Anke: Royal Tunbridge Wells

Town Centre Meadows

The town centre is about to get just a little bit greener. Those large grass patches that run alongside London Road are being left to nature to become seasonal wildflower meadows.

It’s looking rather short now, but let’s see this spot again at the end of summer.

This was in the news last week but getting this blog redesign up and online meant I had neglected to post it, but thanks to some lovely weather I had no excuse but to go out with camera in hand and take some photos.

These stretches of grass are usually cut short over the spring and summer months, but this year they are to be left to their own devices to develop into wonderful colourful wildflower habitats. It is being called “An Experiment in Biodiversity.”

The beauty will be in the surprise, just what wildflowers will pop up? What insects, butterflies and moths will make their homes here? If anything it should at least attract some interesting bugs for Ian Beavis to kidnap and identify.

As someone who lives very near to these patches I am very much looking forward to seeing their progress, although I think my hayfever might have something else to say about it.

The grass will be still be cut in places such as edges, pathways, and so called “badger lines”, these are the lines that people naturally take when making their way across the areas. There is talk of cutting other specific spaces for picnicking and pursuits too.

Another great piece of flora and fauna news is that to coincide with the upcoming Royal visit there will be another in our long line of Royal tree plantings, this time on the patch between Church Road and York Road. Check back later in the week ahead for some photographs of that.

One thing the Commons Conservators want your help with is feedback. What do you think of the idea? Why not leave me a comment.

Frog Chorus

I was rather taken by a video posted to the website of the Friends of Grosvenor and Hilbert Park of frogs frolicking in the pond there. So, armed with my trusty camera I decided to see if we had any on our local patch, The Common. I wasn't disappointed.

Mrs Anke and I decided our best bet was Fir Tree Pond. This is a real safe haven for amphibians of all kinds. The commotion that greeted us was nothing short of amazing, there were hundreds of little green snouts poking up all over the surface and bubbles rising from every spare space.

The carpet of frog spawn was covered in frogs in amplexus, or mating to you and me, I have to admit that I bumped into the Warden, Steve Budden, and he taught me that word. They were writhing all over the spawn and depositing more clumps of new eggs by the minute. The most amazing and quite wonderous thing of all was the noise that this was all generating. Even above the traffic noise of Major Yorks Road you could hear the incesssant growling of frogs. There's only one way to experience it, apart from going there yourself which I highly recommend you do very soon, and that is to watch the short HD video I took (I highly recommend setting it to HD, turning up the volume and watching it full screen).

I've also put up some more photos of the frogs of Fir Tree Pond in a gallery so click to go see them after you've seen the video.

Art on the Grassy Knoll

I love art, I love it with a passion, especially street furniture art. So I was excited to the point of goosebumps when I heard that Tunbridge Wells Borough Council were going to start installing artworks around town. Bravo TWBC!

The site selected for the first of these new works is known as the "Grassy Knoll" and is a small, grassed mound on the north side of Grosvenor bridge before the entrance to Grosvenor and Hilbert Park.

Sculpture proposal for The Grassy Knoll. Copyright: Richard Perry 2011.

Richard Perry's concept (above) seems to be the most fitting. He has looked at the surrounding area and has been inspired by the "extraordinary iron oxide colour" of the spring water in the park. His concept showed a great amount of attention has been paid to the surroundings of the sculpture and to me is the most appealing. It sits well in the space. I personally feel, at 3.5m high, it could do with another couple of metres in height to make it really powerfully stand out.

8 out of 10.

Sculpture proposal for The Grassy Knoll. Copyright: Tony Stallard 2011.

Tony Stallard's proposal (above) is aiming at being a "direct reference to the water supply for which Tunbridge Wells is famous", alas his use of a Greek Rython to hold such water shows that he has missed the mark on getting the feel of Tunbridge Wells in an art piece. As for it glowing orange at night, a bold idea which I commend him for but it still doesn't make up for it being wildly out of place in Tunbridge Wells.

5 out of 10.

Sculpture proposal for The Grassy Knoll. Copyright: We Made That 2011.

We Made That's proposal (above) looks on first appearances like a building has been demolished leaving the empty staircase which has then been graffitied. How completely un-Tunbridge Wellian is that?! Sorry, We Made That, but your "Civic Stop" would not be a "robust and characterful local stone ‘stoop’ to create opportunities for public meeting and friendly conversation", it would be an eyesore.

0 out of 10.

Wow, that was very unlike me. You can tell how passionate I am about this subject can't you! The final selection will be made by March 2012 and the Grassy Knoll, which is the first stop on the walk from the town centre to Grosvenor and Hilbert Park, will be the first installation of many. Also, there will be many posts about this walk to Grosvenor and Hilbert Park in the coming months so stay tuned for those.

But, don't listen to me. Do you usually? Use the power of your mouse by heading to the Council's website and undertaking a survey. There you can choose your favourite from the shortlist and give feedback on them all. Please, I really want you to help by taking part in this process and showing how much we want public art around town. Go now and then come back and tell me what you think.

What would I put? Well, that I will share in another post.

So, what do you think? Which one did you choose?

The Men, and Women, of Trees

With Spring beginning to pop its little nose above Winter it's time to start getting out there and enjoying our green (perhaps not so green at the moment) spaces. We thought we'd take some fresh air over the Common this week to have a look at the latest tree clearances.

Wiligh Oak Tree with plaque.

If you were to do the same as us and take a lunchtime stroll to the very edge of our lovely Commons, you might happen to find yourself beside a busy roundabout and notice a very forlorn-looking tree. But, this is no ordinary tree, and certainly one that would never be cleared.

Take a knee in the mud and brush aside the fallen leaves and you'll find a small stone plaque which reads: "Whiligh Oak. The gift of Lord Courthope, President Men of the Trees, planted by members of Summer School. 24th July 1954."

What's a Whiligh Oak? Who was Lord Courthope? Who are these mysterious Men of Trees?

Whiligh is an estate in nearby Wadhurst, it was the home of Lord George Courthope. He was a Justice of the Peace and a Member of Parliament for Rye for many years and was created a Baronet in 1925 and a Peer in 1945. His estate was renowned for its splendid oak trees. The timbers from Whiligh were used in the roof of the original building of Westminster Hall in the Palace of Westminster.

The mysterious Men of Trees conjured up pictures of strange men in costumes dancing around over the Common in my mind when I first read the plaque, but they are actually much friendlier and more important than that. Founded in Kenya in 1922 by forestry officer, Richard Baker, they are an international movement that protects and plants trees for habitat restoration, to alleviate poverty and to feed people in poorer countries. They have been responsible for the planting of nearly 30 trillion trees all over the world. The Summer School was an early local environmental group that was an offshoot of this movement and celebrated a meeting by planting a tree.

Princess Anne's Oak.

Got you in the mood for trees? How about a nice walk to another famous local tree? If you wander across the Commons towards town you'll eventually find Princess Anne's Oak (hopefully).

Overlooking London Road, right opposite the Bridge Club, this oak tree is said to have been planted around 1700 to commemorate the visits of Princess Anne (later Queen) to Tunbridge Wells between 1684 and 1698. The railings around the trees are Victorian and were restored in 1995 when a plaque was also affixed. It is one of the oldest trees on the Commons.

Go on, take half an hour to get some fresh air this lunchtime and go and explore our Commons, you never know what you'll find.

Foraging in Nature's Larder

Garlic growing on the banks of the River Grom.

A lovely Spring morning, the wife wanting a foodie angle for her next blog post and me wanting a nice photogenic walk came together in the form of a woodland forage. What were we after? Well we are right in the middle of wild garlic season so we headed to where we knew there would be some growing.

You'll find wild garlic in semi-shaded, moist conditions, near or among bluebells, and usually on the banks of a river. This pretty much describes perfectly the banks of the River Grom in Friezland Wood, the pretty bluebell wood you walk through from town on your way to High Rocks.

Alas the bluebells the wood is famous for were still asleep when we arrived but that wasn't what we were after so we followed our noses along the river banks. We'd almost reached High Rocks when the wife spotted some of the distinctive wide green leaves on the opposite bank, unfortunately across eight feet of water, as luck would have it as we looked for a way to safely cross without getting wet we walked right into a pungent clump of the stuff. Perfect.

We opened up our bag and picked as much as we needed from lots of different clumps and soon we had filled our small bag. Whilst we were down there the wife thought it would be a good idea to pick some nettles for another recipe she had in her mind, although she later came to regret that after forgetting her gloves. Ouch.

Mrs Anke picks some succulent leaves.

If you don't fancy foraging down in the woods to pick some like us, but we heartily recommend you do, you should also consider going along in a month or so to see the garlic flowering when it's reaching the end of its season. It should be the perfect time to see the delicate white flowers nestled amongst the flowering bluebells. Truly beautiful.

So, what did we do with our wild garlic, you'll have to pop over to my wife's blog to find out.