merry christmas and happy new year to you all

2020 has been a year we all would like to forget, covid 19, lockdowns and areas of our country being put into different tiers.  The Friends of Ingrebourne Valley & Hornchurch Country Park had to cancel all of our volunteer days and our committee meetings had to be held via Zoom.  We did try to have some volunteers working alone or with their partners doing some litter picking but our insurance would not cover any volunteers during the period that we are in.

The Friends Group hope that the new vacines that are being given to people will work and get rid of this virus, so that we can start volunteering again.  So over Christmas and the New Year, enjoy yourselves and stay safe.

Green Flag Awards

Havering Council and the Parks Department have put forward Hornchurch Country Park for a Green Flag Award.  On the 3rd September 2020 we were informed that Hornchurch Country Park has been awarded Green Flag status.  Soon you will see a flag pole being installed near the Squadrons Approach Car Park.  Once the concrete has set, the Green Flag will be raised over Hornchurch Country Park. 

We would like to thank Havering Council and the Parks Department for all the hard work that they have done.

New Interpretation Boards

The Parks Department of Havering Council have installed two new interpretation boards in Hornchurch Country Park.  The first of the boards is by the concrete circle at the childrens play area.  The board shows a picture of the Balfors Gun position as seen in the picture below.

Havering Council also have two other pictures that they need to purchase interpretation boards for.  As soon as they can get the funds for the boards they will be installed in the park.  Below are the two pictures awaiting boards.  All of these pictures were painted by the Historian Artist Barry Weekley.

Where have our flying insects gone ???

Over the last 25 years the abundance of flying insects has dropped by 75%. Do you remember a quarter of a century ago, when driving down the road you would have to regularly clean your windscreen to remove the insects stuck to it?  Now think about when you are driving now.  I can't remember the last time I had to clean my windscreen of insects; but I can remember cleaning bird mess, dust and dirt.

So what has happened? Insects are a very important part of the life cycle on earth; they are the pollinators of our crops and prey for other wildlife. Although the reason for the decline of our insects is not clear yet, the probable causes are the loss of wild areas, the use of pesticides on our farm lands.

Insects used to make up approximately two-thirds of all life on earth by weight, but they are becoming less noticeable. With temperatures rising, the use of pesticides and pollution in our rivers, something needs to be done.

What can we do?

There are a number of things we can do; we can help insects by planting wild flowers in our gardens which are attractive to pollinating insects throughout the year. https://www.justbeedrinks.co.uk/seeds/.  Talk to Havering Council and lobby your local Councillor about helping to create more wildflower meadows in our parks and open spaces.

About our rivers

There are many miss-connections due to people not understanding how the sewerage system works. If your house was built after 1920, then your house will be connected to two different sewer systems, the main system is the “foul water system” which takes the water from our toilets, baths, showers, sinks and washing machines. The other sort is the “surface water system” which takes water from our roofs, gutters, patios and road side drains. The water from these goes directly into our rivers or into the sea. If your house was built before 1920, you should check whether you have a duel system or combined sewer system, the combined system takes all water from your roofs and toilets and goes down the same system to the sewerage plant.

What can we do?

Rivers are the life blood of everything, if they become polluted the wildlife that lives in them will start to disappear, like invertebrates and fish that live in the river. If you see pollution in a river or stream, like soap suds or sewerage fungus near outlets into the rivers or streams, it should be reported to the local water company and the Environment Agency.

Roding, Beam and Ingrebourne Catchment Plan (RBI)

The Roding, Beam & Ingrebourne Catchment Partnership is a focused group of local stakeholders who are working together through a Catchment Based Approach (CaBA) to improve the rivers in the Roding, Beam & Ingrebourne Catchment and bring direct on-the-ground benefit to people and wildlife.  The Friends Group is just one of the members of this partnership.  This Catchment Plan sets out the required actions which will seek to improve the physical functioning and condition of the rivers and tributaries within the Roding, Beam & Ingrebourne Catchment, thus benefiting both wildlife and people.  To see the Catchment Plan and Vision Summary, go to our Documents tab and click on the links to see how you can help move this forward.