In July 2025 we were privileged to receive a visit from idverde’s senior conservation officer, Ian Wright, in order to complete an initial biodiversity assessment of Ravensbourne Road Allotment.
There were 4 main areas discussed which were:
– the Ravensbourne River tributary (‘The Ditch’)
– wild woodland area (Plot D8)
– small triangular area (Plot C2a)
– communal area (Plot 10)
We are also chatted about other aspects of the allotment in general. The full report makes interesting reading, do read Our Biodiversity Report here.
You may have noticed some works are already happening.
On the triangular rejuvenation area, a good sized pond was secured via Freecycle and Cecilia and Gordon B2 have been doing an amazing job digging this in. They’ll be sowing wild seeds and creating ground cover for encourage frogs around the pond over the coming months, alongside a grassed area with a bench, which is all very exciting.
In the wild woods, good progress has also been made.
We’ve cleared the area of rubbish, and cut down the cherry tree which was rubbing against the apple. We then used the tree trunk as the edging to make a pathway.
The old cast iron bath has been removed and we’ve cleared the sawn branches that were covering the undergrowth.
We’ve used these branches to make a dead hedge against the chainlink fence. Dead hedges are great for wildlife, and it also means we’ll be reusing our tree cuttings in a sustainable manner. Not only that, it gives the area much needed privacy and greatly increases the security of the perimeter. Below images show how open it was previously to how it looks now:
Read more about the benefits of dead hedges here and here
Look out for more exciting updates soon!