Meet the Friends Committee
A group of volunteers is elected at each Annual General Meeting to guide the work of the Friends of Conway Recreation Ground.
Keith Weller
Chair
"We live in Selborne Road, and enjoy the mighty oaks and magical pond in Conway Rec. We also play tennis and it's great that the Tennis Club and Friends work together to protect and improve our shared green space. Our Rec has something to offer local people of all ages, whether keeping fit, enjoying the plants, watching waterbirds raise young - or just relishing the view from the benches and grassy slopes.?
Frances Carman
Secretary
"We’ve loved the Rec since we moved here in 1991 when we watched the moorhens, frogs and toads with our 9 year old son. And we love it now when our 3 year old granddaughter enthusiastically feeds the ducks and moorhens. We’ve stargazed there on clear evenings and we’ve watched bats swooping over the pond after the insects. It is a delightful dynamic oasis in the Lakes Estate and is small enough to give all residents and those who walk through a sense of ownership. We saw it at a low point and are proud to have helped bring it back to a thriving wildlife area."
Mick Carman
Committee Member
"I have lived in Harlech Road since 1991. My son grew up playing in the rec with friends. For such a small space it has a wonderful variety of flora and fuana. In spring the pond is alive with frogs,toads, newts and nesting moorhens, the bulbs we have planted are starting to emerge. Summer evenings can be magical, watching the bats flying low over the pond catching insects. Autumn brings frosts and the leaves turn to red and gold. In winter the pond often freezes. There really is something happening all year round in the rec."
Julia Rees
Committee Member
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Caroline White
Committee Member
"I have loved the Rec since we moved here back in 1989. Both our children have enjoyed playing in the rec as our grandchildren do now.
It is a wonderful oasis of calm and peacefulness right in the heart of the Lakes Estate. It is always changing through the months and seasons – a joy to sit in, or walk through.
Our Rec is something very special, small but perfectly formed, and I love contributing to its development so it continues to bring interest and joy to future generations."
Sue Davies
Committee Member
"We moved into Conway Road 40 years ago with a young family. The park has been such a bonus over all those years. We have enjoyed the pond and its wildlife – kids fishing for tadpoles, falling in; watching the toads and moorhens; sliding down the bank in the snow; running treasure hunts; and joining the tennis club.
Now the kids have flown (long ago) we have come to appreciate the upturn in the park’s fortunes. The Rec has never looked as good as it does today thanks to all the local ‘carers’ who came along and formed the Friends of Conway Rec. It has gone from strength to strength, which is why I wanted to be a part of it and, in retirement, joined the committee.
It’s so good to feel a sense of local ownership after leaving all the responsibility to the parks department for so long -- it’s like having an extension to your own garden but cared for by a team of enthusiasts. I love it! I hope that others will inherit our commitment to Conway Rec and that the partnership between the Friends, the parks department and the local residents will continue to be as fruitful as it has been until now."
Martin Greenaway
Committee Member
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Ilona Jesnick
Committee Member
"I have lived opposite the Rec for almost 50 years and have seen many changes. There was a time before the moorhens and before the white waterlilies that attracted them to nest here; last year the moorhens produced their usual 4 broods, mallards paraded their stripy ducklings, tufted ducks shepherded fluffy black chicks and a mandarin duck with her two offspring dropped in for a quick visit. There are more trees now – some council-planted, some self-seeded. The Friends have planted for spring blossom and autumn colour. But I miss the sandbank that the children slid down, where Solitary Bees made their individual nests; and the clear water that let me and my son watch sticklebacks mate and make their nests in the sandy bottom exactly as we saw on the wildlife films. Now we have dragonflies and damsel flies with their iridescent wings flitting around the reeds in summer. You can sit and watch the pond for hours, there is always something going on."
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