Lych Gate in Devonshire Road Nature Reserve

As the first snowdrops poke their heads up and thoughts turn to the new season at the Devonshire Road Nature Reserve, its time to start planning the next project. This time last year we were ordering timber and drawing up plans for a new Green-Oak building in the garden; it’s now complete and the team of volunteers that learnt to shape timber, cut joints, dig foundations and install a living roof can be really proud of the beautiful building they have created.

We had so much fun and learned so much, we’ve decided to do it again! The new project, funded once again by the Forest Hill Ward Assembly Fund will see us re-create the earliest church Lych-gate in the country; the original is situated in nearby Beckenham. We’ll be using our building as a shelter for an outside oven, but the design will be close to the original, involving more complicated joints and the use of curved timbers. It will allow our experienced volunteers to hone their skills and new volunteers to discover the thrill of working with traditional tools and materials.

Workshops are open to adults and children over 10 yrs and will take place on weekends in March and April (dates to be confirmed). If you would like to get involved, please contact Jake Twyford (jake [at ]foresthillsociety.com).

Come along to one workshop or all of them, we’d love to get you involved!