The website for Muswell Hill and District Gardeners

Flowers on the Tracks

Railway lines have long provided valuable habitats for a range of wild flowers. In urban areas in particular the mix of sidings, walls, buildings, bridges, embankments and cuttings, support a rich flora which is able to flourish right into the heart of our towns and cities. Only the 'permanent way' itself, which is regularly treated with a persistent weed killer, remains free of vegetation. Even this final barrier becomes available to plants if the railway line is closed. In Haringey we have several fragments of such 'disused' railway land. The best known is the Parkland Walk and is now one of north London's most valuable green corridors. Running from Finsbury Park, via Highgate, to Alexandra Park, it has now become London's longest statutory Local Nature Reserve. The railway, originally opened in 1867 as part of the Edgware, Highgate and London Railway, had a chequered history that is described in detail in "Rails to the People's Palace" by Reg Davies & David Bevan (Ed. 4, 2006) available from the Hornsey Historical Society. The line was closed to passengers in 1954 but remained open to some freight traffic until 1972 when the rails were finally removed.

It was soon after this that Haringey Council purchased the land on which the railway once ran. Their plan was to build houses along much of the old trackway. These proposals aroused much concern from local people who greatly valued the wild open space that would be lost. A Public Inquiry was held in 1978 to examine the matter and it was at around this time that I first visited the site. The first photograph shows the dilapidated condition of the old Crouch End station platforms at that time, but it fails to convey the remarkable diversity of the flora present. In addition to the ubiquitous Butterfly-bush (Buddleja davidii), escaped from local gardens, there was a great range of native species present. Because the soils close to the original permanent way were still impoverished, those members of the pea family, with nitrogen-fixing bacteria, were particularly abundant. They included Bird's-foot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), Kidney Vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria), Hare's-foot Clover (Trifolium arvense), Tall Melilot (Melilotus altissimus) and Zig-zag Clover (Trifolium medium). Several of these species are uncommon in London and the importance of this community was noted at the Public Inquiry. A total of 240 kinds of wild flower were recorded. Evidence was also provided to the Inquiry about the richness of the bird life, the presence of Hedgehogs, Foxes, Slowworms and Chinese Muntjac deer. The outcome of the Inquiry was a decision against the housing, but in favour of maintaining 'the natural character' of the area as a valuable amenity.

In 1980 the Council appointed David Hope as Warden of the newly created Parkland Walk. He faced an enormous challenge as much of the land had become derelict and flooding was widespread. We owe David a great debt of gratitude for resurfacing the Walk and for creating easily negotiated access routes along it. As recognition of his admirable work, David was promoted to Conservation Officer for the borough - the first such designated post in all of London. He was responsible for planting a wide range of trees along the Walk. Of particular note is a fine Small-leaved Lime (Tilia cordata), which dominates the western side of the 'Highgate Bowl', close to the entrance tunnels. This tree once dominated the landscape of pre-Neolithic England some six thousand years ago - but is now a rare planted tree in London. Other trees and shrubs have escaped from adjacent gardens along the Walk. They include the European Bladder Senna (Colutea arborescens), and the imposing 3 metre biennial Tree Mallow (Malva arborea), more often found near the sea.

The later development of the Walk has not been without incident. In the mid 1980s it came under increasing threat from the Department of Transport's "East London Assessment Study", which proposed the construction of a 6-lane motorway along the Walk! This was fiercely opposed and another campaign to 'save the Walk' was spearheaded by the newly founded Friends of the Parkland Walk. Once again, the Walk survived and the D.O.T. finally backed off in 1989 agreeing that their proposals would have 'unacceptable environmental consequences'. It was at this time that I took over from David as the Borough's Conservation Officer. One of my first tasks was to provide the Walk with additional protection by 'declaring' it a statutory Nature Reserve in 1990.

There have been no more serious threats to the integrity of the Walk, although shortage of resources continues to limit the Council's ability to maintain it as well as some might wish. The Trust for Conservation Volunteers and the Friends of the Parkland Walk continue to carry out regular, and much needed, management work. The Friends have recently (2019) created a valuable 'wildlife trail' at the Highgate end, which included the installation of the first 'wildlife' pond on the Walk. The wild flowers continue to flourish. My survey in 2015 recorded 290 species, but the current range of flowers is very different to those seen in 1980. Some of the native species have declined as the soils have become enriched through processes of natural succession, and the increasing activities of visiting dogs. A recent arrival has been Coralroot (Cardamine bulbifera), a scarce native occasionally grown in gardens (forma ptarmicifolia). There have been further exotic garden escapes, including Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica), which appears to be new to the wild London flora, Evergreen Spindle (Euonymus japonicus) and Bay (Laurus nobilis). These are all plants from warmer countries and their appearance on the Walk reflects our changing climate.