Southwark has a new nature reserve. It's small but perfectly formed and it's just off the Old Kent Road.
A small army of volunteers helped create this new sanctuary for residents around Surrey Square. It's one of the BBC's Springwatch Action Team [SWAT] projects where scraps of land are transformed into usable spaces where people and wildlife come together; and it's beautiful.
Along with colleagues from our Rainham Marsh nature reserve, I spent Saturday on site making bird feeders out of plastic drinks bottles and ladybird homes from bits of bamboo cane.The scrap of ground that was the focus of all the effort was overgrown and impossible to enter. Now it's still got brambles and nettles for wildlife but there's a path that enters the site, some nice trees and more places for more bugs to flourish. During the work the team came across a stag beetle larvae, which was carefully returned to a suitably quiet spot. Nesting wrens were given a wide berth and we enjoyed swifts screaming overhead with a soundtrack supplied by blackbirds and great tits. This site will be an incredible resource for teachers and pupils at the nearby Surrey Square infant and junior schools. It will help with science and geography lessons but can also be used for other subjects too. I escorted two classes from the junior school to survey birds and they then created bar charts from the results in a maths lesson.
The site, home to more than ninety different recorded species, will also be of benefit to nearby residents. It's a quiet spot where they'll be able to sit down and escape the relentless onslaught of busy lives. These spots are crucial in urban settings dominated by concrete, tarmac, steel and glass. The soft greens of the plants swaying in the breeze, while insects and birds go about the daily business of being alive, reminds us we're part of nature too. A humbling experience that puts life's little challenges into context.
What was great about Surrey Square, was finding out what people are growing on their balconies. At first glance you don't see the plant pots and nest boxes. A more careful look reveals whole salad gardens on window ledges and great tits dashing in and out of nestboxes fixed next to third floor windows. You don't need a garden to support wildlife and grow food. All you need is some soil, seeds and sunlight. A simple equation we can all follow. There's lots of help and advice available from our gardening pages.
Every Londoner should have a space nearby where they can escape and re-connect with nature. Ten minutes watching some sparkling blue or red damselflies skimming over a pond, or some shimmering birch leaves shaking in a sunny breeze can do wonders for your wellbeing. Go on, find a nice spot and give yourself permission to do nothing but watch the world carry-on. It's priceless, giving you the strength to re-enter the fray, to tackle the challenges of modern life.
Sunday I visited Gillespie Park and Islington Ecology Centre for the launch of the council's new wildlife gardening campaign. BBC TV Gardener Joe Swift was on hand to support the initiative and it was a brilliant day. Gillespie Park is another green gem hidden away in London. These pockets of life are now recognised for the contribution they can make, but we're not very good at promoting them to people. The park was great, but not very busy. It's big enough for lots of people to find quiet spots where you can hug a tree, stroke some leaves or marvel at the water boatmen skating over the surface of a pond.
Oooer get me, going all new-age and spiritual! It sounds batty but, believe me, it really works. I even managed to find a solution to our fear of hoodies. I was watching some great tits flitting from shrub to shrub and suddenly thought their black caps are like hoods... so from now on, yooves in hoodies are great tits in my mind. They sound nicer already don't they?