Acid grassland similar to that of Vanbrugh Pits can be found scattered in many places on the Heath. The best areas are between Hyde Vale and Cade Road, and around The Point (like Vanbrugh Pits, these two areas lie in Greenwich) and, on the Lewisham side, to the east of Granville Park, between South Row and Morden Road, and, somewhat surprisingly, on the cricket field to the east of Goffers Road.
The latter is the only one of the sites listed above which is not currently under nature conservation management, due to the requirements of the cricketers. It would be ideal if, in the long term, an alternative location on one of the land-filled areas of the Heath could be found for cricket, so that this area of acid grassland, the most extensive on the Lewisham side of the Heath, could be managed for nature conservation.
All of the plants occurring in the acid grassland of Vanbrugh Pits, with the exception of the harebells, can be found in any of the areas mentioned above, and many of them occur in other parts of the Heath, where patches of acid grassland occur in a close mosaic with reseeded grassland.
Three other plants typical of dry, sandy soils, all of which are scarce in London, grow in a few scattered localities on Blackheath; these are fiddle dock, spotted medick and common stork's-bill.
Much rarer still, and each growing in just a single location on the Heath, are knotted clover and bird's-foot. The former, recalling times when Blackheath was famous for its clovers, occurs on the Greenwich side of the Heath, on a slope beside Point Hill, directly opposite The Point.
Bird's-foot can be found at the opposite corner of the Heath, in a small triangle of grassland between South Row and Morden Road, which has recently been transferred from Greenwich to Lewisham. This is thus now the only known site in Lewisham for bird's-foot. It seems incredible that these plants have survived over a century of close-mowing; let us hope that the more sympathetic management will lead to the reappearance of more of the rare plants which once graced Blackheath.
The neutral grassland which occupies areas of Blackheath which have been landfilled is generally of little botanical interest. Perennial rye-grass dominates in most areas: a highly competitive grass which gives little opportunity for wild flowers to flourish. In the close-mown areas, buck's-horn plantain is often the only non-grass species which occurs in significant quantity, particularly where trampling has caused bare patches in the grass. Essentially a maritime plant, buck's-horn plantain is remarkably widespread in parks and amenity grassland in south-east London. Other wild flowers which can be found in some of these areas include sticky mouse-ear, lesser trefoil and typical 'lawn weeds' such as daisy and white clover.
In some places where the neutral grassland has been allowed to grow long, a few more interesting plants have started to appear, such as oxeye daisy and spotted medick in the triangle between General Wolfe Road and Cade Road, and hairy sedge in Eliot Pits.
Probably the most interesting area of neutral grassland on the Heath is on Paragon Field, between Prince of Wales Road and St German's Place. Here meadow foxtail and creeping bent replace rye-grass as the dominant grasses. These are somewhat less competitive than rye-grass, allowing a greater range of wild flowers to flourish. The northern half of Paragon Field, where the neutral grassland forms a mosaic with acidic grassland, is particularly attractive in summer, when the tall, purple-tinged flower spikes of meadow foxtail contrast with the low-growing, brick-red patches of sheep's sorrel.