Friends of Woods & Waters to Lead Nature Walk Sunday

For nature enthusiasts eager to know more about areas of town that haven't been covered with roads and houses, the Needham Friends of Woods & Waters is hosting a nature walk this Sunday, July 18, at 2 p.m.

There is no charge for the walk and all are welcome. Attendees will meet at the Hillside School parking lot off West St. at Glen Garry Rd. and head to Rosemary Brook, where Harvard landscape ecologist Richard T. T. Forman will lead an expedition through the marshes.

"We study the relationship between built-up Needham and the wild places of Needham, the natural exchange back and forth between these two environments," said Sam Bass Warner, clerk of the organization.

Warner explains that there are two basic nature forums in Needham—the marshes and rivers, and the forests—each of which has its own set of interactions with the town.

Rosemary Brook was selected as the location for this walk because of its major position as part of a system of waterways.

"Rosemary Brook is a very interesting path," says Warner. "It runs through the town out to a huge marsh, which you can see from Brookside Road."

The Friends of Woods & Waters, who informally refer to themselves as "the ferns and the fins," lead nature walks every summer. Their guidebook of 16 sidewalk walks, called "The Ferns & Fins Guide to Sidewalk Journeys in Needham," is available for purchase at the Cambridge Stationery Store.