Grove Park Nature Reserve

Various tree species in the woodland

Grove Park Nature Reserve contains a diverse number of trees other plants including, oak, birch, ash, hornbeam, horse chestnut, common lime, poplar,[5][6][2] plum,[7] red apple, privet, snowberry, sycamore, English elm, goat willow, hawthorn,[2] field maple,[15] and blackberry.[19] ivy is also present, covering much of the ground, and trunks of the older trees.[15][22][2]

The area around the site entrance contains a small piece of rough grassland encircled by woodland.[6] This grassland has many species of plants including bramble, buttercups, clovers, ragwort, and hogweed,[6] as well as bluebells, winter aconite and snowdrops which have been planted there.[6]

The main area of woodland in the nature reserve is just northwest of the entrance and occupies most of the southern area of the site.[6][7] This woodland was previpusly a residential garden,[6][7] and contains ash, oak and a small number of hornbeams, horse chestnuts, common limes, and poplars,[6][2] much of which is covered in ivy and is home to many different insects.[6] elder, hawthorn and dog rose are also present in the woodland,[6][2] and in early spring, miniature daffodils[2] and wood anemone sometimes grow.[6] The small pond is located in the southern part of the woodland, near the railway line, and has been planted with yellow iris, soft rush, watercress and brooklime.[6][2]

The central area is has a small opening of grassland with scattered scrub and wildflowers including meadow vetchling, common vetch,[2] creeping cinquefoil and wild strawberry, left behind from the land's previous use as allotments.[6] Just north of the opening of grassland is a thicket of plum trees,[7] a remnant of the lands former use as an orchard,[6] which many birds, wasps, foxes as well as local people eat.[6][7]

The far north of the reserve is a larger strip of open meadow containing wildflowers such as common knapweed, common bird's-foot trefoil, tufted vetch, wild carrot,[6] stone parsley agrimony, hedge bedstraw, and zigzag clover,[2] which attract many species of butterflies and moths[6][2] The woodland to the eastern side contains a small hawthorn hedge, a larger privet hedge, and snowberry among the undergrowth, which volunteers often remove due to its invasive nature.[6] Grove Park Nature Reserve is the only substantial area of calcareous grassland in the London Borough of Lewisham,[8] and the strip of grassland following the railway line along the southwestern side of the reserve has a continuous tract of tor-grass, a grass which likes calcareous soil and is rare in London being the only site where it grows in the Lewisham borough.[2]

Many species of birds are seen inside Grove Park Nature Reserve including, Eurasian blackcap, European green woodpecker, great spotted woodpecker, willow warbler,[7][15][2] owls, whinchats, wheatears, kestrels, Eurasian sparrowhawks, stonechats, Old World flycatchers, common whitethroats,[9] common chaffinch,[7] lesser whitethroat, and Eurasian bullfinch;[2] altogether over 39 species of bird are known to breed in the reserve.[9] Other animals that live in the nature reserve include bats,[23] grass snakes,[9] hedgehogs,[12] wood mouse,[7] honey bees,[24] and several protected species, such as slow worms, common lizards,[2] stag beetles,[12] house sparrows, and vesper bats.[9] Nineteen species of butterfly have been recorded at the site, which is thought to be some of the last remaining urban habitat for five species of hairstreak butterfly.[21]

Amphibians have been seen living in the pond in the south of the reserve including the common frog, smooth newt,[2] and common toad.[9] The grasslands in the northern part contain many ant hills belonging to the yellow meadow ant,[6][7][2] which the European green woodpecker often feed on,[6][2] and the common lizard also uses the grassland to bask in the sun.[6][7][2] Many birds, wasps, foxes and local people visit the thicket in the centre of the reserve to eat the plums growing there.[6][7] The meadow and wildflowers in the north of Grove Park Nature Reserve attract many species of butterflies and moths including the common blue, meadow brown, gatekeeper, red admiral and the eastern burnet moth.[6]

In the mid eighteenth century the area that is now Grove Park Nature Reserve and the majority of the surrounding area was all agricultural fields,[37] the buildings of Burnt Ash Farm were located to the north of the site.[37][38][11][39] By the 1860s there were several other farm buildings were present, including Shrofield Farm, close by to the west,[38] College Farm to the northeast,[40][11][39] Claypit Farm to the east,[40] and Grove Farm, which gave its name to Grove Park,[41][42] to the southeast.[40][41][42][43]

The South Eastern Main Line railway was built through Grove Park in 1865,[12] connecting the existing Lewisham station to the newly built Chislehurst railway station. In 1868 the line was extended to join Tonbridge railway station,[12] then in 1871 Grove Park railway station opened 750 m (820 yd) to the south of the site. In the late nineteenth century, and early twentieth century, what is now the southern end of the reserve, around the current entrance was a row of tennis courts.[11][39] The land immediately north of here was within the garden of a large house on Baring Road from the late nineteenth century[12][19][11] and became wooded early in the twentieth century,[12][19][39] The remains of an old cast iron fence which was part of the boundary fence of the garden are still visible here.[6]

Between 1894 and 1899, writer and poet, Edith Nesbit lived in a large house named Three Gables on Baring Road,[9][22] where the residential apartment building Stratfield House now stands.[12] Her garden backed up to the railway line and overlapped with what is now the southern part of the nature reserve, it is suggested that the location inspired her in writing the children's book The Railway Children which was published in 1906;[12][44][22] the fictional house near the railway in the book is called Three Chimneys similar in name to Nesbit's real house near the railway in Grove Park.[44] The footpath running along the southern side of Grove Park Nature Reserve, through where Nesbit's garden was previously located has been named Railway Children Walk, in memory of the book and author.[8] For much of the mid-twentieth century, up to the 1980s, the strip of land along the east side of the railway line from St. Mildred's Road in the north, to Grove Park in the south, including what is now Grove Park Nature Reserve, was used mostly as allotments,[12][19] and was of particular importance during the Dig For Victory campaign during the Second World War.[12][19]

Near the centre of the reserve, within the circular path there is a small hollow which was previously a pond with a small island in the middle,[11][39] which has long dried up, and also the former site of a World War II anti-aircraft battery.[6][12]

Since 2007, Lottery funding has help pay for installing new things in the nature reserve including signs

In 1984 the site became a nature reserve, when the Lewisham London Borough Council agreed to manage the area under licence from British Rail,[12][19] although the site had been used informally by local residents for recreation for many years before this.[12] In 1987 Lewisham Council acquired freehold of the land, following a public enquiry the previous year which allowed planning permission for housing on land just to the north, called Bramdean Village,[12][19] new cul-de-sac roads named Gables Close and Oak Apple Court adjoining the existing road Bramdean Crescent.[16] After Lewisham Council acquired the freehold they agreed the site should remain open access for the public.[19] In the past the site had also been referred to as Hither Green Nature Reserve.[2]

An organisation named Friends of Grove Park Nature Reserve was set up,[13][45] the National Lottery Community Fund has awarded the organisation funds on four occasions between 2007 and 2013, totalling £31,186, three of these funds were to improve Grove Park Nature Reserve directly.[45] On 7 May 2007, £8,292 was awarded for altering the main entrance of site to increase accessibility, and in partnership with Lewisham Council and the Purple Broccoli Theatre, children were offered story telling and exploration of the park; hedge, and bulb planting with help from volunteers also took place.[46] On 15 April 2009 £4,600 was given to hold an open day during the summer to attract local volunteers. Visitors built nest boxes for birds and bats, and helped pick litter and clean graffiti. Guided walks were put on, as was a treasure hunt for children, and a local artist unveiled a sculpture at the site.[23] The Lottery Fund also gave £9,075 on 5 September 2013 to install signposting around the nature reserve to give visitors directions and information on local wildlife and history.[14] The Nature Reserve has won the Green Flag Award several times from 2009.[8][47][48] In 2011 Friends of Grove Park Nature Reserve with help from Stephen Kenny and an organisation called Awards for All set up an audio tour in Grove Park Nature Reserve.[24] Five signs were installed at different points along the path within the reserve showing a local phone number visitors could call with their own mobile phone and they would be able to listen to a short recording up to nineteen seconds long corresponding to their location.[24] It was planned to use QR codes at a later date and give people the option to purchase honey made by bees that are at the site.[24]

In 2020 Grove Park Nature Reserve and Railway Children Walk were temporarily closed several times for a number of weeks in March, June, August and November so UK Power Networks could complete works including drilling, to maintain the electricity supply network.[13] The work took longer to complete than anticipated due to ground conditions, and the COVID-19 pandemic, but was finally completed in November 2020 and the grassland and pathway that had been effected was returned to its previous state.[13]

In September 2020, it was reported that one of the entry points to Railway Children Walk and Grove Park Nature Reserve was unlawfully closed and locked.[20] It was reported that after Lewisham Council locked the gate temporarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Stuart Oldroyd who was working 3242 Investments Ltd/Tilco, had locked the gate, to the private land behind the Ringway Community Centre with his own chain, blocking the route members of the public, including school children used to access the reserve, even though they had been told previously they had permission to use the land for access.[20][21] Permission to build a trailer park on the land had been applied for but was refused in August 2020.[20][21] The planning officers of Lewisham Council had issue with the proposal to erect larger buildings on the land and the plans to cut down a number of trees, as it would result in an urbanising visual impact and cause harm to the land, and would have a detrimental impact on the character and appearance of the site. Councillor Liam Curran, chair of Lewisham Council's sustainable development select committee, was reported as saying blocking the access route was “unlawful” and “shocking”.[20] Some of the trees were reported to have been ringbarked around this time, which normally kills the tree, even though permission to remove any trees was denied.[21]

There are proposals for future development of Grove Park Nature Reserve and surrounding green space.[49][9] A group named Friends of Hope are planning to improve the area around the path near the secondary entrance from Hoser Avenue in the future.[6] Grove Park Neighbourhood Forum has plans for the 7.2 ha (18 acres) of open land, stretching 4.5 km (2.8 mi), from the South Circular in the north, to past Elmstead Woods railway station in the south, including the nature reserve, to be turned into a new larger park.[21][10] The land covered in the proposal is under ownership of several different organisations including the London Borough of Lewisham, and covers, in addition to Grove Park Nature Reserve, Northbrook Park, Hither Green Cemetery, Railway Children Forest Garden, Chinbrook Meadows, Grove Park Cemetery, Sundridge Park Golf Course, Elmstead Woods and several other open areas of woodland, meadow, wetland and allotments,[21][10][22] and includes some of the River Quaggy's course.[22][16] Planned development to Grove Park Nature Reserve includes increasing the number of paths that access the site from the outside, and constructing a lookout tower overlooking the railway line. The proposal was submitted to Lewisham Council in 2019, although the southern area is covered by the London Borough of Bromley,[10] and it may stop any new developments being built on the area.[21][22] The aims of the proposal are to protect biodiversity of threatened species in the area, as the land is thought to be the only remaining urban site remaining that offers habitat to five species of hairstreak butterflies,[21][22] and to provide opportunities for outdoor learning, recreation and well-being.[49] The new proposed park, which would follow the railway line, has been described as an urban park, district park,[21][9] or urban national park,[9] and referred to as Grove Park Urban National Park, The Railway Children District Park[9] and Railway Children Urban National Park,[21][49] taking the name from the Edith Nesbit novel, said to have been inspired by the location.[21][49]