Gunnersbury Triangle

Nature reserve in Ealing and Hounslow, UK

51°29′39.08″N -0°16′5.8″W / 51.4941889°N 0.268278°W / 51.4941889; -0.268278Governing bodyLondon Wildlife Trustwww.wildlondon.org.uk/nature-reserves/gunnersbury-triangle

Gunnersbury Triangle is a 2.57-hectare (6.4-acre) local nature reserve in Chiswick, in the London boroughs of Ealing and Hounslow,[2][3] immediately to the east of Gunnersbury. It was created in 1983 when, for the first time in Britain, a public inquiry ruled that a planned development of the land could not go ahead because of its value for nature. It opened as a nature reserve in 1985.

The area consists mainly of secondary birch woodland, with some locally uncommon willow carr or wet woodland and a small area of acid grassland along the track of the former Acton curve railway. The reserve supports a varied population of plants, birds, amphibians, insects and other wildlife. It is managed by the London Wildlife Trust.[4]

The reserve is maintained by London Wildlife Trust staff with the help of volunteers, and is open to the public. There is a varied programme of activities including wildlife walks, fungus forays, open days and talks. The reserve is used regularly by school and community groups, and for team-building work days by corporate groups. Its entrance, with a wooden five-bar gate flanked by hedges, is on the south of Bollo Lane, a few yards from Chiswick Park Underground station.

History

Old railway level indicator beside the former Acton Curve goods track

The area is shown on 19th-century maps as orchards and gravel quarries. The triangular area now occupied by the reserve was delineated by three railway lines, two belonging to the District Railway (now the District line of London Underground), and one to the now-defunct London and South Western Railway (LSWR). There was once a bridge into the triangle from the west, and in the 1940s it was used as railway allotments (vegetable gardens), but when London Transport's Acton Works was built, the bridge was abandoned. The area, thus disused, was colonised naturally by grasses and trees in a "secondary succession".[5][6]

Gunnersbury Triangle local nature reserve campaign, 1988, showing children by the pond

In 1981, the site was proposed for commercial development, provoking an energetic campaign by the Chiswick Wildlife Group, formed in March 1982, which became the local branch of the London Wildlife Trust.[7] The threat to the site was one of the first to be highlighted by the London Wildlife Trust on its formation in October 1981.[8] The campaign led to a Public Inquiry in July 1983, which determined that the site should be devoted to nature conservation. This was the first time anywhere in the United Kingdom that a Public Inquiry had ruled in favour of nature in a city, and the Gunnersbury Triangle example became a test case.[7][9]

According to the New Scientist, writing in 1985, "the celebrated Gunnersbury Triangle – an undisturbed piece of woodland surrounded by railways including the District Line ... was bought and preserved by Hounslow borough from British Rail with a GLC grant of £58 000.[a] The GLC also gave expert ecological advice when Hounslow council contested a public inquiry to save the Triangle."[10]

The London Wildlife Trust has managed the Gunnersbury Triangle on behalf of the London Borough of Hounslow since 1985.[7] The London Borough of Hounslow formally designated the Gunnersbury Triangle as a local nature reserve in 1987.[7] The London Borough of Ealing formally designated the part of the Gunnersbury Triangle that lies in Ealing as a local nature reserve in 1991.[7]

The former badger signboard, 2012

In 1993, recalling the dramatic events, the president of the London Natural History Society, David Bevan said:

On November 19th 1987,... The Gunnersbury Triangle was declared by Hounslow Council. The circumstances that led up to this important declaration are vividly described in David Goode's book.[11] This was emphatically not a rural site. It was surrounded on all three sides by railway lines and had only been in existence for a mere forty years."[12]

Bevan quoted Goode as saying "It had none of the features which, in traditional nature conservation terms, would make it a place worth preserving", going on to explain this remark as follows:

Nevertheless, the woodland that had grown up on it provided the only genuinely wild place for miles around and it was greatly cherished by local people. British Rail, who owned the site, had applied for planning permission to put up warehousing over the whole of the triangle. This was refused by Hounslow Council and a public inquiry followed in 1983. The Inspector ruled that the development should not be allowed because of the considerable local ecological value.[12]

In 2016, the Triangle's volunteers won an RE:LEAF Acorn Award for their "particular contribution to promoting or conserving trees".[13]

Reserve

The entrance ramp in springtime, with alkanet and cow parsley

Gunnersbury Triangle is a classic "railway triangle", the 2.57-hectare (6.4-acre) space in between three curving railway lines. To the west is the Richmond branch of the London Overground; to the south, the District line; and to the northeast, the disused track of the London and South Western Railway (there remains the Piccadilly line a little further north, crossing Bollo lane). Much of the area is now wooded.[7] It is a local nature reserve and a Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation.[4]

Habitats

The following compartments are identified in the reserve's management plan:[14]

  • Compartment 1: Secondary birch woodland
This covers most of the reserve. Silver birch is dominant, with a few crack willow, goat willow, some wild cherry and sycamore in the canopy. Shrubs include hawthorn, elder, holly, yew and rowan, with garden escapes like buddleia, Oregon grape, cotoneaster, privet. There are some saplings of pedunculate oak, mostly around the edge, and holm oak. The field layer is mainly thick bramble, with ivy in denser shade. Ferns include male fern, broad buckler fern and the less common lady fern.[14]
The wet woodland "Mangrove Swamp" with willows in 2012
  • Compartment 2: Secondary willow woodland
Willow carr (locally uncommon wet woodland including the "mangrove swamp") with goat willow, grey willow, and some crack willow, with hybrids. The shrubs and field layer are similar to compartment 1; there is some honeysuckle and common horsetail, hemlock water-dropwort, gypsywort, yellow flag, pendulous sedge.[14]
  • Compartment 3: Eastern bank and hedgerow
Rough grassland with false oat-grass, Yorkshire fog, yarrow, cat's ear, with bracken at the south end. There is an uneven hedge of hawthorn and buckthorn. The sunny south-west aspect encourages butterflies including holly blue, Essex skipper and small skipper.[14]
  • Compartment 4: North neutral meadow (anthill meadow)
Very uneven meadow with mounds formed by the yellow meadow ant Lasius flavus, fox earths, and spoil dumped during former gravel works. Grasses especially false oat-grass, Yorkshire fog; also cock's-foot, common bent and sheep's fescue. Herbs include common vetch, meadow vetchling, white clover, yarrow, ribwort plantain.[14]
  • Compartment 5: North acid meadow (railway track acid grassland)
On the former Acton curve railway, with a substratum of gritty sand and ballast (hard acidic rock). Small fine grasses especially sheep's fescue, with fine-leaved sheep's fescue, hard fescue, squirrel-tail fescue, early hair-grass. Herbs include sheep's sorrel, mouse-eared hawkweed, cat's ear and yarrow.[14]
  • Compartment 6: Southwest meadow (picnic meadow)
Coarse grasses such as cocksfoot, Yorkshire fog, false oat-grass, annual meadow-grass. Broom has colonised on the site of an accidental fire.[14]
Pond dippers on Frog Day
  • Compartment 7: Main pond
Main pond, dug in 1986, with seasonally fluctuating water levels. Most vegetation has colonised naturally, with among others common reed, purple loosestrife, yellow iris, water-plantain, water figwort, soft rush, gypsywort, water starwort, curled pondweed, common duckweed, water forget-me-not, water mint, brooklime.[14]
Six frogs spawning in the main pond
  • Compartment 8: Small pond
Seasonal pond with water plantain, celery-leaved crowfoot, bittersweet, water figwort, and introduced yellow iris.[14]
  • Compartment 9: Tall herb meadow (beside ramp path from entrance)
Small meadow of tall ruderal herbs, changing with natural succession, held back by cutting, with plants such as cow parsley, hogweed, stinging nettle, false oat-grass, garden escape daffodils and irises.[14]
  • Compartment 10: Gardens
Entrance yard gardens sown with wild flowers; hedge mustard, hoary mustard and other ruderal species invading; hedges with native trees and shrubs; hops scramble up the hedges.[14]
  • Compartment 11: Infrastructure
Hut, sheds.[14]

Usage

A painter at work on the boardwalk over the pond

The Gunnersbury Triangle is regularly visited by school parties, totalling some 1500 students per year, mainly in the summer when they can work outside. They study grassland, woodland and pond ecology.[15]

According to the TES magazine, "From April, holly blue, peacock and brimstone butterflies abound. Following the illustrated guide, you wind among wild cherry and rowan, under archways of hazel branches to a pond where damsel-flies dance in early summer. A sparrow-hawk nests in a silver birch, a jay comes visiting, bees and wood-mice also live here."[16] The TES continues: "There are open glades for picnics and, in autumn, blackberries to gather. The aim here is to manage the woodland as a natural piece of countryside in town, and if, from time to time, you glimpse a tube train, you hardly notice it, beyond the trees."[16]

The reserve is open to the public. The London Wildlife Trust runs guided visits such as Fungus Forays and wildlife walks every year.[17][18] On open days, staff and volunteers organise activities to enable children and adults to learn more about nature conservation in a relaxed environment.[19]

Bumblebee in Gunnersbury Triangle's wildflower demonstration meadow planted with cornflowers and poppies

From time to time, companies provide teams of volunteers to work for a day on tasks such as clearing scrub and repairing paths and fences.[20]

The London Wildlife Trust's long-term management objective for the site is "to manage the nature reserve to conserve its natural biodiversity, and to conserve its matrix of woodland, wetland and grassland habitats through appropriate management", which includes coppicing, clearing scrub, mowing, and controlling invasion by non-native species, while "preserving the feeling of 'wilderness'".[7]

Value

The Mayor of London's 2002 Biodiversity Strategy comments "Over the last few decades, many exciting places have been established where city people are able to enjoy the natural world, often on sites which at the outset had seemingly little to offer. These include Camley Street Natural Park in King's Cross, Gillespie Park in Highbury, Gunnersbury Triangle in Chiswick, ..." and explains "The important message conveyed by these projects, regardless of their size, is that significant achievements for nature conservation are possible even in the most urban of settings, and often on modest budgets, provided there exists a cocktail of goodwill, optimism, commitment and professional back-up. Moreover such projects often yield social benefits, providing a community focus."[21]

Biodiversity

These photographs, all taken in the Gunnersbury Triangle nature reserve, illustrate a little of its biodiversity.

Animals

Animals
  • Spiders
  • Anyphaena numida, a North African spider, only the second UK record for the species
    Anyphaena numida, a North African spider, only the second UK record for the species
  • Linyphia triangularis sheetweb spider female and male
    Linyphia triangularis sheetweb spider female and male
  • False widow spider, Steatoda sp., from a nestbox
    False widow spider, Steatoda sp., from a nestbox

Fungi

Basidiomycetes
Ascomycetes
Slime moulds

Plants

Plants

Activities

These photographs illustrate some of the educational and conservation activity on the reserve.

Conservation

Conservation activity photographs
  • Volunteers clearing the picnic meadow
    Volunteers clearing the picnic meadow
  • Shovelling woodchips into sacks
    Shovelling woodchips into sacks
  • ...and loading the sacks into the LWT Land-Rover
    ...and loading the sacks into the LWT Land-Rover
  • Using a circular saw to prepare an information panel
    Using a circular saw to prepare an information panel
  • Checking nestboxes for spiders before cleaning and repairs
    Checking nestboxes for spiders before cleaning and repairs
  • Repaired nestboxes for blue and great tits, unrepaired box at centre
    Repaired nestboxes for blue and great tits, unrepaired box at centre
  • Putting up a nestbox
    Putting up a nestbox
  • Fixing a wooden railing to protect native ferns
    Fixing a wooden railing to protect native ferns
  • Scything the Anthill Meadow
    Scything the Anthill Meadow
  • Volunteers cutting reeds and desilting the pond
    Volunteers cutting reeds and desilting the pond
  • Weaving a hurdle deadhedge
    Weaving a hurdle deadhedge
  • Muddy volunteer after a morning's work in wet woodland
    Muddy volunteer after a morning's work in wet woodland
  • Wheelbarrow and tools after a morning's work in wet woodland
    Wheelbarrow and tools after a morning's work in wet woodland
  • De-brambling the butterfly bank
    De-brambling the butterfly bank
  • Cutting a fallen birch after heavy rain
    Cutting a fallen birch after heavy rain
  • Planting a hazel hedge
    Planting a hazel hedge
  • Sieving earth for demonstration meadow
    Sieving earth for demonstration meadow
  • Sawing a board to length for a boardwalk
    Sawing a board to length for a boardwalk
  • Carrying a birch log for path edging
    Carrying a birch log for path edging
  • Hammering in a post ... up
    Hammering in a post ... up
  • Hammering in a post ... down
    Hammering in a post ... down
  • Keeping path edges clear of ivy
    Keeping path edges clear of ivy
  • Unloading logs from the London Wildlife Trust Land-Rover for minibeast logpile
    Unloading logs from the London Wildlife Trust Land-Rover for minibeast logpile
  • Digging out wet woodland
    Digging out wet woodland
  • Staff and volunteers smoothing surface of mud sofa, a temporary barrier of local material
    Staff and volunteers smoothing surface of mud sofa, a temporary barrier of local material
  • Ivy leaf decoration for mud sofa
    Ivy leaf decoration for mud sofa
  • LWT ecologist Tony Wileman on a transect survey of the plants in the anthill meadow
    LWT ecologist Tony Wileman on a transect survey of the plants in the anthill meadow
  • Replacing a post in anthill meadow fence
    Replacing a post in anthill meadow fence
  • Volunteers cutting brash from a willow tree, felled across a path and bench by Storm Ciara
    Volunteers cutting brash from a willow tree, felled across a path and bench by Storm Ciara
  • Woven hazel deadhedge behind pond, blocking informal paths that formed during the COVID-19 lockdowns
    Woven hazel deadhedge behind pond, blocking informal paths that formed during the COVID-19 lockdowns
  • Flash flooding of path by mud bench after thunderstorm in July 2021; this path has never flooded before.
    Flash flooding of path by mud bench after thunderstorm in July 2021; this path has never flooded before.
  • Coppicing sycamore – cutting into bird's mouth
    Coppicing sycamore – cutting into bird's mouth
  • Digging out holm oak stumps
    Digging out holm oak stumps
  • Scooping mud from the pond
    Scooping mud from the pond
  • Storm Eunice fells dead birch across fence, February 2022
    Storm Eunice fells dead birch across fence, February 2022
  • Repaired rail on mound above birch felled by Storm Eunice
    Repaired rail on mound above birch felled by Storm Eunice
  • Storm Eunice blocks boardwalk with ivy and willow
    Storm Eunice blocks boardwalk with ivy and willow
  • Large cherry tree, hazels fallen and lodged on other trees after Storm Franklin
    Large cherry tree, hazels fallen and lodged on other trees after Storm Franklin
  • Large cherry tree, hazels cut after falling and lodging in other trees after Storm Franklin
    Large cherry tree, hazels cut after falling and lodging in other trees after Storm Franklin
  • Winching strop around base of lodged Birch trunk, ready to pull
    Winching strop around base of lodged Birch trunk, ready to pull
  • Winching a lodged Birch tree trunk down to ground
    Winching a lodged Birch tree trunk down to ground
  • Lodged Birch trunk winched down to earth; gouged furrow shows how far it has been pulled
    Lodged Birch trunk winched down to earth; gouged furrow shows how far it has been pulled

Education and public outreach

Education and public outreach activity photographs
  • The welcome blackboard
    The welcome blackboard
  • School visit in springtime
    School visit in springtime
  • Education officer asks a question
    Education officer asks a question
  • Card cutout ladybirds for children's nature trail on an Open Day
    Card cutout ladybirds for children's nature trail on an Open Day
  • Demonstration beehive with numbered queen bee on an Open Day
    Demonstration beehive with numbered queen bee on an Open Day
  • Collaborating on a bird canvas on an Open Day
    Collaborating on a bird canvas on an Open Day
  • Ladybird masks on an Open Day
    Ladybird masks on an Open Day
  • Making birdboxes to take home on an Open Day
    Making birdboxes to take home on an Open Day
  • Painting butterflies on an Open Day
    Painting butterflies on an Open Day
  • Photographing a freshly-emerged peacock butterfly in spring
    Photographing a freshly-emerged peacock butterfly in spring
  • Inspecting the moth trap
    Inspecting the moth trap
  • Identifying a pug moth
    Identifying a pug moth
  • London Wildlife Trust staff with everything you need for pond dipping
    London Wildlife Trust staff with everything you need for pond dipping
  • Pond dipping
    Pond dipping
  • Making a 'stained glass window' flower
    Making a 'stained glass window' flower
  • Looking at a dragonfly nymph on Frog Day
    Looking at a dragonfly nymph on Frog Day
  • Cutting the cake to celebrate 30 years since site was saved
    Cutting the cake to celebrate 30 years since site was saved
  • Smooth newt, one of a series of painted wooden animals on a children's nature trail
    Smooth newt, one of a series of painted wooden animals on a children's nature trail
  • A young entomologist at work on Bugs Day
    A young entomologist at work on Bugs Day
  • Mycologist Alick Henrici leading a Fungus Foray
    Mycologist Alick Henrici leading a Fungus Foray
  • Photographing a fly agaric on a Fungus Foray
    Photographing a fly agaric on a Fungus Foray
  • Painted wooden birds' eggs for an Easter nature trail
    Painted wooden birds' eggs for an Easter nature trail
  • Wooden leaves for a summer nature trail
    Wooden leaves for a summer nature trail
  • A corporate group digging out wet woodland (willow carr)
    A corporate group digging out wet woodland (willow carr)
  • Corporate involvement: a group from Mace digging an extension to the main pond
    Corporate involvement: a group from Mace digging an extension to the main pond
  • Instructing a Headstart group of young people who intend to make a career in nature conservation
    Instructing a Headstart group of young people who intend to make a career in nature conservation
  • Teaching Landscape Design course students
    Teaching Landscape Design course students
  • Entomologists on the hunt
    Entomologists on the hunt
  • Entomologists beating oak leaves for arthropods
    Entomologists beating oak leaves for arthropods
  • Entomologists examining their catch
    Entomologists examining their catch
  • Nature Trail Stag beetle
    Nature Trail Stag beetle
  • Nature Trail Red Wood Ant
    Nature Trail Red Wood Ant
  • Nature Trail Common Blue Damselfly
    Nature Trail Common Blue Damselfly
  • Nature Trail Flesh Fly
    Nature Trail Flesh Fly
  • Clive Leeke teaching a hedge laying course
    Clive Leeke teaching a hedge laying course
  • Hedge, 4 years after laying (in and after the training course), a living barrier and habitat
    Hedge, 4 years after laying (in and after the training course), a living barrier and habitat
  • Rupa Huq MP with volunteers and London Wildlife Trust volunteer officer Netty Ribeaux
    Rupa Huq MP with volunteers and London Wildlife Trust volunteer officer Netty Ribeaux
  • Laminating nature information signs
    Laminating nature information signs
  • Tamping a new information signpost into place
    Tamping a new information signpost into place
  • Alick Henrici collecting fungi on a fungus foray
    Alick Henrici collecting fungi on a fungus foray

Notes

  1. ^ The land was far from 'undisturbed', being entirely a secondary succession. It was not only woodland but acid grassland and other habitats. It was only partly surrounded by railways. The 'GLC' was the Greater London Council.

References

  1. ^ "Gunnersbury Triangle". Protected Planet. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
  2. ^ "Gunnersbury Triangle". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. 18 December 2013. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
  3. ^ "Map of Gunnersbury Triangle". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  4. ^ a b "Gunnersbury Triangle". London Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  5. ^ Geograph: Gunnersbury Triangle Nature Reserve. Alan Murray-Rust. 22 December 2010. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  6. ^ Goode 2014.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Gunnersbury Triangle Summary Management Plan 2005–2010. London Wildlife Trust. June 2008.
  8. ^ Sands 2012.
  9. ^ Goode 2014, pp. 304–308
  10. ^ Simons, Paul. "A city fit for wildlife". New Scientist. 28 March 1985. Pages 30–33.
  11. ^ Goode, David. Wild in London. 1986
  12. ^ a b Bevan, David (1993). "The London Naturalist". Conserving Nature in London. London Natural History Society. pp. No. 72, 9–14. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  13. ^ "Gunnersbury Triangle Volunteers Scoop Woodland Awards". Chiswick W4. 3 June 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wileman 2014, pp. 9–14, 64
  15. ^ Wileman 2014, pp. 24–25.
  16. ^ a b "Inner-city sanctuaries". TES. 24 September 1999. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  17. ^ "Fungal foray at Gunnersbury Triangle, Sun 6th Oct FREE!". Hammersmith Today. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  18. ^ "Gunnersbury Triangle Summer Wildlife Walk 6 July 2014 – 2:00pm – 4:00pm". The Wildlife Trusts. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  19. ^ "Gunnersbury Triangle Open Day 13 July 2014 – 12:00pm – 4:00pm". The Wildlife Trusts. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  20. ^ "EDF Energy". Historic woodland gets a helping hand thanks to EDF Energy volunteers. EDF Energy. 27 July 2011. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  21. ^ "The Mayor's Biodiversity Strategy" (PDF). Connecting with London's nature. Greater London Authority. July 2002. p. 79. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 May 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2012.

Sources

  • Anon. Gunnersbury Triangle Summary Management Plan 2005–2010. London Wildlife Trust. June 2008.
  • Goode, David (2014). Nature in Towns and Cities (Paper ed.). William Collins. pp. 106, 304–308. ISBN 978-0-00724-240-5.
  • Goode, David. A Green Renaissance. In: Wild in London. Michael Joseph, London, 1986.
  • Sands, Tim (2012). Wildlife in Trust: a hundred years of nature conservation. The Wildlife Trusts. pp. 391–394.
  • Wileman, Tony (2014). Gunnersbury Triangle Nature Reserve Management Plan 2014–2019. London Wildlife Trust.

External links

  • London Wildlife Trust: Gunnersbury Triangle
  • ChiswickW4: Chiswick Wildlife Group & Gunnersbury Triangle
  • Gunnersbury Triangle, VisitWoods website
  • Geograph: Gunnersbury Triangle in the snow
  • London Sound Survey: Dawn Chorus in May, Gunnersbury Triangle
  • Rural London: North Side: Gunnersbury Triangle


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