Clay Lane is a one kilometre long public footpath and bridle way in Edgware in the London Borough of Barnet. [1] It is a Site of Local Importance for Nature Conservation. [2]
It is an old road, recorded back to 1597, [3] which is now a quiet country lane. The path is lined with ancient hedgerows and there are old oak, field maple and ash trees. Honeysuckle and black bryony provide evidence of the hedgerow's antiquity. [2]
The path skirts Edgwarebury Cemetery, and in 2008 Belsize Square Synagogue applied to extend the cemetery with access across Clay Lane. The application was opposed by members of the London Wildlife Trust and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. who argued that the extension would be environmentally damaging, and in 2009 Barnet Council rejected the application. The London Wildlife Trust applied to have Clay Lane designated a Village Green under the Commons Registration Act, 1965, which would permanently protect it against development. The Synagogue appealed against the rejection, and in 2010 the appeal was successful with a reduction of the crossings of Clay Lane from three to one. The scheme was then carried out. [4] [5]
Clay Lane runs between Bushfield Crescent and Edgwarebury Lane.
The London Borough of Barnet, located on the northern periphery of London and having much of the area within its boundaries in the Metropolitan Green Belt, has many parks and open spaces. In addition there are large areas taken over by cemeteries and golf courses, and part of Hampstead Heath.
Edgwarebury Park is a 22-hectare park in Edgware in the London Borough of Barnet. It was once part of the manor of Earlsbury, which was first mentioned in 1216. In the later Middle Ages it was owned by All Souls College, Oxford, and there is still evidence of the older landscape of fields and woodland. Hendon Rural District and Middlesex County Council bought the land in two parts in 1929 and 1932, and the park opened in the latter year. It is now owned and managed by Barnet Council.
Sunny Hill Park is a park in Hendon, in the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is a large hilly park, 22 hectares, mainly grassed, which has extensive views to the north and the west. Together with the neighbouring Hendon Churchyard, it is a Site of Local Importance for Nature Conservation.
The Silk Stream is a brook just over 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) long in the London Borough of Barnet. It is one of the major components of the Blue Ribbon Network.
Totteridge Fields is a 97-hectare Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC) in Totteridge in the London Borough of Barnet. The SINC includes the privately owned Highwood Hill, and at the western end is a seven-hectare Local Nature Reserve owned by Barnet Council and managed by the London Wildlife Trust.
Darland's Lake Nature Reserve is a nature reserve south of Totteridge Village in Barnet, England. It is owned by the London Borough of Barnet and was managed from 1971 by the Hertfordshire and Middlesex Wildlife Trust, and more recently by the borough council. In 2007 the council spent £215,000 on repairing the dam and other works, and then proposed leasing the reserve to the Wildlife Trust. The transfer did not take place and in September 2017 a trust was set up by the London Wildlife Trust and local residents associations which took over the management of Darland's Lake. In 2020 Darlands Conservation Trust launched an appeal to raise £450,000 for excavation to prevent the lake drying up.
Rowley Green Common is a six hectare Local Nature Reserve and a Site of Importance Metropolitan for Nature Conservation in Arkley, north London. It is owned by the London Borough of Barnet. It is also registered common land.
Burtonhole Lane and Pasture is a 6.5-hectare (16-acre) Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, Grade II, between Mill Hill and Totteridge in the London Borough of Barnet. It consists of Burtonhole Lane between Partingdale Lane and Burtonhole Close, a footpath east from Burtonhole Lane towards Folly Brook, two fields south of the footpath, and a narrow belt of privately owned woodland north of the footpath. Burtonhole Brook, a tributary of Folly Brook, crosses Burtonhole Lane and the fields.
Arrandene Open Space and Featherstone Hill is a 25 hectare Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation in Mill Hill in the London Borough of Barnet.
King George's Fields is a 28-hectare (69-acre) Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, Grade II, in Monken Hadley in the London Borough of Barnet.
Coppetts Wood and Scrublands is a 14.5-hectare (36-acre) Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, Grade I, between Muswell Hill and Friern Barnet in the London Borough of Barnet. It is part of the Coppetts Wood and Glebelands Local Nature Reserve.
Copthall Railway Walk and Copthall Old Common is a 9-hectare (22-acre) Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, Grade II, in Mill Hill in the London Borough of Barnet.
Edgware Way Grassland or Edgware Way Rough is a 6.7-hectare (17-acre) Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation in Edgware in the London Borough of Barnet. It is traversed by Edgwarebury Brook and contains traces of a planned railway viaduct and embankment. This was part of a planned extension of the Northern line from Edgware to Bushey, which was cancelled when the introduction of the Green Belt after the Second World War led to the cancellation of the developments which the railway was to serve. Part of the site is the Environment Agency's Edgwarebury Park Flood Storage Area.
Stoneyfields Park is a three-hectare public park in The Hale in the London Borough of Barnet.
Deans Brook is a two-kilometre-long stream which runs between Mill Hill and Edgware in the London Borough of Barnet. It is a tributary of the Silk Stream, which is a tributary of the River Brent, which is a tributary of the River Thames.
Mill Hill Old Railway Nature Reserve is a 2.3-hectare (5.7-acre) Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, Grade II, in Mill Hill in the London Borough of Barnet.
Princes Park is a small public park and Site of Local Importance for Nature Conservation in Temple Fortune in the London Borough of Barnet.
Clarefield Park is a small park and Site of Local Importance for Nature Conservation in Brent Cross in the London Borough of Barnet.
Barfield Allotments Nature Park is a small Site of Local Importance for Nature Conservation in Whetstone in the London Borough of Barnet. It was formerly used as allotments, and when these were abandoned there were plans to turn it into a formal play area, but this met with local opposition when slow worms and common lizards were found, showing its value for wildlife. A small playground was installed in the north-east corner, while the remainder became a wildlife site.