Ashburnham Triangle Association

Please join us on Saturday, October 8th at 2pm. We will meet at the planter on the Play Street.

Spring is on its way, so our Triangle's Green team have set dates for gardening and for the Plant Swap in May. Sara says that they are trying out gardening on Saturdays afternoons at 2pm: 26 March 30 April 14 May  with the Plant Swap at 11am in Ashburnham Retreat 25 June Hope to see you there.

Aren't the gardens and green spaces looking good at the moment? It would be good to see some new faces, if you are able to join us, on Sunday June 27th to do some gardening. We are meeting at the planter on Ashburnham Retreat at 10.30am. Sara

Our gardening volunteers will be planting up a small but prominent flower bed in Catherine Grove on Saturday, October 24th, meeting up at 10am. Please come and help if you can. It's unlikely that there will be more than six people, but if there are some can work in other parts of the garden.

If you are free to do some gardening this Sunday , please meet at the planter on the Play Street at ten. Please bring a watering can and trowel and secateurs if you can, if not there will be spares. Future dates are: Sunday 13 Sept. 10am to work at Ada Kennedy Court Saturday 17 October 2pm - Catherine Grove Saturday 21 November - Daffodil planting

Our Environment and Gardening Hub are looking forward to seeing some of you at 2pm on Saturday, July 18th for gardening. We will meet at Lamley House, the corner of Ashburnham Place and Egerton Drive. There is also grass to be raked on Langdale Rd near to the High Road. If you can please bring a rake (or two) and a green bin. Do bring some water to drink as it's going to be hot, this may limit how much we can do. Anyway it will be good to get together  at a distance.

We all know the Triangle is green. But how green? Lock Down has made London a quieter, cleaner place. And it's given us time to pay more attention to what this means for the wildlife in our own neighbourhoods. A group of Triangle residents are using this extraordinary opportunity to find out - and they want more help with recording what's moving, and what's growing, all around us. There's definitely something exciting in it for kids - show them this video of Ashburnham Grove's fox cubs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwaXIbBpLyM But whatever your interests - birds, blossoms or insects - there's plenty more to see: here are some of Egerton Drive's busy bees: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSbkAcT3LeA Each week those helping with the Spring Census are sending in a short record of what they have seen - in words, or in pictures like these - to Census co-ordinator, Mick Delap. They've been at it since April. And the Census will continue to gat...

The annual ATA Plant Swap is ‘going walkabout’! Saturday, 23rd May 2020 11.00 – 12.30  Come and find new plants at the following addresses: 16 /17 Egerton Drive  75 Ashburnham Grove  38 Greenwich South Street Plants to swap can be dropped off at the same time Look out for the logo and please don’t forget social distancing –  stay two metres apart

Our Environment & Gardening team have announced the following dates for the year: Gardening:   15 March 10am 10 April  (Good  Friday,  time to be announced) 14 June 10am 18 July 2pm 23 Aug 10am 13 Sept 10am 17 Oct 2pm Plant swap   Sunday 10 May  morning Daffodil planting 14 Nov As far as environmental issues and action, we are linking with other groups and will publicise through the ATA . We may have an event next Autumn/Winter. Do let us know if you have any ideas or a willing to help. For more information email Sara Emanuel 

  Eleven residents planted nine tree on Saturday 30th November in beautiful sunshine. The trees are good for the environment as they will capture carbon and pollutants. We planted: A crab apple and flowering cherry by each of Barnstaple and Plymouth Houses. Weeping silver birches in private gardens on Ashburnham Grove and Greenwich South Street. Three  small bay trees in the front garden of a house on Greenwich South Street. It was a great way to get to know local people.

The ATA Green Hub is transforming into the “Environment and Gardening Hub”. We will encourage residents to take action to deal with the Climate Crisis as well as continuing with the community gardening. We hope that more people will take part in environmentally friendly activities locally and, more importantly, will urge the Government and Council to do more. The first thing we are planning is to plant as many trees as possible on National Tree Planting Day 30 November. Did you know that a mature tree can absorb 48 lbs of carbon dioxide per year? So tree planting is a really positive thing we can do to start dealing with the Climate Crisis. Would you like to plant a tree in your garden? If so we can help by ordering and planting it. The ATA will pay for the compost and stakes. In addition we will be planting trees in public spaces on Devonshire Drive. We will need lots of people. Would you like to help plant trees on 30 November? We are also planning to: Continue to work on the...

We have been notified by the Council that there has been a spate of rogue tree surgeons operating in the Triangle and surrounding area’s who have taken some works to trees without the benefit of planning permission, by posing as qualified tree surgeons offering to cut down or provide maintenance to garden trees in exchange for cash (at highly inflated levels). False addresses, mobile numbers and websites have been used on materials provided and vehicles used. The Triangle is protected by a Conservation Area designation in addition, some trees (including trees located in private gardens) may be subject to a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) – which protects specific trees, groups of trees or woodlands in the interests of amenity. The Council must be notified six weeks in advance of intended works to a tree located within a Conservation Area or covered by a TPO unless a specific exemption applies (such as where a tree poses a risk to the public). To cut down, uproot or destroy a tree covere...

The annual ATA Plant Swap will be on  Saturday 25th May between 11am-12pm in the Play Street (Ashburnham Retreat, SE10 8TZ). Please bring plants or anything plant-related to swap, or come along and pick up a bargain. If you've nothing to swap donations are very welcome for ‘Water for Kids’. Everybody is welcome. See you there!

Unfortunately there has been another break-in, this time in Ashburnham Grove. Entry to the property was gained via the basement sash window and once again the property was hidden from the pavement by a very large hedge.  There are many properties within the Triangle that have very mature overgrown shrubbery in the front garden. You may like privacy but so do burglars. Burglars don’t want to be seen or heard and if they think they’ll be noticed by a neighbour or passer-by then they’re likely to feel exposed and identifiable, which will probably make them move on. Overgrown bushes and trees makes it easier for a burglar to get close to a home and gain entry. Keep it visible Now is the perfect time to cut back all overgrown plants and make the front of your property visible from the pavement. Lower fences, hedges and trees at the front of your property around one-metre high are preferable as they allow for a clear view over the top and don’t provide cover for anyone wi...

On Saturday, November 10th at 11am the ATA Green Team will be meeting outside number 75 Ashburnham Grove and putting bulbs in there and then moving on to Barnstaple House The more people the merrier .. even if you can only plant a few bulbs - please bring a trowel if you  have one ( we will have spares) We have about 1000 daffodil bulbs to put in so all help welcome!

Unfortunately we will be short of gardeners on 29 September, so we need to cancel the session and change the October session from the 27th to earlier in the month. The next session is Saturday 13 October at ten.

In the front garden of 75 Ashburnham Grove Sara Emanuel says: 'Gardening is on June 16th, moved forward from 23rd.' Alison Haworth says: 'The front of 75 Ashburnham Grove looks lovely with foxgloves and dog roses in flower; the geraniums are beautiful by the front door; and the Play Street planter is a mass of poppies and herbs - stunning.'

Saturday 19th, Plant Swap in the Play Street, 11.30am-1pm. Sunday 20th, gardening at 75 Ashburnham Grove and the Play Street planter, 10am-12pm.

Chris Ward, Chair of the ATA, says: Well actually it’s our 2018 AGM. Now these are far from formal and stuffy. We aim to reflect the vibrancy and pace of our community. The Ashburnham Triangle community (as defined by the Council) is estimated to be around 3,000. That’s 3,000 lives living, working, playing in the area and the pace of change is rampant. New developments, new businesses, new attractions, new safety concerns, new opportunities. It’s our job to make sure you have your say in what goes on and voice any comments or concerns you have, as well as bringing us together as a community. Our AGM is the one point in the year when all the parts of the ATA get together and talk about plans for the future. So please, don’t write it off, come and join in, have your say. We have events to talk about, we have new initiatives to discuss, we have positions we’d like volunteers for, and we’d really like to hear from you. So come along, there is cake and wine - yes...