Beauchamp Park (pronounced bee-chum) is situated in Chatswood in suburban Sydney. Named after the former governor of New South Wales, the 7th Earl Beauchamp.
William Lygon was an interesting character. A politician by profession, he became an earl at the age of 18. Historians suggest he was a competent governor of New South Wales. But he became controversial at the time for a number of reasons. Such as his religion, his liberal point of view and a few controversial remarks.
Despite having seven children he was known as being an active homosexual. It was a scandal in those days. Beauchamp is often assumed to be one of the models for the character Lord Marchmain in Evelyn Waugh's novel Brideshead Revisited. His son Hugh, was the basis of the character of Lord Sebastian Flyte in the same book. (The drunk with the teddy bear).
The park has quite a few trees which are remnant of the original Sydney Blue Gum High forest. The soils are based on the Ashfield shale, and rainfall is around 1200 mm per year on average. It's a humid, temperate climate.
When I was small child, I remember getting my athlete's badge from the cub scouts on the sporting oval at Beauchamp Park. I was small and weak, but even I thought the requirements to achieve a badge were too easy. The high jump wasn't too high at all. It seemed that any kid with a pulse could get this badge.
A decade or two later, I was collecting money for the Salvation Army, and knocked on the door on a house next to Beauchamp Park. A woman answered, (I can still remember her name). She was so charming, we clicked very well. One of those happy one-off moments with a beautiful stranger.
A little later, I knew someone else who lived next to Beauchamp Park, she tried to matchmake me with her older sister. But it was never going to work, and I refused to have anything to do with the older sister. (We had just nothing in common and my gut reaction was to keep away). When the younger sister bought a house on the side of Beauchamp Park, she said it cost one million and six thousand. Around this time I took my young niece to the park and she enjoyed playing there.
When involved in Rotary International I had a bit to do with fund raising. One of the local businessmen had a duty to raise money with "football day". He drove a jaguar; and sold business machines, pagers, photocopiers and word processors. He hated his annual duty, and privately screamed out "BLOODY FOOTBALL DAY!"
I was there one (bloody) football day at Beauchamp Park. My friends and I had to find a "pie oven", which you see in shops. To sell pies and sausage rolls to the football watchers at Beauchamp Park. We eventually got in touch with the owner of the pie oven, and got it installed in time in the old pavilion. The pies and sausage rolls warmed up in time for the buying public.
Football day on that occasion was a winter day in July, bleak and windy, around ten degrees above freezing. I had to sell lottery tickets to raise money. The first prize winner was Laurie, the president of the club. A wealthy property developer, who could not have needed this prize less than anyone else.
On the day I was driven there by one of my current Facebook friends, who drove and parked well. He told a joke about the "braille method" of parking, which I've since put into practice. After the scheduled football finished, a few kids were playing on the oval. They seemed to be of Polynesian descent, and played with great speed and skill.
From the point of planted rainforest trees in the area, there is the nearby Baldry Street, which is lined with Plum Pines (Podocarpus elatus). A terrific sight to see this fabulous Gondwana plant. In March and April, the fruit falls on the road and pathways, making a big squishy purple mess. I love it.
Also at Beauchamp Park are planted Weeping Lilly Pilly trees (Syzygium floribunda), which produce masses of flowers and fruits. I was tempted to pick up some of the yellow fruits and grow them. But at the time I was criticized for growing too many rainforest tree seedlings. They are pretty easy to grow from seeds, apparently.
Beauchamp Park has lots of planted shrubs and flowers, with a playground, memorials, statues, information boards and plaques. Popular garden plants such as azaleas, magnolias, camellias and rhododendrons are present. The original forest was cleared in 1864. Farming took place here, and on the site was a slaughter-yard, which closed in 1896.
The last time I was at the park I received a text from a Facebook friend. He was furious about being de-friended by another mutual Facebook friend. And so I was also de-friended by her. It turned out, she was being harassed on the internet, she had to take action. It was nothing personal. So, he and I were both restored to friend status a little later. And we subsequently both attended his wedding, in the year after next.
Luckily I did the Wikipedia article on the Sydney Blue Gum High Forest. It's quite an interesting forest community. Don't much like the "high" bit, as it seems a bit silly. Blackbutt and Blue gum are the two main species. But Sydney Red gum, Grey Ironbark, Red and White Mahogany and White Stringybark are also seen.
The hard part is trying to tell the difference of the White and Red Mahogany in the field. They are quite similar looking trees, and without the gumnuts, identification can be tricky. The soils are based on Ashfield shale, which is a Triassic type of rock. It forms are relatively good type of soil, not particularly fertile. But good enough for a tall forest to grow. It's not just one type of homogeneous rock, but many different components. Such as shale, siltstone, mudstone, claystone, sandstone and ironstone.
The trees today were a mixture of original colonial veterans and planted trees. Mostly the council have done well in planting the original species. The tallest trees were the newly planted Sydney blue gums and Rose gums, some just over 35 metres. There's a few that don't belong; such as tallowwood, spotted gum and what appeared to be Eucalyptus cloeziana. Also I identified E.grandis which is planted out of place in many parts of Sydney, often confused with the Sydney Blue Gum.
