Cody Dock Newsletter #6 Autumn 2018

Cody Dock, 11C South Crescent, Cody Road, Canning Town, London E16 4TL

GASWORKS DOCK PARTNERSHIP GDP is proud to be a Leaway strategic delivery partner Cody Dock, 11c South Crescent, Canning Town London E16 4TL. Office: 020 74 73 04 29 Charity Registration No. 1141523 Company Registration No. 7135282 www.codydock.org.uk ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

BOARD OF TRUSTEES Marcus McKenzie – Chair David Asuni – Treasurer Bianca Mawani – Trustee, HR Lead Pat Fitzsimons – Trustee Martin Torres – Trustee Abigail Dean—Trustee Tim Vaughan—Trustee COMMITTEES & SPECIALIST ADVISORS Tom Randall-Page – Architect & Planning Committee PUP Architects – Masterplan Architects Tibbalds Planning and Urban Design – Planning Consultant ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Simon Stone – Trustee, Company Secretary, Legal and Property Lead 2009-2015 Steve Rattray – Trustee, Treasurer 2009-2014 Clive Dutton – Trustee, Regeneration and Planning Lead 2011-2015 Chris Westwood – Vice Chair 2009-2016 Peter Ellis – Chair 2009-2016 Suzanne Rankin – Trustee, 2015-2017 Julia Briscoe – Trustee, Engagement Lead 2009-2016 Simon Myers – Founder, former Trustee 2008–2015 and current CEO

GDP would like to thank the following organisations for their support

WELCOME TO CODY DOCK Abigail Dean, GDP Trustee I joined the Gasworks Dock Partnership board earlier this year after hearing the Chair, Marcus Mackenzie, at an event hosted by East London Business Alliance. I was really impressed to hear about the work that has taken place at Cody Dock and keen to get involved. I am Head of Sustainability with a global real estate asset manager called TH Real Estate. The company invests in commercial property such as offices and shopping centres on behalf of investors such as pension funds. My day to day job entails ensuring the decisions we make are focussed on the sustainability of the buildings as well as their financial performance. Practically, this means looking at energy efficiency, onsite renewable energy, improving recycling rates and the impact that climate change could have in the future. I also develop job creation and community partnerships.

I have lived and worked in London for 16 years and spent a lot of those years in East London. One of the things I most love about London is the amount of community space such as parkland, woodland and walking routes along the rivers and canals. I think it’s really important that communities have access to spaces like this to be able to enjoy the nature around us and also to have somewhere beautiful to meet and spend time. The work that has been done at Cody Dock to transform this area is amazing and I think it will become an ever more important focus for the community in the coming years.

As I am new to the board, I am very much in listening mode at the moment. As I get to know more and the planned works get underway at Cody Dock, I look forward to adding some oversight from the sustainability perspective.

CEO’S ROUND UP Simon Myers

Planning Round Up 2018 has been a momentous year for Cody Dock and our charity Gasworks Dock Partnership. In April, our planning application and masterplan for Cody Dock was approved for planning permission by Newham Council’s Strategic Planning Committee. This, combined with our 999-year lease from Thames Water and 7 years of design and consultation with Newham residents, enables us to begin the second phase of Cody Dock’s development into a creative quarter that will unlock the Lower Lea River and Leaway path’s full potential.

Overview of the development: Residential moorings for working and historical barges.

40m x 7m dry dock for surveying and servicing ships.

Tom Randall-Page’s giant rolling bridge.

Studios for arts and creative industries.

Community Boat service.

Riverside access for water sports.

Visitor’s centre, classrooms and exhibition spaces.

Public access to the Leaway and Lea River Park.

The River Princess Docklands Community Boat Service: After 18-months of restoration, our community boat was craned back into the water by Ainscough Crane Hire Ltd. The project was led by Matthew Grisenti and funded by Thames Water, Big Issue Invest and Inland Waterways along with the support of countless volunteers without whom, this ambitious endeavour could never have happened.

Further images of the community boat’s transformation and return to the water can be found later in this issue.

For further information or to find out how to get involved with any of these exciting projects, you can visit our new website, (www.codydock.org.uk), which was produced by Work till Late, (www.worktilllate.com).

Cody Dock’s Masterplan

STAFF CHANGES AT CODY DOCK

We were very sad to say goodbye to Liz Whitworth, our Engagement Officer, in July. Many of you will know Liz from the great work she did planning and leading our celebration events, drumming up and supporting volunteers in many different capacities and working with our corporate supporters to arrange volunteering days for their teams. Liz will be dearly missed by all of us at Cody Dock and we wish her all the best for the future.

Earlier this month, two new members of staff joined the team to build on Liz’s excellent legacy. Sally Ramsden and Belle Tidswell will work together to lead on Cody Dock’s commitment to engaging the local community, schools, businesses and other stakeholders.

Sally said, about her appointment, “I’m truly delighted to be joining the GDP team. I started off volunteering a couple of years ago and feel very fortunate to be able to come on board at this exciting time. I’m looking forward to meeting everyone and to talking with people and organisations who want to share their skills and experience as the long-term master plan kicks in.

Cody Dock needs all hands on deck as it takes the next steps towards building a creative quarter with community green space and boating facilities on the banks of the River Lea".

And Belle told us, “I'm really excited to be taking up the Community Stakeholder Role alongside Sally. I have a passion for the environment and nature, a background in community outreach, event management as well as teaching and social care. I'm really looking forward to working alongside volunteers to shape the landscape and activities at Cody Dock . Expect a full and vibrant program creating opportunities and interests for the local community and beyond.”

OUR BIG SUMMER EVENT Julia Briscoe

Cody Dock’s Big Summer Event

Cody Dock’s Big Summer Event gave us an opportunity to celebrate and showcase what has been an eventful year. Highlights included: · · · ·

Sharing the success of our major planning application The re-launch of our Community Boat Service, the River Princess Showcasing the winners of the schools’ poster competition Showcasing our award-winning community gardens

Rokhsana Fiaz, The Mayor of Newham, joined 500 people from the local community to cut the ribbon and open the River Princess community boat. A big thanks to all our volunteers who helped us out on the day!

Newham Mayor Rokshana Fiaz with Cody Dock volunteers, Simon Nicholson, Callum Sykes and Duncan Lowther

This special event also gave us an opportunity to formally thank supporters and funders of our projects, including: · · · · ·

The Big Lottery Thames Water The Big Issue Invest The Co-op Newham Council

·

Active Newham

Entertainment was provided by the Star Primary School Choir, The Hogeye Men with a selection of sea shanties and music by Cody Dock regulars, The Stamford Hillbillies.

Our event was timed to coincide with the end of Ramadan and also included a Big Lunch, Eden Project’s national initiative where the local community are invited to come together, bringing a dish to share and eat.

Star primary school choir

Activities included puppet making with local artists from the Bus King Theatre and macramĂŠ hanging basket construction with our community gardener, Vicky and Cody Dock volunteers, as well as the very popular and highly competitive raffle.

Making puppets with members of the Bus King Theatre

We’d like to thank once again everyone who came and supported this event and look forward to seeing you again soon!

Cody Dock’s Big Lunch

If you would like to be involved in volunteering either at events or be involved in any of our regular volunteering sessions, please contact contact@codydock.org.uk or look at our website: https://codydock.org.uk/

Newham Mayor Rokshana Fiaz officially opens the River Princess

COMMUNITY BOAT POSTER COMPETITION

Finalist posters that featured in Cody Dock’s summer exhibition and represent the four schools that have won a free boat trip for their school. The winning schools were; Gainsborough Primary School, Star Primary School, Cayley Primary School and Kier Hardie Primary School.

CODY DOCK BAR—OPEN FOR BUSINESS! Our fully licensed bar is now open to the public! Come by for a drink on Fridays, between 5.30pm – 11pm; and between 12.00pm – 11.00pm on Saturdays and Sundays. We’ll be serving a fantastic selection of locally produced ales and a good range of wines and ciders.

You can also book the bar for groups and celebrations seven days a week, between 12.00pm and 11.00pm. Minimum Group Size = 10 people. Contact us by email for further information or to make a booking: contact@codydock.org.uk.

DONATE TO CODY DOCK Are you able to support the essential work we’re doing here at Cody Dock?

We rely on the donations of generous funders, businesses and individuals to make our vision of Cody Dock as a thriving community and creative quarter a reality. Donations are essential to cover day to day running costs, as well as specific projects within our environmental and heritage work, bridge fund and educational boat trips.

Donations can be made via our website: www.codydock.org.uk by clicking on the ‘Donate’ button at the top of the page or you can speak to one of our team (0207 473 0429). Thank you!

MEET THE DOCKERS Nadia Mesbah This month, we interview Nadia the Founder of and culinary mastermind behind, the Cody Dock Café.

Hi Nadia, tell us how you got involved at Cody Dock.

I started as a volunteer, helping out at Cody Dock’s events and running a sewing and knitting group for two years, on board the River Princess.

Gradually, I started taking on work as part of the paid team, doing some cleaning and running crafts and face painting. After a while it became clear that we needed someone to make refreshments for the many volunteers who were coming to Cody Dock to help with its transformation, so I started making drinks and food for them. Then, in summer 2016, we opened our café to the public.

And what was your vision for the café?

I had the idea of providing healthy options to the many people who work in the local area. There aren’t many places to buy food round here, so I wanted to offer bright, tasty snacks, meals and drinks, all made from scratch, which made use of the vegetables and fruit we grow here at Cody Dock.

Can you tell us how things have been going over the last few months?

We’ve been getting busy! We mainly see office workers and others who are based on the estate; cyclists, walkers, sightseers and also a lot of volunteers, who have worked up an appetite by helping us here in the gardens.

We’ve been serving lots of hot lunches each day, and countless coffees and snacks. The salad, tomatoes and spinach we use in our recipes all come from the Cody Dock gardens and people’s favourite dishes at the moment seem to be: lasagne, paella and dauphinoise potatoes with roast chicken. We’ve been adding to the menu recently and varying the ‘Special of the Day’ – you can see what’s on offer for the week on our Twitter Feed: @codydockcafe1 and we’ve also added some new paninis to our repertoire, which seem to be a big hit!

And finally, what’s your favourite thing about working at Cody Dock?

Well, above all, I love working with the great team here at Cody Dock and in the café. And I love cooking – I’d cook all the time, if I could, so what better

than to be able to do it in a peaceful, outdoor space like Cody Dock, with wonderful people visiting and great views of the river?!

If you’re feeling hungry after reading all about the café, you can visit on weekdays, between 9am and 4pm and weekends, between 11am and 5pm.

You can place an order to collect using the order line: 07850251849.

Nadia’s Café is also available to cater for weddings and private functions, including those fast approaching Christmas Parties – do get in touch if you’re interested: codydockcafe@mail.com

Nadia and Dalila in the Café

ARTICLE BEE Julia Briscoe Cody Dock has received some special guests – our first bee hive with 40,000 honey bees. The bees have settled in very quickly and love foraging in our gardens and beyond. The hive has arrived thanks to one of Cody Dock’s regular volunteers, Simon Nicholson and his wife, June.

Bee keeping: Simon has been keeping bees for two years now. For years and years, it was in the back of his mind as a “lovely thing to do” and an old friend of his used to keep them. A conversation with this friend a couple of years ago spurred Simon on to actually sign up for a course. There are many beekeeping courses aimed at Urban beekeeping and Simon went on a course in Wanstead.

Hive management: Most bee keeping courses take place between March and May as this seems to be a good time within the life-cycle for new bee keepers to begin to learn.

Queen bee grubs are fed royal jelly and take 11 days to hatch after which, a

queen can lay 1,000 eggs per day. The new queen is removed, marked for easy identification and placed into a new hive with a small brood to support her. A queen never leaves the hive and needs to be fed by the other bees. Beekeepers generally look in on the hive once a week in the summer months and leave it in peace over winter and in fact it is a new beekeeper’s first task to see the bees through the winter.

Honey: The first honey from a new hive takes about 9-10 months. Simon said that he had 11kgs of honey from the first batch in one hive. The harvesting season for honey is short, between July to end of August. At the point where the bees collect nectar, the water content is 70% and at the point that honey is ready, the water content is exactly 17%.

Beekeepers can tell when the honey is ready because the bees cap the cells off with wax at this point to stop the honey fermenting.

The racks of cells within each hive are removed once the bees have capped the honey. The wax capping is gently removed and each rack placed in a spinner.

The honey is then spun out before being passed through a filter and poured into jars.

The first honey produced entirely at Cody Dock will be ready next year! If you’re interested in learning more about bees or helping to look after our hive, get in touch to let us know: contact@codydock.org.uk

Further interest: Urban beekeepers try to prevent bees from swarming. Swarming generally happens between March and June as the bees look for new hives. Swarming bees are alarming and appear dangerous but the bees are placid and benign at this time of year. If you see a swarm, contact the London Beekeeper’s Association who can give you the number for a local beekeeper to come and help you remove and safely house the bees. The London Beekeeper’s Association is also a useful resource to find beekeeping courses local to you. http://www.lbka.org.uk/contact_us.html

PLEASE HELP THIS TINY BEE A poem inspired by Cody Dock, by local artist, Mrs M.S. White

Where are they going, the places I knew?

Fields and hedgerows where farmers used to sow.

Please don’t take my home, help this tiny bee, I’m in desperate need of somewhere to be.

Don’t ask me to make my home, up high in a concrete flat, I need open spaces and flowers – is it too much to ask for that?

I need you and you need me, help me soon, this tiny bee.

So plant your flowers and grow your trees We all need them, their beauty to see.

COMMUNITY ROUND-UP Over the summer, we have welcomed numerous local people, businesses, community groups and schools to Cody Dock, at our events, through organised activities and as individual volunteers and visitors.

Our Come and Have a Go event, in April, got things off to a great start, with 120 volunteers trying their hands at the many activities on offer, from making planters to taking part in an ecology audit, gardening, photography and learning about the volunteering roles available aboard the River Princess. Despite the rain, a great time was had by all.

Volunteers filling planters at our Come and Have a Go event

Cody Dock staff and volunteers have continued to work with Newham council and local businesses to improve Cody Dock Road and South Crescent, removing over 400 bags of waste, fly tipped furniture and domestic refuse.

Once again, local businesses Union Roast, Keyline Builders Merchants, Bywaters, Thames Tideway, Freshfields and Thames Water worked together installing bird boxes, planning a new wildlife corridor and producing interpretation boards in the build up to this year’s Britain in Bloom (in which we are hoping to build upon the success of last year’s level 5 award).

The Good Gym team helping us with some varnishing aboard the River Princess

Newham Good Gym (www.goodgym.org) have been volunteering at Cody Dock regularly over the past two years. Their nocturnal visits often go unseen, but their contribution has been significant, in terms of keeping our gardens watered, finishing the restoration of our community boat and keeping our gallery space at its best.

We attended the first National Park City Fair in July, an initiative Cody Dock has been supporting from its early days. We’re delighted that Newham and London at large has embraced this project and are looking forward to 2019 when London is officially announced as the first National Park City in the world, (www.nationalparkcity.london).

Cody Dock is often home to a number of artists in residence and, this summer, we saw the departure of the German artist Daniel Dressel after three years in which he completed his Masters at Goldsmiths and produced exhibitions in Venice, Moscow and Warsaw and has become a contemporary artist in much demand (www.danieldressel.com). We send him luck and best wishes and look forward to working with him in the future.

CITIZEN SCIENCE Benjamin Bishop The River Lea has begun to experience a more positive transition over the last few years, improving in quality, with sightings of waterway species on the increase.

Images L-R: Cinnabar moth spotted in the native hedgerow May 18, has BAP (Biodiversity action plan) Priority status for research only.

It has been thought for a long time that songbird species will not share bird feeders, with robins often representing the top of the food chain, however at Cody Dock feeders are diverse and social with tits, sparrows and finches feeding simultaneously.

Male swollen-thighed beetle native to the south of England a pollen feeder distinguishable by its thick hind limbs on males.

At Cody Dock we work hard to support our wildlife through the greening of our space, our use of feeders, bird boxes and woodpiles.

Moving forward we’re working to build our understanding of the species, habitats and relationship dynamics in and around our site and, to do this, we’re aiming to conduct a range of ecological audits.

These will be designed to create and implement a consistent framework for a long-term study of the area,

This is the larval stage of pear sawflies, which are a species that feed on leaves in groups within webbing on pear, hawthorn and cherry trees. Considered generally as a pest, they were found on 3 of the trees in our permaculture area. Permaculture is the process of allowing the land to provide, so we did not intervene in their life cycle.

as well as allowing us to study, record and monitor our local biodiversity and engage the local community in environmental awareness and wellbeing.

We’re particularly keen to focus on: waterway/breeding bird territory mapping, analyzing the water quality, surveying the fish and aquatic life here and tracking our bats and other mammals.

This year we have made a great start on this by working with the community and schools to take part in the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch, which takes place over the last weekend of January. Local people, groups of children from Keir Hardie Primary School and volunteers from the RSPB took part in the surveying and found big increases in many bird species from the previous year’s survey.

Kier Hardie School taking part in this years RSPB Garden Birdwatch.

In April this year, we also ran a River Habitat survey to get the community involved and thinking about the different types of habitat and infrastructure that can influence the variety of vegetation and wildlife along the river. 8 groups of between 2 and 4 individuals took part to survey 10 sites, 50 metres apart covering a 500metre stretch of river upstream of Cody Dock. The results were a Habitat Modification score over 1450 and a habitat quality score of just 40%.

The recommended mitigation is restoration, focusing on habitat creation and vegetation management: With intention to improve ecological stability and diversity. The stretch includes intertidal mudflats, which are a priority habitat under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP), due to their high productivity and abundance, supporting a large amount of predatory birds and fish.

Images L-R: Brackish “Benthic” (Silt/river floor) level which is relatively understudied, these layers of rivers contain macro-invertebrates and aquatic flora which support higher species such as birds and fish. Used as an indicator in freshwater rivers, exploring tidal and marine communities is important to understanding tidal habitats.

Algal blooms along the Lea can be encouraged by eutrophication of the watercourse; this is caused by misconnected plumbing and sewage pollution. This has significantly reduced over recent years with the ongoing work of Thames Tideway.

Images L-R: During July a pair of black swans made their way down the tidal watercourse a much rarer sight than the common mute swans.

Classed as an invasive species Canada geese are migrant settlers along the Lea rearing up to nine goslings per pair.

Over the recent years this section of the Lea has been resident to a pair of shelduck who are predominantly a coastal species they feed off algae invertebrates, small shellfish and aquatic snails at low tide.

If you’d like to be involved in any of our fascinating projects, we are always looking for extra pairs of hands – both members of the public who are interested in learning, connecting with and appreciating our local biodiversity and specialists who could bring valuable skills to the study. You can get involved by emailing contact@codydock.org.uk

Images reproduced with kind permission from Benjamin Bishop

THINGS TO DO AT CODY DOCK

Nadia’s Café

Nadia’s Cody Dock Café is open 7 days a week serving fresh coffee, as well as healthy and delicious food, bustling with flavour.

The Café is also open for extended hours during events and can cater for walking groups and local businesses on request. For regular updates, follow us on Twitter: @codydockcafe1

Elder Flowers & Best Buds

Gardening and social group for energetic Elders and wise Buds. A Wednesday & Saturday volunteering opportunity to potter around, connect with each other and nature.

For more information, please contact contact@codydock.org.uk

Help with General Volunteering

Join our team of regular volunteers, to help with the ongoing transformation of the dock.

We can offer a range of tasks and flexible volunteering times to suit your interests and needs. For more information, please contact contact@codydock.org.uk

Newham Natural Crafts

Every second Saturday of the month, 12pm-3pm.

Natural Crafts is a group of parents based in Newham who like to create more opportunities for children to learn outdoors.

For information on times, workshops and how to book, visit www.naturalcrafts.org

UPCOMING EVENTS OPEN HOUSE WEEKEND 22nd and 23rd September 2018, FREE ENTRY Join us as part of Open House London 2018 for guided heritage tours of Cody Dock and Imperial Gasworks and a volunteering fair.. For more information and booking, visit www.openhouselondon.opencity.org.uk HALLOWEEN CELEBRATION EVENT 27th October 2018, FREE ENTRY Come along if you dare for some spook-tacular fun at our much loved Halloween event. Expect entertainment for all the family with a bonfire, warming food and drinks, live music, face painting and all sorts of other mischief! Don’t forget your fancy dress!

FROST FAIR 24th November 2018, FREE ENTRY Browse the festive stalls and pick up some Christmas treats at our Winter fair.

If you are interested in applying for a stall to sell your wares, please contact us by email at contact@codydock.org.uk WILD ABOUT THE CRESCENT An opportunity for local residents, schools and businesses to help us improve our neighbourhood and strengthen the wildlife corridor between Canning Town and Stratford. For further information about how to get involved and Wild About the Crescent volunteer days, please visit our website.

BURNS NIGHT Friday 25th January, TICKETED EVENT (keep an eye on the Cody Dock Website and our Social Media for further details on pricing and how to book) Our Burns night Ceilidh will be back again! Join us for a night of live music, fun and dancing and traditional Scottish fayre.

THE RIVER LEA PHOTO COMPETITION EXIBITION View the winning entries in this year’s River Lea photo competition, Cody Dock’s annual showcase of images exploring the Lea River’s rich ecological, industrial and social tapestry. The exhibition will run from 22nd September—27th October. For opening times and further information, please visit our website.

PHANTOM LIMB Thursday 1st—Sunday 18th November 2018, FREE ENTRY

An exhibition curated by Kathy Cho and Katie Yook that focuses on the lived experiences of artists from the Korean diaspora.

FOLLOW US OR GET IN TOUCH: CodyDock

@CodyDock

www.codydock.org.uk

CodyDockers

contact@codydock.org.uk

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