Events coming up in the near future; for further details see the events page on this website:

Saturday 18 May:  Bramble Arches and Split Ashes, talk at the Society of Ley Line Hunters Spring Moot, Lewes, East Sussex.

Report: 14 people attended this event which consisted of five lectures.  Unfortunately the Bramble Arches lecture was the last in the day, and due to lax time-keeping it started approximately five minutes before the event was scheduled to finish.  Consequently some people had already left, and there was little discussion.

Monday 20 May:  Healing Hedgerows, walk on Tooting Common, London Borough of Wandsworth.

Report:  19 people had booked, and approximately that number turned up for this event.  About an hour was spent wandering around a small area discussing the plants found there, their medicinal uses, and other folklore, starting with greater plantain, Plantago major, finishing with cleavers, Galium aparine, and taking in stinging nettle, Urtica dioica, elder, Sambucus nigra, and a variety of other plants in between.  Several people contributed to the discussion, and some kindly recorded their memories at the end of the walk.

‘Really enjoyed it!’

Tuesday 21 May:  Queer Plant-lore, on-line talk/discussion.

Report:  Although rather poorly attended this talk appeared to be appreciated, and stimulated some interesting discussion.

Thursday 23 May:  Wild Plants, Medicine and Magic, walk starting from the Woodfield Pavilion, Tooting Common, London Borough of Lambeth.

Report:  Only one person turned up to this walk, but after two days dominated by heavy rain we were able to enjoy a pleasant 90 minutes or so wandering around and discussing local plants, the highlight probably being the bee orchid, Ophrys apifera, which had been found on the site a few days earlier, having not been previously recorded on the Common.

Images:  upper, Roy Vickery with elder, Sambucus nigra, ‘the healingest tree that on earth do grow’, Tooting Common, April 2024, © Carlos Bruzon; lower bee orchid, photographed when more flowers more fully opened, 4 June, 12 days after the walk.