Misplaced Pages

#421578

19-604: Ham Lands is a 72-hectare Local Nature Reserve and Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation in Ham in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames . The area is very popular with walkers, nature lovers, and horse-riders. There is an unofficial (non Council) off-road BMX track near Teddington Lock. The site is a large area of grassland and scrub bordering

38-485: A guide to their selection and declaration , 2000). Aberlady Aberlady ( Scots : Aiberlady , Gaelic : Obar Lobhaite ) is a coastal village in the Scottish council area of East Lothian . The village had an estimated population of 1,260 in 2022. The name Aberlady has Brittonic origins. The first part of the name is the common naming element aber , meaning "confluence, estuary". The second part

57-541: Is a river name, an earlier name for the West Peffer Burn, derived from either *lẹ:β , which in river names may mean "glide smoothly", or *loβ , a verbal root associated with "peeling away, decomposition, decay" ( Middle Irish lobour , "leprosy"). There is archaeological evidence of a significant and wealthy Anglo-Saxon settlement dating from 7th to the 10th centuries. In the Middle Ages, Aberlady

76-409: Is not, or may have other designations (although an LNR cannot also be a national nature reserve ). Except where the site is an SSSI, there is no legal necessity to manage an LNR to any set standard, but management agreements often exist. An LNR may be given protection against damaging operations. It also has certain protection against development on and around it. This protection is usually given via

95-595: The River Thames . The other boundary is mostly formed by Riverside Drive. The area is divided into two sections by the lagoon and Thames Young Mariners . The land belonged to the Earl of Dysart until the nineteenth century. In 1904 it was leased by the Ham River Grit Co. Ltd for excavation of sand and ballast. They constructed a wharf and processing plant where barges loaded. A canal was constructed through

114-545: The UK 's first Local Nature Reserve or LNR . Amongst its other conservation designations are: Site of Special Scientific Interest or SSSI ; Special Protection Area or SPA ; and Ramsar site . East Lothian Council provides Reserve Wardens. Waterston House , overlooking Aberlady Bay , is the headquarters of the Scottish Ornithologists' Club (SOC). It is named after George Waterston , joint founder of

133-600: The local plan (produced by the planning authority ), and often supplemented by local by-laws. However, there is no national legal protection specifically for LNRs. Information on LNRs is available from the Countryside Council for Wales ( A Place for Nature at your Doorstep: the role of Local Nature Reserves , 2004), Natural England ( Local Nature Reserves: places for people and wildlife , 2000) and Scottish Natural Heritage ( Local Nature Reserves in Scotland:

152-543: The Countryside Act 1949 combined elements of several of these categories in its definition of a nature reserve (Section 15). The hope of the Special Committee was to see sites protected which represented sites of local scientific interest, which could be used by schools for field teaching and experiment, and in which people with no special interest in natural history could "... derive great pleasure from

171-730: The Manse is now in Gullane. The "Aberlady Heritage Project" is a community-led project, and in 2008 it surveyed three sites — the medieval harbour quay commissioned in 1535, the Iron Age fort and associated souterrain at Kilspindie, and the Anglo-Saxon site at the Glebe. Aberlady boasts the largest collection of stray Anglo-Saxon finds yet discovered in Scotland. In 1952, Aberlady Bay became

190-659: The SOC, and Director of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in Scotland. The Library holds over 3,500 items and is said to be the largest ornithological library in Scotland. The art gallery space is named after wildlife artist Donald Watson who was President of SOC. The gallery specialises in bird-related paintings, but in May 2008 it had a textile exhibition named "Flights of Fancy". The author Nigel Tranter

209-524: The church which he called "Aberlefdi". The 8th century Aberlady Cross fragment can be seen at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh . A reconstruction of this finely carved cross was erected in 2011 by Aberlady Conservation & History Society. Aberlady Parish Church dates back to the 15th century. It was re-built in 1887. In 1986, the parishes of Aberlady and Gullane were merged, and

SECTION 10

#1732775942422

228-690: The former gravel pits were finally abandoned by the Council in 1983. A survey of the flora was carried out by Nigel Hepper in 1985 and a report published in 1987 which recognised eight zones. 51°26′06″N 0°19′30″W  /  51.435°N 0.325°W  / 51.435; -0.325 Local Nature Reserve There are now over 1,280 LNRs in England, covering almost 40,000 hectares, which range from windswept coastal headlands and ancient woodlands to former inner city railways and long abandoned landfill sites. The National Parks and Access to

247-456: The owner. The land must lie within the area which the declaring authority controls. LNRs are of local, but not necessarily national, importance. LNRs are almost always owned by local authorities, who often pass the management of the LNR onto County Wildlife Trusts . LNRs also often have good public access and facilities. An LNR can also be an SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) , but often

266-588: The peaceful contemplation of nature ." A Local Nature Reserve (capitalised) is a statutory designation made under Section 21 – "Establishment of nature reserves by local authorities" – of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 by principal local authorities (district, borough or unitary councils) in England , Scotland and Wales . Parish and town councils in England have no direct power to designate nature reserves, but they can have

285-532: The powers to do so delegated to them by their principal local authority using section 101 of the Local Government Act 1972 . The first LNR in Scotland was established in 1952 at Aberlady in East Lothian . To establish a LNR, the declaring local authority must first have a legal interest in the land concerned, for example, they could own it, lease it or have a nature reserve agreement with

304-570: The tidal Thames, resulted in the raising of the towpath while the in-filled area was above the general level of flooding. The area north of Thames Young Mariners is still floodable. The flood-meadows have a wide range of wild flowers and there are many plants which are rare in London. Some of the more unusual plants found include meadow saxifrage , hemlock water-dropwort , yellow vetchling , hoary cinquefoil/silver cinquefoil , dittander/pepperwort , bee orchid , pyramidal orchid . Plans to build on

323-529: The towpath in the 1920s to create an internal loading lagoon, now the Thames Young Mariners . The gravel pits were then backfilled with soil from different areas of London, creating a variety of habitats which attract many bird and butterfly species. By the 1960s tipping was complete and the Wates estate built along Riverside Drive. The construction of Teddington Lock in 1904, now the limit of

342-454: Was an important harbour for fishing, sealing, and whaling and was designated "Port of Haddington" by a 1633 Act of Parliament. However, its origins are much earlier. Aberlady had strong links with the monasteries at Iona and Lindisfarne from the 7th century, and its role was to facilitate the pilgrim traffic between the two sites. Previous archaeological excavations have shown traces of a Culdee chapel, and Pope Gregory X made reference to

361-519: Was inspired to write on his daily walks on the nature reserve . A cairn in his memory stands at the car park by the wooden footbridge; Nigel Tranter referred to it as "the bridge to enchantment". Aberlady Conservation & History Society is the local focus for conservation in the built and natural environment of the village and its surroundings. Aberlady is close to several well-known golf courses including Luffness , Kilspindie and Craigielaw . Aberlady Bay , between Aberlady and Gullane , holds

#421578