Brookmill Nature Reserve

Opening hours and access

The reserve is kept locked, but there are regular conservation work days. The site is well used by local schools for environmental education.

There is a friends group for the site who open it for volunteering activities and guided walks.

Nature reserve 

In 1981, the newly-formed Lewisham Group of the London Wildlife Trust prepared a management plan, and established a series of regular working parties.

An education site with many habitats as been created largely due to the efforts of David Larkin, a local London Wildlife Trust member who has put enormous amounts of time into the management and monitoring of the site.

The steep sides of the embankment are wooded. Sycamore was the dominant tree but many of these were removed and replaced with native species such as hornbeam and hazel.

A large plum tree provides lots of fruit in late summer for visitors to the reserve - birds and humans.

History

The railway 

The railway from Nunhead to Blackheath Hill opened in 1871, and in 1888 extended on to Greenwich Park. It was not a great success and stopped operating at the end of 1916.  After WW1 it was abandoned.

The section west was re-routed to connect directly to Lewisham in 1929, while the section through to Greenwich Park was closed and the tracks taken up.

It was neglected until 1979 when we purchased the freehold of the land from British Rail. Local people took an interest and, with the help of staff from the nearby Ashmead Primary School, formed a small overseeing committee for our first nature reserve.