Ainslie Wood
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Ainslie Wood, once known as “Endsleigh Wood”, is an L-shaped piece of ancient woodland on flat land on London Clay. It became separated from the nearby Larks wood (with which it has many similarities) earlier this century, and is now surrounded by houses and a recreation ground.
Pedunculate oak dominates the canopy, with occasional hornbeam and ash. The wood’s most notable feature is its abundance of young, and some older, wild service trees, which together with those in nearby Larks Wood constitutes the Borough’s main population of the species. The presence of this tree is a clear indicator of the ancient origin of woodlands. It is now quite uncommon, even on its preferred clay soils, and is very rarely found in such density as here. |
The dense shrub layer in Ainslie Wood is diverse, with both common and Midland hawthorns, plentiful field maple and holly, elder, blackthorn, white beam, rowan, crab apple and gean.
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The wood is locally famed for its show of bluebells, to such a degree that many people actually call it “Bluebell Wood”. Apart from this the ground flora includes bramble, dog’s mercury, tall brome, wood poa and wood millet, although there is also some bare ground. A small pond has recently been created in the woodland, and bat boxes affixed to the trees.
The wood, to which there is free access through gates in the robust chain-link fence, was managed as a nature reserve by the local group of the London Wildlife Trust. |
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