Walks and Talks - Previous Walks:
Catch-up on previous Walks and Talks:
We try to capture our events and share them with those that could not come in person. Click on the links below to see more detail.
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Dung to Dead Wood – Beetles of Bushy Park, a talk with Connor Butler
This is an introduction to the diverse world of beetles, focusing on the species found in Bushy Park. It covers the basics of beetle biology, their key features, and how to identify the common families. It includes the habitats beetles rely on, from decaying wood, dung, carcases, and flowers, and the important roles they play. Connor Butler is an entomologist specialising in beetles.
Wildlife photos through the year in Bushy and Home Parks
Local photographers share their wildlife photo highlights of 2024 and the stories behind them. Each photographer covers a different aspect making this an interesting collection and overview of the year. Thanks to John Strachan, Sarah Longes, Mike Eaton and Graham McHutchon for their help with the talk, plus additional photos from Sue Lindenberg and Max Ellis.
Conserving the Arcadian Thames landscape – a talk by Rebecca Law
Rebecca will share how the Thames Strategy Project is working to conserve and enhance one of the world’s great river landscapes. She also looks at how we will cope with future challenges, including climate changes.
Stunning journeys of the migratory birds that come to the Parks – a talk by John Buckingham
John looks at the migratory journeys of the birds that come to Bushy and Home Park as visitors, where they come from and why.
Hampton Court, the Knights Hospitallers and the Crusades, a talk by Tony McMahon
The Knights Hospitaller, the warrior monks of the Crusades, were based at Hampton Court before the Tudors. They fought in the Holy Land and their history is just as fascinating as the Templars. Find out what they were doing over 800 years ago. Click here to open videoBushy Park in World War ll and its role in the preparation for D-Day – talk by David Ivison
Camp Griffiss, the huge US Air Force base set up in Bushy Park during World War II, became famous for being the site where General Eisenhower finalised his plans for the D-Day landings in 1944. Find out how the camp developed and how it influenced both European and local history. Click here to open videoPaintings of Bushy and Home Parks from early 18th century onwards, a talk by Debbie Hughes
Bushy and Home Parks they were painted many times and were the subject of many royal commissions given to artists to capture its wonderful landscape. Debbie shares with us, just a few of these works of art and the story behind them. Click here to open videoFungi – a walk with Brian Spooner (October)
Brian led a walk to learn more about the Fungi in Bushy Park, especially those in the Woodland Gardens in the autumn.
Birds of Bushy Park – a walk with John Strachan (October)
John led a walk to learn more about the birds in Bushy Park, especially birds using the bracken and hawthorn bushes.
Dragonflies and Damselflies of Bushy Park- a walk with Simon Elson (August)
Simon Elson led a walk explaining key aspects of their biology, which habitats to find them in and how to identify dragonflies and damselflies. This walk was in August so has the later flying species.
Click on the video to watch.
Butterflies of Bushy Park – a walk with May Webber (August)
May Webber (from The Royal Parks) led a walk to learn more about the later butterflies in Bushy Park.
Lancelot (Capability) Brown at Hampton Court – a walk with Graham Dillamore
Graham Dillamore (from HRP) led a walk to learn more about Lancelot (Capability) Brown final years at Hampton Court.
Bushy House and the NPL – a talk by Andrew Hanson from the National Physics Laboratory
Andrew shares the history behind Bushy House and the start of the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), plus some of the work they do now. Click here to open video
Rare and interesting trees of the Pheasantry and Woodland gardens, a walk with Ian Rodger (from the Royal Parks)
Ian Rodger, Arboriculture Manager from The Royal Parks shares some of the amazing trees of Bushy Park’s Woodland Gardens. Click here to open video
Beetles and Invertebrates – a walk with Connor Butler (from the Royal Parks)
Connor Butler, from The Royal Parks shares some of the amazing insects and bugs in Bushy Park, including his specialist subject, dung beetles! Click here to open a summary of this walk in a PDF
Nature Pond – walk with Pippa Hyde
Pippa guided us around the Boating and Heron Pond, showing us the key plants that prefer this habitat. Click here to open a summary of plant species found in a PDF
Hedgehogs – The ZSL Hog Surveys, a talk from Chris Carbone
London HogWatch identifies hedgehog populations in Greater London to promote conservation strategies for their protection. Chris Carbone shares how they undertake these surveys and what they have learnt so far, including first look from the Bushy Park survey undertaken in 2022. Click here to open video
Hedgehogs in our London garden by Elizabeth and John
Elizabeth, one of our volunteers, shares how her family discovered hedgehogs in their garden on the outskirts London. Plus what they learnt about their behaviour through the use of cameras and what they did to help them thrive. Click here to open video
Dr Terry Gough shares memories of his career at HRP – March 2023
Dr Terry Gough shares memories of his career through the garden projects he’s managed for Historic Royal Palaces, especially Hampton Court and Kensington. He explores how he managed restoring historic gardens with the requirements for today’s visitors. Click here to open video
British Birds of Prey – a talk from John Buckingham from the Sandwich Bird Observatory
John shared an overview of the UK birds of Prey including the raptors, such as Kestrels or Red Kite and the Owls we may find in Bushy and Home Parks. This included how their behaviour and their anatomy work together to make them successful predators. Click here to open the video
A Medieval Christmas, a talk by Tony McMahon (The bearded historian)
Tony shared an insight into the celebrations of a medieval Christmas and how it formed many of our traditions today. This brings together Christianity, Paganism, different belief systems from around Europe, including the Roman gods! Tony is a well-known historian appearing regularly on TV documentaries. Click here to open the video .
Operation Centaur – preserving the shire horses, a talk from Dr Andreas Liefooghe
Shire horses weigh over a tonne and are rarer than the giant panda. Andreas shares how Operation Centaur is trying to preserve them and the art of working with these rare breeds alive, through estate conservation, heritage, community projects and equine therapy. Click here to open the video
Fungi in the Woodland Gardens of Bushy Park, with Brian Spooner
Autumn is a time when fungi emerge all over Bushy Park. Our expert guide, the mycologist and author, Brian Spooner Ph.D. shares his knowledge and helps us identify specimens we find in the Woodland Gardens Click here to read a summary
Evening Bat Walk in Bushy Park, with Philip Briggs
Philip Briggs from the Bat Conservation Trust gave us a wonderful introduction to these intriguing creatures of the night. On our twilight walk we searched for some of the bats in Bushy Park and found 4 different species. Photo: Bat Conservation Trust Click here to read a summary
Trees living with fungi and invertebrates, a walk with Greg Packman
Trees create their own ecological community with fungi and invertebrates. Some of these relationships are welcomed, whilst others are harmful. Both the tree and the invertebrates adapt to stay one step ahead of the other. Greg gives us an insight into this special world. Click here to open the video
Botanical walk along the towpath alongside Hampton Court, with Pippa Hyde
An experienced botanist, Pippa Hyde, guides us along the tow path by Hampton Court. She identifies the plants that live in this unique habitat and shares their mythology. Click here to read a summary
Butterflies of Bushy Park, a walk with May Webber (from the Royal Parks)
May Webber from The Royal Parks Mission Invertebrate team guides us through some of the butterflies and moths of Bushy Park. She shares with us their biology and their behaviour. We also looked as the intriguing solitary wasps and bees that call the paths of Bushy their home. Click here to read a summary
The Veteran Trees of Bushy Park, a walk with Ian Rodgers (from the Royal Parks)
Ian Rodger is the head arboriculturists with The Royal Parks and he knows his stuff when it comes to trees! He shared why the veteran trees of Bushy Park are so special, their biology, how they age and the challenges he has in managing them. Click here to open the video
Aspects of Hampton Hill History – a talk by John Sheaf – April 2022
John shares the early days of Hampton Hill, the influence of St James’s Church on the area’s development, the introduction of trams, the pubs of the village, the First World War and the Canadian hospital in Upper Lodge in Bushy Park. Click here to open the video
Prehistory to World War Two – Archaeology in Bushy Park – with Tom Greeves – March 2022
Tom Greeves is a landscape archaeologist by training, and he undertook his survey of Bushy Park in 1993. Tom shared highlights of his work with a talk to support our AGM and a walk the following day. Despite the flatness of The Park there are areas of irregularities that can be interpreted, every feature has a message, you just need to attune your eye to them. Toms helped us to find some of these historic features and uncover some of the secret history of Bushy Park. Click here for more on this talk
The Longford River – a talk by Graham Dillamore – February 2022
Graham Dillamore works for the Historic Royal Palaces at Hampton Court and has been studying the route and history of the Longford River for the past 8 years. The river is an amazing feat of engineering and was commissioned by Charles I in 1630’s to help bring more water to Hampton Court from the River Colne 11 miles away. Graham’s talk and slide presentation has been captured in on video – click here to open
Diary of Observing and Photographing the birds in Bushy Park – by John Strachan – January 2022
John shared with us some of the birds he has encountered in Bushy Park over the last year. He gave great tips on where and how to see them. He only started bird photography a few years ago but showed his amazing pictures and talked through the behaviour of the birds he saw. Some the birds include kingfisher, warblers, cuckoo, skylark, and birds of prey. His slide presentation has been captured in the following video (Click here to open). See more of his photographs on Instagram @jbpstrachan
Christmas Deer Walk in Home Park – with Russell Downs – December 2021
On this festive walk Russel took us to feed the deer. He talked about the Fallow Deer, their life stages, their different colouring, key aspects of managing them and maintaining a healthy herd in a walled park such as Home Park. Read the detailed notes on the walk that were recorded by Ralph Nathan (a park ranger) (Click here to open).
What’s attacking our trees? – a talk from Ana Perez Sierra – December 2021
Ana Perez Sierra, Head of Tree Health Diagnostic and Advisory Service, shared latest key diseases and pests currently effecting or are potentially a threat to the trees in the UK. She welcomed our members to help in spotting some of these diseases, sharing photographs and symptoms of the main threats and to report them using TreeAlert system. (Click here to open)
How Birds Work – a talk by John Buckingham – October 2021
John looked at the anatomy and biology of what makes birds so special and unique. He talked about the different types of feathers, the adaptation of their bones and how their eyes see, along with how they create their spectacular colours in their plumage. This slide presentation has been captured in the following video (click here to open). Thanks to John for allowing us to share his talk more widely.
The rut of fallow and red deer- a talk by John Lock – September 2021
John Lock focussed his talk on the male deer with their different types of antlers and their approach to the ruts, especially the fallow deer (which he studied) and the differences with red deer. A full-length version of the talk is available on the accompanying PDF (click here to open).
Nature Walks through grasslands – with Pippa Hyde – July 2021
An exploration the glorious diversity of fauna and flora amongst the acid-grasslands alongside the Pheasantry. The walk lead by Pippa Hyde and Rebecca Harvey, unearthed some hidden gems in this wonderful environment. The species seen are recorded in the photographs in the accompanying PDF (click here to open).
