The Parkland Walk Trail, Butterfly Hunt and Photographic Competition
Welcome to the Parkland Walk Nature Trail, Butterfly Hunt and Photographic Competition. The Parkland Walk has a number of marker posts along its length. The section between Finsbury Park and Highgate has 14. The key below will guide you as to what to look out for.
In addition to these marker posts, we have added extra ‘butterfly posts’ just for the duration of the Crouch End Festival. Each post has a picture of a butterfly that you might hope to see on the Walk, and some have a letter. Make a note of all the letters and arrange them at the end of the Trail to make a phrase.
Each butterfly post will also carry a simple question to see how much you know about nature. It’s just for fun, no prizes, but you might be surprised at what you learn. Keep a note of how many you get right. The answer to each question will be found at the next post.
Finally we are running a photo competition, so if you see something along the way, take a picture and send it to us and you might win a £20 gift voucher. Brief details are on the last page. Full details and terms can be found on our website www.parkland-walk.org.uk The Parkland Walk Nature Trail The Oxford Road entrance at Finsbury Park marks the beginning of the 1 Parkland Walk. Over 300 kinds of plants and trees have been found. Most are native English species, but some have ‘escaped’ from local gardens. Look up to see a fine silver birch, and in May the open area is filled with the white flowers of cow parsley (Queen Anne’s Lace).
Look out here for the large leaves of a fine fig tree. Close by is the aptly named stag’s horn sumach, whose twigs are covered in soft brown hairs, resembling the developing antlers of a stag. It comes from North America and spreads vigorously by suckers. Both this and the fig were probably originally thrown out from a local garden. 2 Top: Leaves of the fig tree Bottom: Stag’s horn sumach From the northern side of Upper Tollington Park bridge you can look along the road with its fine London plane trees. The bridge has many 3 buddleias growing out of the brickwork. Buddleia (or butterfly bush) comes originally from China where it grows on cliff-sides, and is famous for attracting an assortment of butterflies.
When the railway was in operation, the embankments and cuttings beside the track would all have been grassland. 4 When it closed, bramble and other shrubs started to ‘invade’, and before long much of the Walk became wooded. The Friends work hard to keep the grassland open because it supports a wide range of insect life.
A concrete block is all that remains of the old signal post warning train drivers on the approach to Stroud Green 5 station to the west. Bramble, hawthorn, elder and oak now dominate the southern embankment above Florence Road. The northern embankment supports silver birch trees and English oak.
Approaching Stapleton Hall Road there is a profusion of wild clematis (old man’s beard). Stroud Green station was by the 6 bridge, but nothing remains of the timber platforms. To the north is Station House, where the stationmaster once lived. Unusually, the bridge spans three levels: the Walk, the road, and the Gospel Oak to Barking Overground line.
On either side of the main path are short tree trails which provide alternative paths to the main track. See 7 if you can spot the old Parish boundary marker in the undergrowth on your right 30 paces past the marker post. It marks the border between the borough of Haringey and the borough of Islington. It is often hidden in the ivy. This post marks the acid grassland, a unique feature of the Walk. Dry, sandy soil, deficient in lime, open to the sun, and denied nutrients such 8 as leaf mould make a rare habitat in lowland areas. This area is home to the small copper butterfly, the mining bee, its predator the cuckoo bee, and to Formica cunicularia, a rare species of ant first recorded here in the early 20th century. 9 Look up into the brickwork and you will encounter the ‘Spriggan’. This popular sculpture, embodying the ‘spirit of place’ and the regenerative power of nature, was created in the mid 1980s by local artist Marilyn Collins. To the left of the path, at ground level, is a stone plaque commemorating Mortimer Wilmot Bennitt, a noted campaigner for the local environment.
Photo: Ian Baker collection Pass under the footbridge and on your left you may see the stump that was post 10. The old platforms make it easy to imagine the railway as it once was. Buddleia, 10 bramble, greater willow herb, comfrey and common mallow all attract bees and butterflies, and the often unpopular nettles are a favourite with butterflies for egg-laying.
A building of some description once stood here. Probably something associated with the railway, what we have 11 now is an eye-catching display of nature’s regenerative power. The remains of a brick wall are being engulfed by the roots of an old sycamore tree, creating a popular subject for photographers and artists.
Post 12 is missing. You now pass along an avenue of oak, sycamore, holly, and horse chestnut. Heavy tree shade and high embankments give a very different feel to the Walk. The shade restricts most ground cover but favours ferns. Sightings of foxes are common and there have been 12 reports of muntjac deer in the past. At night tawny owls may be heard, or sometimes seen, as they pass quietly overhead in search of prey. Post 13 is located under a creeper-covered oak before the bridge over Stanhope Road. Oak trees are common here and act as a host for over 400 species of invertebrate. In this area most of the 13 oaks are quite young, 90 years or less. Further west other dominant tree species include sycamore, willow and horse chestnut. 14 At the western end of the Walk, the old railway tunnels that lead into Highgate station are an evocative reminder of the past and have recently been adapted to provide a ‘cave’ for bats. In front of the tunnels is a bowl of open ground surrounded by trees. It is an ideal place to observe butterflies, bats and birds. The UK’s smallest bird the goldcrest has been seen here. Goldcrest
Photo: Howard Booty
The Butterfly Hunt We’ve hidden some pictures of butterflies along the walk. Each picture has a simple quiz question. The answer can be found on the next butterfly picture. See how many you can get right. As well as the question, each picture has a letter. Collect the letters and try to make the name of a common wild flower.
Orange tip
Photo: Tristan Bantock
The Photographic Competition Photo: Matt Leys With eyes peeled it’s a perfect time to catch a fleeting moment on your camera, and we thought it would also be a great opportunity for a competition. There are three categories, Best Photograph (15 years and under) Best Nature Picture (16 years and over) and Best Photograph (16 years and over). The latter can be anything as long as it captures an aspect of the Walk. A maximum of two entries per candidate. Pictures must be taken on the Parkland Walk and submitted by email to [email protected] with the subject line ‘PHOTOS’. by 21st June.
Pictures will be judged by a panel including a representative of the Friends of the Parkland Walk, Haringey Council’s Conservation Officer, a member of Islington Council’s Nature Conservation Team and a representative from the Crouch End Festival. Prizes are £20 vouchers. Terms and Conditions can be found on our website.