Local Wildlife Site

Wildlife

The railsides are covered in a complex of scrub with elder, dogwood, bramble, hawthorn and English elm, and secondary woodland with sycamore, grey poplar, wild cherry, ash and horse chestnut. More open areas support false oat-grass with a variety of tall herbs including cow parsley, green alkanet and bittersweet, white deadnettle and garlic mustard. A small part of this stretch is Westbere Copse Local Nature Reserve which is mainly composed of sycamore, oak, ash and aspen. There is an understorey of snowberry, elder, English, blackthorn and hawthorn. The ground flora includes shade tolerant species such as cow parsley, nettle, ivy and bramble. In areas with less shade these are joined by common toadflax, Canadian goldenrod and Michaelmas-daisy. The London notable species common broomrape has been recorded here. Common birds along the railside include blue tit, great tit, robin, blackbird, wren and dunnock. There is also a small pond and spring as well as summer wildflower meadows. The Jane Evans Nature Reserve (formerly Minster Road Nature Reserve) is on the opposite bank of the railway and contains a wildflower meadow, a pond and an orchard planted by the local community. The Medley Orchard is an old orchard, a rare habitat in London, and the fruit trees can support important communities of insects. Medley Orchard is now largely secondary woodland of ash, but a few old fruit trees survive.

Facilities

No information available