Grove Park Nature Reserve (previously Hither Green Nature Reserve) is a nature reserve in Grove Park within the London Borough of Lewisham, southeast London, United Kingdom and is bordered by a railway line to the west, residential streets to the east and north, and more woodland and a footpath to the south where the site's entrance is located. The reserve is in size, being long north to south, and around wide, containing woodland in the south and centre and shrubland and meadow in the north where the site narrows to only in width. Baring Road, the A2212 road with several bus routes is located immediately to the east of the reserve, and the centre of Grove Park including Grove Park railway station is around to the south. The entrance is at the southern end of the site, from a footpath named Railway Children Walk, part of the South East London Green Chain and is joined with reserve's circular path by a shorter path with a footbridge passing over an unnamed stream which flows westward and empties into a small pond. The nature reserve, which is free to enter is accessed by local primary schools for forest school trips and is also used for dog walking and fruit picking.
Several species of tree grow in the woodland including oak, birch, and ash among others, and the northern meadow area is home to numerous wildflowers such as meadow vetchling, and common vetch. Eurasian blackcap, European green woodpecker, owls, and kestrels, are among the 39 bird species which breed in Grove Park Nature Reserve, and other animals such as bats, grass snakes, hedgehogs, and common lizards also live at the site. Many insect species are seen in the reserve, including nineteen species of butterfly and yellow meadow ant which have made numerous ant hills in the northern meadow. Amphibians including the common frog, smooth newt, and common toad have made their home in the reserve's pond.
In the eighteenth century the area that is now Grove Park Nature Reserve and much of the surrounding area was agricultural fields, the buildings of Burnt Ash Farm were located to the north of the site then by the 1860s several other farm buildings appeared to the west, northeast and southeast. The South Eastern Main Line railway was built through Grove Park in 1865 followed by Grove Park railway station in 1871. In the late nineteenth century, and early twentieth century, tennis courts and residential gardens occupied the area at the southern end of the reserve. From 1894 to 1899, writer Edith Nesbit lived in a large house named Three Gables on Baring Road, her garden backed up to the railway line and overlapped with what is now the southern part of the nature reserve. It is suggested the location inspired her children's book The Railway Children which was published in 1906, and the footpath on the southern side of the reserve was named Railway Children Walk in her memory. During the mid-twentieth century, up to the 1980s, much of the land was used as allotments and was of particular importance during the Dig For Victory campaign during World War II, when there was also an anti-aircraft battery located on the site.
Although the site had been used informally by local residents for recreation for many years it officially became a nature reserve, in 1984, as Hither Green Nature Reserve when the Lewisham London Borough Council agreed to manage the area under licence from British Rail, then in 1987 Lewisham Council acquired freehold of the land, following a public enquiry the previous year in which planning permission for housing on land just to the north was granted. In 2007 the sites name was changed to Grove Park Nature Reserve, and an organisation named Friends of Grove Park Nature Reserve was set up. Since that year the National Lottery Community Fund awarded the organisation over £30,000, which has paid for new signs, seats, improvements to the entrance and the path, installing bat boxes and a sculpture and several open day activities. The Nature Reserve has won the Green Flag Award several times since 2009. In 2020 Grove Park Nature Reserve and Railway Children Walk were temporarily closed so UK Power Networks could complete works, to maintain the electricity supply network. Although there were delays caused by ground conditions, and the COVID-19 pandemic, the site was opened again in November 2020 after the grassland and pathway was returned to its previous state. 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, and some of the trees had been deliberately damaged. Permission to remove some of the trees and build a trailer park on the land had been applied for but was refused in August 2020, as Lewisham Council had issue with the proposal to erect larger buildings on the land and the plans to cut down a number of trees.
There are proposals for future development of Grove Park Nature Reserve and surrounding green space. Grove Park Neighbourhood Forum has plans for the of open land, stretching , 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. The land covered in the proposal 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. 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 and may stop any new developments being built on the area. The aims of the proposal are to protect biodiversity of threatened species in the area, and to provide opportunities for outdoor learning, recreation and well-being. The new proposed park would follow the railway line, and suggested names include Grove Park Urban National Park, The Railway Children District Park and Railway Children Urban National Park taking the name from the Edith Nesbit novel, said to have been inspired by the location.
Description
Grove Park Nature Reserve is roughly long in a northwest to southeast direction, following the railway line, and around wide at the centre, but narrowing to at the northern end, giving it an area of about . The site is mostly woodland, with some shrubland, it is more open grassland on the western side, where the ground slopes down to meet an iron fence which separates the reserve from the railway line. The southern and eastern area of the reserve is more heavily covered in trees, the northern and western areas are more open grassland, with scattered trees and shrubs, the northern grassland and meadow area narrows to a thinner strip of land about one third the width of the woodland section at the site's centre. The reserve is free to enter and is open to the public all year round. At the southern end of the site, there is a small algae covered pond, which is home to frogs, newts and toads. Along the southern edge of the reserve, a small unnamed stream rises from a seep and flows south-westward, emptying into the pond, the footpath running from the site entrance northward into the reserve crosses over this stream on a small footbridge. The north of the reserve has an open field, where, alongside the path there is a hollow which was previously another pond, but is long dried up. There are wooden benches and tables in the preserve, where the trees are thinner, and a roughly circular path going around the southern half of the site, which is a dirt path on the south side near the entrance, but a raised wooden path closer to the centre where the ground is more uneven and wet. In an opening, a circular arrangement of benches have been installed around a pedistal, resembling a classroom, to aid educational visits. There are also a number of signs inside Grove Park Nature Reserve, telling visitors about the local history and wildlife of the site and surrounding area, some of these were paid for by lottery funding.
On the northern side the site has wooden fences separating it from residential roads, Bramdean Crescent and Oak Apple Court, and the eastern side has fences backing onto Hoser Avenue, Palace View, Baring Close and Stratfield House, which are residential cul-de-sac roads, coming off of Baring Road. On the eastern side of the reserve near the path and within the woodland, are the remains of an old cast iron fence which was part of the boundary fence of the previous residential garden. An unlit footpath named Railway Children Walk, runs along the southern boundary of the reserve, joining Stratfield House and Baring Road on the east side to Reigate Road in Downham on the west side, with a stepped footbridge carrying it over the railway line. Railway Children Walk is where the reserve's main entrance is located, and also contains a simple wooden model of a train, that can be sat on. Grove Park Nature Reserve and Railway Children Walk are part of the South East London Green Chain, and the Capital Ring, linked sections of footpaths in open areas around London. There are also gates into the reserve on Hoser Avenue and Oak Apple Court on the eastern and northern side, but these gates are usually not open to the public.
Grove Park Nature Reserve is accessed by local primary schools for forest school trips, the site is also used for dog walking and plum and blackberry picking.
Wildlife Plants
Grove Park Nature Reserve contains a diverse number of trees other plants including, oak, birch, ash, hornbeam, horse chestnut, common lime, poplar, plum, red apple, privet, snowberry, sycamore, English elm, goat willow, hawthorn, field maple, and blackberry. ivy is also present, covering much of the ground, and trunks of the older trees.
The area around the site entrance contains a small piece of rough grassland encircled by woodland. This grassland has many species of plants including bramble, buttercups, clovers, ragwort, and hogweed, as well as bluebells, winter aconite and snowdrops which have been planted there.
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. This woodland was previously a residential garden, and contains ash, oak and a small number of hornbeams, horse chestnuts, common limes, and poplars, much of which is covered in ivy and is home to many different insects. elder, hawthorn and dog rose are also present in the woodland, and in early spring, miniature daffodils and wood anemone sometimes grow. 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.
The central area has a small opening of grassland with scattered scrub and wildflowers including meadow vetchling, common vetch, creeping cinquefoil and wild strawberry, left behind from the land's previous use as allotments. Just north of the opening of grassland is a thicket of plum trees, a remnant of the lands former use as an orchard, which many birds, wasps, foxes as well as local people eat.