Wanstead Flats month by month: 2009-10
A survey of the seasons
These pictures show the changing of the seasons on Wanstead Flats,
a fragment of heathland surviving in the middle of east London.
Technically, it is the southernmost arm of Epping Forest - there are plenty of trees in the high forest a few miles north but,
as you will see, few on the Flats themselves.
Click each thumbnail to enlarge.
Previous years: 2006 / 2007 / 2008
/ 2009
9 January 2010: a second snowfall of the winter, and this one hung around for a week - a long time for London!
The cold weather was to last until mid-March, though there was no more snow.
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14 February 2010: ducks dabbling on the Bandstand pond.
Once upon a time, we thought of this pond as little more than a depression that sometimes had puddles in it;
but it has had a good supply of water for some time now.
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20 March 2010: an undoubted tragedy in the natural history of the Flats, and in particular Alexandra Pond.
Poison was left on the land (allegedly, pre-court case), polluting the lake and killing scores of birds, wildfowl,
dogs and even a fox. A week on, and deaths continue. Arrests made, but what possible motive?
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25 April 2009: Industrial-strength lawn-mower. Well, there's a lot of grass,
though of course it's only the football pitches and adjacent areas - like the area east of Forest Drive, here - that get cut.
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17 May 2009: a good display of gorse this year, and you can see some of the attractive reddish grasses that are common here,
just in front. There is gorse all across the flats; here, we're to the east of Centre Road.
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13 June 2009: I'd planned to forget about the burial of the water main, which had dominated 2008. It's not finished, alas.
Three big holes have been left while Thames Water continue to play. This one is by the Golden Fleece.
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25 July 2009: I walked out by Centre Road this sunny July morning and disturbed butterflies with every pace.
Here, a gatekeeper butterfly settles on one of its favourite plants, the ragwort.
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8 August 2009: I've always been intrigued by this dead tree, at the corner of the flats between Centre Road
and Aldersbrook Road. Why has it ceased to be when its neighbours flourish?
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26 September 2009: Caravans on the flats west of Centre Road when no fair is planned?
A film crew has arrived but I did not find what they were working on ...
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1 October 2009: ... until the following week, when they had moved to the Aldersbrook side.
"It's the new Mike Leigh film", said an actress. "Has it got a title yet?" said I. "No," she said, "it hasn't even got a story."
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6 November 2009: It's always worth rocket-spotting the day after Guy Fawkes night.
This one came down near Lake House Road.
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19 December 2009: A bit of snow in the first cold snap of the year, looking towards Alexandra pond.
That's snow two years in a row. This batch didn't last long though.
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