Gunnersbury Triangle

The area is shown on 19th-century maps as orchards and gravel quarries. The triangular area now occupied by the reserve was delineated by three railway lines, two belonging to the District Railway (now the District line of London Underground), and one to the now-defunct London and South Western Railway (LSWR). There was once a bridge into the triangle from the west, and in the 1940s it was used as railway allotments (vegetable gardens), but when London Transport's Acton Works was built, the bridge was abandoned. The area, thus disused, was colonised naturally by grasses and trees in a "secondary succession". In 1981, the site was proposed for commercial development, provoking an energetic campaign by the Chiswick Wildlife Group, formed in March 1982, which became the local branch of the London Wildlife Trust. According to the New Scientist, writing in 1985, "the celebrated Gunnersbury Triangle – an undisturbed piece of woodland surrounded by railways including the District Line ... was bought and preserved by Hounslow borough from British Rail with a GLC grant of £58 000. The GLC also gave expert ecological advice when Hounslow council contested a public inquiry to save the Triangle." The London Wildlife Trust has managed the Gunnersbury Triangle on behalf of the London Borough of Hounslow since 1985. In 2018, EcoWorld London and Lampton 360 (for the London Borough of Hounslow) announced plans for a new visitor centre, to be positioned in a new block of 9 flats at the reserve's entrance. In 2019, both Hounslow and Ealing councils declared the reserve to be an "Asset of Community Value". ==Reserve==

and cow parsley Gunnersbury Triangle is a classic "railway triangle", the space in between three curving railway lines. To the west is the Richmond branch of the London Overground; to the south, the District line; and to the northeast, the disused track of the London and South Western Railway (there remains the Piccadilly line a little further north, crossing Bollo lane). Much of the area is now wooded. It is a local nature reserve and a Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation. Traces of its former uses survive in the shape of railway archaeology and garden species such as raspberry and redcurrant from the railwaymen's gardens. ==Habitats==

The following compartments are identified in the reserve's management plan: • Compartment 1: Secondary birch woodland :: This covers most of the reserve. Silver birch is dominant, with a few crack willow, goat willow, some wild cherry and sycamore in the canopy. Shrubs include hawthorn, elder, holly, yew and rowan, with garden escapes like buddleia, Oregon grape, cotoneaster, privet. There are some saplings of pedunculate oak, mostly around the edge, and holm oak. The field layer is mainly thick bramble, with ivy in denser shade. Ferns include male fern, broad buckler fern and the less common lady fern. " with willows in 2012 • Compartment 2: Secondary willow woodland :: Willow carr (locally uncommon wet woodland including the "mangrove swamp") with goat willow, grey willow, and some crack willow, with hybrids. The shrubs and field layer are similar to compartment 1; there is some honeysuckle and common horsetail, hemlock water-dropwort, gypsywort, yellow flag, pendulous sedge. • Compartment 3: Eastern bank and hedgerow :: Rough grassland with false oat-grass, Yorkshire fog, yarrow, cat's ear, with bracken at the south end. There is an uneven hedge of hawthorn and buckthorn. The sunny south-west aspect encourages butterflies including holly blue, Essex skipper and small skipper. • Compartment 4: North neutral meadow (anthill meadow) :: Very uneven meadow with mounds formed by the yellow meadow ant Lasius flavus, fox earths, and spoil dumped during former gravel works. Grasses especially false oat-grass, Yorkshire fog; also cock's-foot, common bent and sheep's fescue. Herbs include common vetch, meadow vetchling, white clover, yarrow, ribwort plantain. • Compartment 5: North acid meadow (railway track acid grassland) :: On the former Acton curve railway, with a substratum of gritty sand and ballast (hard acidic rock). Small fine grasses especially sheep's fescue, with fine-leaved sheep's fescue, hard fescue, squirrel-tail fescue, early hair-grass. Herbs include sheep's sorrel, mouse-eared hawkweed, cat's ear and yarrow. • Compartment 6: Southwest meadow (picnic meadow) :: Coarse grasses such as cocksfoot, Yorkshire fog, false oat-grass, annual meadow-grass. Broom has colonised on the site of an accidental fire. • Compartment 7: Main pond :: Main pond, dug in 1986, with seasonally fluctuating water levels. Most vegetation has colonised naturally, with among others common reed, purple loosestrife, yellow iris, water-plantain, water figwort, soft rush, gypsywort, water starwort, curled pondweed, common duckweed, water forget-me-not, water mint, brooklime. • Compartment 8: Small pond :: Seasonal pond with water plantain, celery-leaved crowfoot, bittersweet, water figwort, and introduced yellow iris. • Compartment 9: Tall herb meadow (beside ramp path from entrance) :: Small meadow of tall ruderal herbs, changing with natural succession, held back by cutting, with plants such as cow parsley, hogweed, stinging nettle, false oat-grass, garden escape daffodils and irises. • Compartment 10: Gardens :: Entrance yard gardens sown with wild flowers; hedge mustard, hoary mustard and other ruderal species invading; hedges with native trees and shrubs; hops scramble up the hedges. • Compartment 11: Infrastructure :: Hut, sheds. ==Usage==

The Gunnersbury Triangle is regularly visited by school parties, totalling some 1500 students per year, mainly in the summer when they can work outside. They study grassland, woodland and pond ecology. According to the TES magazine, "From April, holly blue, peacock and brimstone butterflies abound. Following the illustrated guide, you wind among wild cherry and rowan, under archways of hazel branches to a pond where damsel-flies dance in early summer. A sparrow-hawk nests in a silver birch, a jay comes visiting, bees and wood-mice also live here." The TES continues: "There are open glades for picnics and, in autumn, blackberries to gather. The aim here is to manage the woodland as a natural piece of countryside in town, and if, from time to time, you glimpse a tube train, you hardly notice it, beyond the trees." On open days, staff and volunteers organise activities to enable children and adults to learn more about nature conservation in a relaxed environment. and poppies From time to time, companies provide teams of volunteers to work for a day on tasks such as clearing scrub and repairing paths and fences. The London Wildlife Trust's long-term management objective for the site is "to manage the nature reserve to conserve its natural biodiversity, and to conserve its matrix of woodland, wetland and grassland habitats through appropriate management". This includes coppicing, clearing scrub, mowing, and controlling invasion by non-native species, while "preserving the feeling of 'wilderness'". Much of the work is carried out by the Trust's volunteers; the trust provides volunteers with training in the more specialised skills such hedgelaying and tree pruning. ==Value==

The Mayor of London's 2002 Biodiversity Strategy comments "Over the last few decades, many exciting places have been established where city people are able to enjoy the natural world, often on sites which at the outset had seemingly little to offer. These include Camley Street Natural Park in King's Cross, Gillespie Park in Highbury, Gunnersbury Triangle in Chiswick, ..." and explains "The important message conveyed by these projects, regardless of their size, is that significant achievements for nature conservation are possible even in the most urban of settings, and often on modest budgets, provided there exists a cocktail of goodwill, optimism, commitment and professional back-up. Moreover such projects often yield social benefits, providing a community focus." Biodiversity These photographs, all taken in the Gunnersbury Triangle nature reserve, illustrate a little of its biodiversity. Animals Fungi Plants Activities These photographs illustrate some of the educational and conservation activity on the reserve. Conservation Education and public outreach ==Notes==