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Hogsmill River Park

Local nature reserves in Greater LondonNature reserves in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames

Hogsmill River Park or Hogsmill Valley is a linear park along the banks of the Hogsmill River in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in London. It stretches from the junction of Surbiton Hill Park and Elmbridge Avenue in Berrylands in the north to the junction between the river and a footpath to Manor Close in Old Malden in the south.Most of the site is grassland, which has a rich variety of wildlife, including locally unusual plants such as grass vetchling, devil's-bit scabious and pepper-saxifrage. Birds which breed on the site include bullfinch, spotted flycatcher, lesser spotted woodpecker.The site is a Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, Grade 1. It is also a Local Nature Reserve (LNR) - or several LNRs. Details on Natural England's website are confused. The page for Hogsmill River Park gives the coordinates and description similar to the details on the London Parks and Gardens Trust and Greenspace Information for Greater London, but the map is of a small wood closed to the public called Hogsmill Wood, north of the A3 road and east of the Hogsmill River. Natural England also shows two duplicate LNRs on the same land, Elmbridge Open Space to the north of the A3 and Southwood Open Space to the south.The London Loop walk goes through the park.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Hogsmill River Park (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Hogsmill River Park
Grand Avenue, London Berrylands (Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames)

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Wikipedia: Hogsmill River ParkContinue reading on Wikipedia

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N 51.3892 ° E -0.2708 °
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Elmbridge Meadows Nature Reserve

Grand Avenue
KT5 9HU London, Berrylands (Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames)
England, United Kingdom
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Raeburn Open Space
Raeburn Open Space

Raeburn Open Space, locally known as Berrylands Nature Reserve, is a 5-hectare Local Nature Reserve and Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, Grade 1, in Berrylands in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in London, England. It is owned and managed by Kingston Council. but is mainly maintained by local community volunteers. Officially declared a nature reserve in 1992, little was done to manage it as a nature reserve until 2017 when a community initiative began. The site is a linear park along the Tolworth Brook (also known as the Surbiton Stream), a tributary of the Hogsmill River, which is the life blood of the nature reserve. It has areas of mown grass, unmanaged grassland, scrub and woods, together with ancient hedgerows which have a variety of native plants. Birds include jays, stock doves, great spotted woodpeckers and kingfishers, and there are invertebrates such as the ringlet butterfly.The park adjoins the former Surbiton Lagoon, now Berrylands Park, to the south. Rose Walk is to the north and Elmbridge Open Space to the east. There are four main access points: off Elmbridge Avenue, from either end of Stirling Walk off Grand Avenue and Raeburn Avenue, and from Meldone Close. In 2017, the Environment Trust successfully bid for a grant from Thames Water which was to restore and enhance the nature reserve over three years. This project has been a great success and has attracted many locals to support the nature reserve. Work completed has included removing sections of concrete channelling from the stream sides and base, naturalising it instead, building a new wooden bridge to create a trail on the far side of the stream linking to the old concrete bridge, digging a new wildlife pond, clearing invasive plants, regular litter picking and other general conservation work.

Chessington Hall
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