Chair’s Welcome
I am delighted as Chair of the Friends to welcome you to our website. Bushy Park and Home Park are two wonderful large green oases in the south west corner of London. Feeling wild, they are natural places with ancient histories, fascinating heritage and superb wildlife. Both are Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) containing rare species. These are places to be enjoyed and conserved. Which is why the Friends exist, campaigning, supporting and protecting the parks, and enhancing visitors’ enjoyment with information, advice and guidance.
We are always pleased to receive feedback. You can contact us by clicking here.
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News archive
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Change to Winter opening hours from 7th January & update
Date posted: Saturday 24th December 2016
The Information Point winter opening hours from Saturday 7th January to Sunday 26th February will be 11.30 am to 1.30 pm.
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Carol singing at the Pheasantry cafe with The Quire
Date posted: Sunday 18th December 2016
Carol singing at the Pheasantry
Thames Ditton’s The Quire sang carols and festive music at the Pheasantry cafe in the Woodland Gardens on Saturday
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Appointment of new Historic Royal Palaces Chief Executive
Date posted: Friday 16th December 2016
John Barnes, Director of Conservation and Learning at Historic Royal Palaces has been appointed Chief Executive of the Royal Palaces.
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A vicious fight that conkers can't win
Date posted: Saturday 3rd December 2016
Britain’s beloved horse chestnut tree is in danger of disappearing from our parks forever.
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John Farndon
Date posted: Thursday 24th November 2016
John Farndon
It is with great sadness that we have recently learnt of the sad and unexpected death of John Farndon , a much loved and respected local gentleman who was Chair of the Friends between 1997-2000.
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Photographers of deer.
Date posted: Monday 7th November 2016
In October the Times and Telegraph both carried photos of the deer rut, contributing to the visitors coming to see it.
See the newspaper photos here. We are increasingly concerned about the numbers of people coming from even long distances (the rut featured in the Ilford local newspaper and there are photography trips organised from various parts of London promising to ‘get up close and personal’ with the deer). The deer are getting stressed and there is an accident waiting to happen. This is not a new phenomenon. See the Times article on 5 November last year here
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Hyde Park: Building starts on £5m mega-nursery the size of a football pitch
Date posted: Monday 7th November 2016
A new £5 million mega-nursery the size of a football pitch is to be built at London’s Hyde Park.
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The Friends bid a fond farewell to Head Gardener Chris Nickerson
Date posted: Monday 7th November 2016
Planting team photo
On Saturday a small hardy group of Friends successfully planted over 1000 daffodils in a newly created bed (post Rhododendron Ponitcum removal) in the Pheasantry Woodlands.
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A note to all fishermen
Date posted: Sunday 6th November 2016
Last Sunday John Lock along with another regular visitor to Home Park made a distressing discovery.
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Field Studies Council courses 2017
Date posted: Monday 31st October 2016
The Field Studies Council have announced their latest Natural History courses, many of which are based in Bushy Park. These day courses for adults cover subjects ranging from bird watching to insect identification and trees in winter.
Why we need more Friends
With more members our voice is stronger when we campaign to protect the Parks, and with more subscription income we can do more to provide information and education about the Parks, their wildlife and their history.
Join us today!
News archive
Walks & Talks
Forthcoming event
Talk by Ian Jones-Healy “Dr John Langdon Down and the history of Normansfield“.
Latest report
On the morning of Saturday 3 November a group of members of the Friends assisted Sharon Evans, the Bushy Park Head Gardener, in planting an area of the Woodland Gardens.
Full report...Information Point
The Information Point next to the Pheasantry Welcome Centre café is where our volunteers help visitors find out more about the parks and where visitors can purchase souvenirs of your visit to support our work.
Click this panel to visit our Information Point section and also to find out how you can get involved as a volunteer.