I stumbled on this on my way home from Streatham Common and decided to include it. While this isn’t a London Wildlife Trust site, the information board says the charity was instrumental in preserving this as a woodland. It’s a very small remnant of Victorian gardens so it has both exotic trees and natives including […]
On the east side of Streatham Common there’s an area of woodland which I’ve never been to. I’ve always thought of Streatham Common as the more obvious grassy bit so it’s surprising to see how much woodland there is. There’s a downpour just after I’ve arrived so I spent quite a lot of my visit […]
Another surprising site which is part of the Great North Wood project, Biggin Wood is number 10 on my list and an easy walk from home. I spend some time looking for evidence of leaf miners on the brambles, which was the subject of this morning’s Country Diary. I don’t find any but there are […]
One Tree Hill, Lewisham: High above the city, an ancient oak may remember the ancient woodland on this site I climb the hill until I can look out over the city below. Whether the air pollution has really improved over lockdown I don’t know, but it smells fresh and cool up here at 90 metres […]
Well, it’s closed! But as I’m here, I spend some time peeking over the fence to look down into the reserve which is on the steep bank of the railway cutting. There is a tree on the edge of the reserve with shiny heart-shaped leaves and the characteristic fluffy white seeds of a black poplar […]
Looking at the park today as a remnant of the Great North Wood gives me a new perspective. I weave through the trees in the woodland walk and admire the muscular trunks of the sweet chestnut trees. The spikes of buds are evident but not yet in flower. Come July, their musky scent will fill […]
Although this joins onto Sydenham Wood, which I visit regularly, I don’t tend to spend much time in Dulwich Wood. So I decide to today. Yellow flag irises are in flower around Dewey Pond, which has been extensively managed by London Wildlife Trust for the Wood owners Dulwich Estate. There are lots of young robins […]
Despite Google Maps telling us cheerily that it will take an hour to cycle to Hutchinson’s Bank, it actually takes us two… along a ridiculously circuitous route… and dumps us in New Addington, rather than Featherbed Lane. This is the furthest I’ve been for the Challenge. At last we find the entrance to the reserve […]
It seems very appropriate that the first plant I see newly in flower this morning is Russian comfrey (Symphytum x uplandicum)as I cut my shin yesterday on a bicycle ride. This is a common garden escapee and is a cross between common comfrey and prickly comfrey. As well as it’s use to make a nutrient […]
Finding the entrance to this sliver of wood was a challenge. I locked up my bike to make investigating easier and finally, what looked like a private driveway between two imposing gateposts took me into the wood. This remnant of the Great North Wood and the adjacent meadows, the Lawns, are owned by the Borough […]
The Urban Naturalist 