Space to Visit

A nature reserve reclaimed from former industrial land. The reserve is a tapestry of birch woodland, scrub and grassland. Once an area for dumping pulverised fuel ash the site has created a very alkaline soil and is therefore different to most soils in London (they are mostly acidic). This means that many plant species that can tolerate the soils of The Ripple struggle to grow elsewhere locally. Pyramidal and southern marsh orchids, grey club rush and wild basil are the most important of these. The areas of meadow and scrub provide a suitable habitat for 6 red data book species (those that are considered on the edge of extinction) of invertebrates.