The Park Visitor Centre (i) is between the Grove car park and the cafe in the Grove. Open Sundays and first Saturday of each month from 2pm till 4pm. Maps, leaflets, quizzes and drawing materials for children.
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Alexandra Park is a delightful mixture of informal woodland, open grassland, formal gardens and attractions such as the boating lake, cafés and the pitch-and-putt course. It covers 196 acres around Alexandra Palace in North London.
The Friends of Alexandra Park is a voluntary group that promotes the use of the Park, encourages the conservation of its wildlife and protects the Park from unwanted development.
Become a Friend here - buy our book "A History Of Alexandra Park" in our shop
Our activities include:
Organising walks and talks about trees, bats, fungi, moths, insects, birds and the history of Alexandra Park, and conservation work.
Sending a newsletter every month to all our members.
Opening the Park Visitor Centre
All the pictures on the calendar can be seen here.
The calendar will be available for sale at the normal opening hours (11am to 1pm) of the Park Visitor Centre if stocks allow on Saturday, 6th December and Sundays, 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th December
Also available at the Parkrun on 6th, 13th and 20th December if stocks last.
Members' Walk and Social
Saturday 6th December from 2pm to 4pm
Details will be emailed out to members.
Conservation Work in the Park
Thursday 11th December from 10:00am to 12:30pm
Cutting back evergreens on the bank overlooking the Railway Orchard in the Grove. Bring gardening gloves if you have them, although we have spares to lend. No special skills needed and refreshments provided.
Meet at the Park Visitor Centre.
For more details email AllyParkN10@gmail.com
Art in the Park
Thursday 11th December from 10:00am to 11:00am
Monthly free art sessions led by Katy Fattuhi.
For more information and to find out the meeting place, email AllyParkN10@gmail.com.
RECENT EVENTS IN THE PARK
Art in the Park: 20th November
We based ourselves on the big wooden tables in the East Court again, because although it was sunny, it was just too cold to meet outside.
The return indoors did increase the number of participants, so it was for the best, and we continued where we had left off, with more collaborative drawings of leaves, echoing the building up of leaves on the woodland floor from all the different trees in the park. Sharing drawings, materials and a smaller space inevitably makes sessions like this more social and gives us a good chance to catch up!
Family Art in the Park: 16th November
Autumn Family Art in the Park was buzzing with local families. There was a hive of autumn art-and-crafting going on under the trees in the heart of the Grove. We had clay mushrooms springing up, stick wands appearing, colourful patterned leaves as you’ve never them seen before...
We were overbooked and had to have a waitlist this time – so do book early next time to avoid disappointment!
You can see more pictures (and follow us) on Instagram.
Autumn Fungus Walk: 8th November
The logs near the Park Visitor Centre were blessed with a great selection of fungi: turkeytail (picture by Roslyn Byfield); King Alfred’s cakes (think lumps of coal); jelly ears, which we all enjoyed pinging; a gorgeous cluster of bright orange, glossy winter fungus; artist’s bracket, whose white surface preserves anything drawn on it throughout its growing period; and a brittlestem that changes colour – it’s beige when dry and dark grey when wet. Elsewhere we saw a zoned rosette, quite rare and the first record for the park, and some split gills, thought to be the only fungus with double gills, which only separate and drop spores in damp conditions, thus giving the spores a good head start.
Conservation Work: 28th October and 18th November
This is a report on two work party sessions.
The first was in the Grove: we completed the reduction of the hedge to the west and built up the dead hedge, enclosing the Spinney on two sides but opening up the views to the area planted with bulbs.
The second session was based in the Anthill Meadow, where we seeded the ‘mown’ central sward of the meadow with yellow rattle seeds, to parasitise the grasses and therefore allow flowering plants to flourish. We also removed bramble, self-set saplings and coppiced a clump of blackthorn – all physical work much needed on a chilly morning. We’re trying out a three-year management rotation in the meadow, dividing it into three and concentrating conservation efforts on each section in turn.
Art in the Park: 23rd October
We tried something a bit different this time – a collaborative work. Taking inspiration from the layering of autumn leaves in the park’s woodland, Katy proposed that the group work together by layering our drawings of leaves onto one another’s, so much so it became unclear who had done what... The weather prevented us from being in the actual woodland, but as the park’s fallen leaves are portable, we worked on the big tables in the East Court instead. It was really great fun and we hope to do the same outdoors next month.
Members' Walk: 12th October
The walk started in the Redston Field looking many different galls on oak leaves in the Redston Field as well as a large cluster of moth eggs on another oak leaf (pictured left).
We walked out of field and saw an American thorn tree with the growth of the common hawthorn rootstock which has very different looking leaves.
We continued to the right looking at the trees towards the North View Road entrance. On the way, we spotted a colourful patch of golden scalycap (also pictured).
We walked up the path towards the lower road and were struck by the prodigous growth of Caucasian wingnuts.
To take a new route, we walked through the woodland in an westerly direction looking at mostly trees as we went. After crossing a path, we came to a very large red oak fallen in the woodland before exiting and heading towards the Garden Centre where we finished off by looking at nice example of a zoned rosette fungus at the base of a tree.
Art in the Park: 25th September
It was a beautiful, golden September morning on the South Slope for our meet up.
We usually go for more hidden spots and have in fact never met so close to the palace building. It gave the braver amongst us a chance to have a go at the challenge of sketching the palace’s architectural details and the distant architecture on the skyline ahead. In between there were oak trees and acorns for those of us who like to home in on the natural dimension of the park.
Conservation Work: 23rd September
On a very pleasant sunny, but cool, September morning, 10 of us, shears in hand, cut the grassy sward in the central area of the Anthill Meadow. We did this to reveal the many yellow field ant mounds there and give them a chance to grow their own community of plants.
We will seed that area with yellow rattle in November to control the grasses and thus allow more flowering plants to grow and therefore more butterflies and insects to thrive. This summer has seen a good butterfly count in the park, partly due to our efforts in the Anthill Meadow. Thanks to David of O’Conner for the lift back to the PVC.
Bat Walk: 8th September
After Gordon’s introduction to bats and bat detectors, an enthusiastic group of 15 people had to wait patiently for some time for the bats to appear. Perhaps they were deterred by the very bright sky.
Eventually, however, to Gordon's relief, the bat detectors started clicking and the bats were soon very visible swooping over our heads and through the trees. All the group were thrilled to see these tiny creatures zipping around changing direction in an instant, intent on just one thing – catching their breakfast of small insects.
London Metropolitan Brass Community Band: 7th September
As usual our Music in the Grove programme concluded with a concert by the Community Band of London Metropolitan Brass. Another large crowd enjoyed the customary mix of numbers from Glen Miller through Frank Sinatra to A-ha’s “Take On Me” – the latter a chance for the drummer to be heard. Hopefully the larger audiences, and the good weather, will return next summer for another series of mellow concerts in the Grove.
Autumn Bird Walk: 7th September
We started in the Grove on a warm and sunny morning, and were lucky to see a stock dove and a wood pigeon side by side, allowing us to note the stock dove’s smaller size, shorter tail and dark eyes.
Walking down the slopes below the palace, we paused to watch the male and female peregrines on the mast. In the tall birches in the south-west corner of the pitch & putt, we saw a showy spotted flycatcher and, excitingly, a more elusive pied flycatcher (photo © Lucia Pino-Garcia).
The Cricket Scrub was rather quiet, save for a preening greenfinch. Finishing up at the Conservation Pond, a Cetti’s warbler sang loudly if invisibly, and a clouded yellow butterfly fluttered past, only the second recorded in the park this year.
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