Wild Streets of Lockleaze! - Really Wild Project with Steve England
Steve England showed Lockleaze residents the nature, wild food and history of their streets!
“Slow down”,
Steve England told the 16 Lockleaze residents as they crossed Gainsborough square…
“Nature goes slow, and if you walk fast you’ll miss it.”
Steve led us residents down to Crome Road, and around and back via Landseer, and his enthusiasm for what we found was infectious! We saw parasitic wasps in galls on Oak trees - they change the DNA of the leaf, and instruct them to grow their eggs the perfect house
“If only we could do that!”
Steve exclaimed.
This is a new type of walk that the Really Wild Lockleaze Project is doing - helping residents to understand and love the nature that is living on their urban streets. To help nature, we need to act everywhere - creating and loving islands of wild in the city is essential for wildlife to move around.
Steve shook local apple trees, and we all ate the fruits of Thornycroft Close Green, we tasted wild spinach growing on Landseer Avenue, and munched on feral radish leaves, sprouting out of the pavement on Constable Road.
He showed us the differences between the newbuild houses, whose rooves are very flat, and sealed, with no nesting places for birds and bats, and the old build houses, with nesting spots in their eaves and roman tiles.
“Why don’t they have hedges instead of brick walls?!”
“How will the hedgehogs get through?!”…
…asked a resident.
We saw fairy rings on Thornycroft, telling us there were mushrooms underneath.
“It is the oldest grassland in Lockleaze” “This used to be Lockleaze Farm!”
Said Steve.
On the walk back, a resident said…
“Doing this makes me feel more at home in Lockleaze.”
Fantastic!
We will be doing more wildlife walks around the urban streets of Lockleaze with Steve England in the spring - so watch this space and don’t miss out!
Next Events:
Planting for pollinators: Thursday 5th October 10.30-1.30pm, meeting at the Cameron Centre, come plant some bulbs, drink some tea, and hang out with nice folk. With the Lockleaze Green Gym
Call in at the Hub to meet us, or contact our Project Co-ordinator Eleanor at reallywild@lockleazent.co.uk