Friends of Queen's Wood

27/08/2026

🦇🦇🦇 Don't forget! 🦇🦇🦇
Our fabulous Bat Walk, led by bat expert Cindy Blaney, is coming up this weekend!
Meet at Lodge/café at 8pm on Saturday 29th August 2026.
🙂 Everyone welcome 🙂

26/08/2026

Sadly, we've noticed signs of drought stress in our old trees in Queen's Wood over the last couple of years - limb loss and tree fall. This article talks about drought stress as a broader phenomenon across England:

Woodland Trust says trees struggling in drought stress, with older ‘survivors’ disproportionately affected

18/08/2026

On Sunday 6th September 2026, join us for a walk with Peter Barber OBE FSA, to explore the fascinating history of Queen's Wood. Peter is President of the Hornsey Historical Society, a researcher and former Head of Maps at the British Library.

Peter's route through the Wood will place it in its historical and geographical context, before giving an account of its purchase from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in the late 1890s, which challenges the hitherto-accepted narrative.

Meet at 2.30pm at the junction of Wood Lane and Queenswood Road where the railings end. PLEASE NOTE, THIS IS NOT OUR USUAL MEETING PLACE.

18/08/2026

The Queen's Wood Lodge garden, much valued by visitors to the wood, is losing its excellent head gardener, Dulcie, as sadly she has been given notice and will leave in September. The volunteers are very sad about this and regret her departure.

05/08/2026

Some spectacular fungi have suddenly emerged in Queen's Wood. We came across these while we were showing new councillor, Eva Bell, around. It seemed slightly incongruous to find them in this sweltering drought.

This Ganoderma sp. is growing on (and inside) one of the grand old oaks. Two fine fruiting bodies of Chicken of the Woods (Laetiporus sulphureus) on a long-ago fallen oak. We were unsure exactly which species of Ganoderma - australe or applanatum - if you know, do get in touch!

31/07/2026

There's still time to book onto this week's FREE Butterfly Walk, this Saturday 1st at 11am. Learn common species found on the Heath, butterfly behaviour and more! Book on here: https://www.heath-hands.org.uk/whatson/natureramblebutterflies-1aug2026

30/07/2026

The wonderful Queen's Wood Evening Bat Walk is coming up on Saturday 29th August 2026!

Join ranger and bat expert Cindy Blaney, who will guide us to investigate some of the bat species who feed and breed in the woods. Sonar bat detectors will be available on the walk, to pick up the bats' ultrasound echolocation and help identify species.

Everyone welcome, no booking required!
Meet at the Lodge/café at 8.00pm.

22/06/2026

🌳 Queen's Wood 🌳 is just one of many fragments of Ancient Woodland within Greater London, which are recorded in the Ancient Woodland Inventory.
Identifying, recording and protecting these nationally important places is an on-going process. The inventory has recently undergone a three-year update project, led by GiGL (Greenspace Information for Greater London) with several partner organisations and many volunteers. The group carried out painstaking work to locate ancient maps and cross-reference with other historical data and current information on the ground.
In the process, they have identified 2,500 hectares of previously unrecorded Ancient Woodland! Find out more about this fascinating project here... https://www.gigl.org.uk/2026/06/18/the-ancient-woodland-inventory-update-project/

10/06/2026

Family Fun Day 2026 will be on Sunday 12th July from 2.00pm!

This is a free event for families with young children. There will be lots of activities, including music, games and nature-based crafts. Come along to the Witches' Coven, between the Frog Pool and Wood Vale. There will be directions to the site in the wood on the day.

2025 Family Fun Day, photo Maggie Scrimgeour