Wimbledon Common Open Day
Sunday 13th September 2026
NOT FINISHED
On a September day with a mixture of sunshine and showers, James Firth, Laurence Peacock and Alan Wood took their microscopes, cameras and computers to Wimbledon Common for their annual Open Day as a contribution to the Quekett’s microscopy outreach programme. The Open Day originated as Stables Day, an opportunity to meet the Rangers and their horses, but it has expanded into a country and crafts fair that attracts hundreds of visitors. As usual, we were based in the Information Centre.
We collected samples from the pond in the Wildlife Garden so that we could show what we found to visitors to the Open Day. We used pipettes to transfer specimens from jars into Petri dishes or onto slides. We also collected flowers, leaves, galls and bark to show under our microscopes.
Information Centre
Pond in the Wildlife Garden
James Firth
Stereo microscopes
Microscope slides
Oak leaf with galls and mines
Common spangle gall on oak leaf
Blanket weed
Single filament of Spirogyra
Horses in the stables
Wandle Concert Band
Donkey rides
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the Rangers for allowing us to collect small samples from the Common (which is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest, a Special Area of Conservation and a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation), and for allowing us to set up our equipment in the Information Centre.
Report and photographs by Alan Wood