Photo left: Isabella Plantation May 2023. Photograph by Roger Hillyer (c) FRP

 

The Richmond Park Shire Horses

Photograph by Roger Hillyer (c) FRP

The shire horses at work is a much loved sight in Richmond Park. The photograph above shows them in action last week near Sheen Cross. They have an important role in modern conservation management. Innovative horse-drawn machinery can provide solutions to modern conservation challenges, such as helping control bracken in sensitive acid grasslands. Meet the Richmond Park Shire horses here:

Meet Richmond Park’s Shire Horses – The Royal Parks

The Friends at Richmond May Fair

The Friends had a very successful and enjoyable day at the first Richmond May Fair for three years. We had a steady flow of visitors to the stall all day, certainly helped by the Discoverers’ tree saplings, owl pellets and bird nest display. We raised awareness of our work and signed up new members. We sold items from the Visitor Centre with total takings of over £1,000 and sold out of all the jars of Richmond Park honey.  Thank you to our volunteers across the Events, Visitor Centre and Discoverers volunteer teams.

Richmond Park Bus extended dates and extended route

A reminder that the Richmond Park Bus is operating again this summer.  This year it is operating on more days (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) and to more places outside the Park (Danebury Avenue, Roehampton, Ashburnham Road, Ham and, shown above, the Sheen Lane Centre near Mortlake Station).

For more information and the bus timetable click here:

Free minibus service in Richmond Park – Richmond Park – The Royal Parks

Ticks – a reminder

A reminder that the tick population peaks between late spring and autumn (April to October). Lyme disease or Lyme borreliosis, is a bacterial infection spread by infected ticks. Human infection is uncommon, because only a small proportion of ticks have the infection. However, those ticks that may carry Lyme disease are common in the countryside, especially woodlands and parks with deer, such as Richmond Park.

For more information see The Royal Parks website:

Tick bites and Lyme Disease – Richmond Park – The Royal Parks

The UK Heath Security Agency advice for avoiding ticks is to:

  • walk on clearly defined paths to avoid brushing against vegetation
  • wear light-coloured clothes so ticks can be spotted and brushed off
  • use repellents such as DEET
  • carry out a tick check.

The full UK Heath Security Agency advice is here:

Tick awareness A5 leaflet for printing (publishing.service.gov.uk)