Bee orchid
Introduction
This Green Flag Award site includes Walthamstow Marsh Nature Reserve as well as Coppermill Fields and Leyton Marsh. The Nature Reserve is a remnant of London’s once widespread river valley grasslands and is especially important for its plant and insect life containing a national rarity in Creeping Marshwort. The area is served by a good network of paths and has accompanying interpretation. In the summer parts of the marsh are grazed by a small herd of old breed cattle. The cattle help to conserve the natural history of the marsh by grazing down the more aggressive plants. The Waterworks Visitor Centre is nearby and has a café and toilets.
February 2010 update
Green Flag
An application for accreditation was submitted in December.
Landscape Strategy
Outline proposals are now being worked up for two projects; the Lea Bridge Road entrance into Sandy Lane, and adjustment of the paddocks around the Riding Centre to improve the parish boundary path and black path.
It is anticipated that these projects will be exhibited at the Waterworks Centre this winter.
Lea Bridge Road study
Recent Developments
• A new cycle path has been built along the southern edge of Leyton Marsh to link Kings Head Bridge and the paths by the Riding Centre.
• The A V Roe centenary event was held on Sunday 12th July and attracted over a 1,000 people, enthusiasts and general public alike. A full scale replica of the original aircraft was unveiedl by A V Roe’s grandson.
• Countryside Live was again held successfully on Leyton Marsh on 23rd/24th September.
• The cattle have been taken off the marsh now.
• Thames Water have been on the marshes since October, re-lining the old sludge main and removing the flue on Leyton Marsh. These works (or lack of) have been dragging on now and are a bit of an eyesore.
• Some filming for a video was done on the marshes in January for an up-and-coming Australian band called Temper Track. This gains us some income but has caused some damage to a path on the marshes, which we will rectify as soon as possible.
Up-and-coming Developments
• Thames Water have been on the marshes since October, re-lining the old sludge main and removing the flue on Leyton Marsh.
• We’replanning the construction of two more ponds in the Horseshoe Thicket area in order to diversify the habitat here and add further interest to the site.
• Autumn works which are due are the clearing of two sections of ditch as part of the 10-year management cycle and the large cut on North Marsh which is designed to suppress the rampant Michaelmas-daisy and return it to herb-rich meadow and marsh.
• The trees along Lea Bridge Road (Ice Centre frontage) are due to be re-pollarded, for safety reasons.
• The Kings Head Bridge boardwalk/ramp will be removed in January as the structure is no longer sound. The aim in the next 2 years is to replace it with a boardwalk/bridge coming directly off of the existing bridge, linking directly to Sandy Lane.
Plans for 2010
• The big change for 2010 is that we plan to extend the Countryside Live event by 2 days so that it becomes a public event over the week-end and incorporates some elements of the Spring Wildlife Fair, which has been held on the Waterworks Nature reserve for the last two years. It will be in September again, with a £3 charge for adults and with children gaining entry free. A lot of planning has yet to be done for it so watch this space.
Wildlife Monitoring in 2009
The internationally rare Creeping Marshwort has done well where it was transplanted in to the extended (and deeper) scrape but has struggled under an onslaught of Creeping Bent in the older area of scrape. Brookweed, a plant found at only one other place in London, has had another excellent year. It was a poor year for Bee Orchids at the back of Coppermill Fields, probably due to the dry weather. However we were compensated with our first ever Pyramidal Orchid! Cuckoo-flower put on a brilliant display in Horseshoe Thicket pond. Grass Vetchling is spreading across the marshes and is now known from at least 5 different locations. Greater Bird’s-foot Trefoil is spreading slowly with at least 2 strong colonies now. Last but not least, Flowering-rush is finally responding to our management of the ditch and has increased from 3 to 37 flowering stems.
Large Red Damselfies showed better in the South Marsh ditch this year and a couple of Hairy Dragonflies and a Banded Demoiselle were seen, which are very rare here. A Ringlet butterfly was seen on the marsh on 26th June, the first in the area for a century or so!
User Forum
The last meeting of The Filter Beds and Walthamstow Marshes User Forum was held on 28th October. The next meeting will be on Wednesday February 24th at the WaterWorks Centre at 6.30pm. If you would like to join the Forum please email
dmiller@leevalleypark.org.uk and we’ll send you the most recent minutes. We normally meet 4 times a year.
Self Guided Trail
Why not take a wonder through the nature reserves on the Lea Bridge Road with the help of our guided trail maps, there's one for summer birds and one for butterflies and dragonflies.
Click here to download a pdf of our Self Guided Trail - Summer Birds.
Click here to download a pdf of our Self Guided Trail - Butterflies and Dragonflies