swifts welcome (April 2022): Alex got his ladders out – don’t worry, he’s insured – and put up some new swift boxes to welcome our flying African visitors, who can often be seen swooping over the meadow catching insects in Spring.

Spring on the Green (April 2022): It’s nice to see the Green coming to life – including the fruits of our bulb-planting labours at the start of the year.

Inspirit have fun in the meadow (November 2021): Are you being at-tent-ive as you pass by the Green? Have you been alert to the yurt? It’s great to see our friends Inspirit starting to make use of the outside as well as the indoor space. This weekend they put up a tipi for their young people to enjoy storytelling and games inside.

Painting and pollinators (July 2021): Whilst Covid and a few other things have slowed our progress over the last 12 months, at least the wildlife has been enjoying the old bowling green lately. The wildflower border that we sowed in May has given the bees and butterflies plenty to tuck into, and we’ve also allowed the bowling green itself to be left free from mowing – and as a result it has erupted into a sea of yellow (Smooth Hawksbeard, apparently). This has created an improved habitat for much more insect life, and as a result birds can be seen swooping in and out to get their lunch. Not that we’ve been leaving everything to nature – a few of us, led by group secretary Alex, have been painting the back of the pavilion in green and cream to match the front. We hope this shows local people that the building is far from abandoned – and soon you’ll be seeing Inspirit moving in to make it the base for their charity, so there will be more human life to go with the wildlife.

This year’s mini-meadow has been sown (May 2021): A big thank you to all who turned out for our working party dates over the last month – our most recent on Sunday 2nd May saw us finally able to sow the wildflower seeds for this year’s mini-meadow – something we first did last year and hope to establish and expand over time. We’ve had help from some new Friends as well as old, and on Sunday enjoyed a visit from Green Gym Haringey who tackled some of the tougher grass and conifer roots at the far end of the border. Thank you!

Volunteer activities resume (April 2021): After a hiatus over the last year for obvious reasons, we’re resuming our work to spruce up the old bowling green and the pavilion. Weather permitting, we will be meeting for litter-picking, gardening and painting 11am-3pm on the following dates: Sunday 11th, Sunday 25th April and 2nd Sunday May. Please join us if you’d like to help – come in appropriate clothes, bring gardening gloves if you have them and a trowel or small garden fork if you plan to work on weeding the borders (we have some but can’t guarantee one for everyone!).

Working in partnership with Inspirit to bring the old pavilion back to life (March 2021): Since the bowls club would up a couple of years ago we’ve been keen to see the pavilion back in use, and ideally as a facility that the whole community can use. As a small band of volunteers we were also conscious that the Friends wouldn’t have the time or resources to run that facility alone. So we’re pleased to reveal that we’re now working in partnership with local charity Inspirit Training led by Linda Bush – the idea being that Inspirit will lease the building from Haringey Council so they can use it as a base day to day, with the Friends helping to open up the building for wider use. That could mean using the pavilion to host small community events and classes, and potentially setting up an occasional community cafe with help from InSpirit’s members. The two organisations will work together to bring the old bowling green to life as well, turning this into a flexible space for community events during the Spring and Summer months, whilst also enhancing the biodiversity of the site with an expanding wildflower meadow, fruit trees and more.

New children’s play area planned! (September 2020): Local parents often tell us they would like to see a children’s play area at the park, and this has been one of our priorities for a while. Haringey Council heard us and recently announced that they have allocated £20,000  for the purchase and installation of play equipment here at Chapman’s Green – which is great news! This will be aimed at young children specifically and will, we hope, make the Green a more welcoming place for families. Whilst £20,000 sounds like a lot, we’re told it will only allow us to purchase a limited range of equipment, so we may seek to increase this with a crowdfunder project during the Autumn. 

Pavilion Painting & Bench Buffing (June 2019): The Friends wanted to get the pavilion spruced up so that local people could see that something new was happening at The Green. A group of us worked across several days to prepare the walls and timbers and repaint them in a heritage colour scheme of cream and green. A special mention for our secretary Alex for putting the hours in to get it finished! And thanks to our friends at Good Gym Haringey, we’ve also been able to make a start on refurbishing the benches around the old bowling green – some of which are dedicated to former members and form an important part of the club’s legacy. Thank you Good Gym!