I suppose one great thing about blogging about niche places in south London has been that I've been able to explore loads of different, unique nature reserves. Over two-thirds of London is made up of green spaces, after all, whether that's woodland, parks, or even gardens, and I'm fortunate to live around greenery. Natural England, who are responsible for caring for England's natural environments, have listed 144 local nature reserves in Greater London, of which 77 are in south London.
 |
| Wandle Meadow Nature Reserve |
The boroughs with the most of these nature reserves are Merton, with 15, followed closely by Kingston with 13 and Sutton with 11. Lambeth and Wandsworth lag far behind, with just one each. It is worth noting these numbers might not truly reflect how green the boroughs actually are, since the size of the nature reserves across London varies from nearly 100 hectares (Brent Reservoir) to just 0.13 hectares (Burnt Ash Pond in Lewisham). However, I will use these stats to claim I was right in thinking Merton is one of the best south London boroughs when I did my ranking a few months ago.
 |
| South Norwood Country Park |
From those 77, I have visited only around 12, which alright, isn't a great number, but I have blogged about a substantial number of them. Who could forget when I went to Battersea Park, Ravensbury Park, or Wilderness Island? That's without forgetting there are loads of parks out there which aren't nature reserves, like Wandsworth Common. I don't think I've blogged more about parks than most people, but I'd like to claim I've played my part in advertising the unseen greenery in London - the kind that no one cares about because they're not photogenic enough.
 |
| Morden Hall Park |
There are other nature reserves, though. Take the National Trust, who operate five in south London, of which I've blogged about two of them.
- I've been to Morden Hall Park, almost three years ago;
- I also went to the nearby Watermeads when I trekked around Mitcham for fun.
- Selsdon Wood, located in the depths of Croydon;
- Petts Wood, not too far from Bromley;
- East Sheen Common, right next to Richmond Park.
And I'm planning to visit those three locations for the blog in the coming months. I hope you enjoy those posts, especially as they're going to be mostly woodland-based, so none of that psychogeography which I often bring to this blog.
 |
| Wilderness Island |
There are also countless other locations in London which aren't officially local nature reserves. That's because this is a legal term, not a vibes term. If you find yourself scrolling through the list, you'll find Richmond Park isn't listed. That's because Richmond Park is actually a national nature reserve, which is a different classification by Natural England. It's one of three national nature reserves in London, the others being Ruislip Woods in the north-west, and the South London Downs, which crosses vast swathes of Purley, Caterham, and Coulsdon.
As for whether I'll ever blog about those, I'm not sure. They'd require a very devoted day out, which I wouldn't mind doing, but they're probably months away from being written. Indeed, I'm not sure what this post is about, beyond being a sneaky advert for my writing.
Comments
Post a Comment