Thames Landscape Strategy - Hampton to Kew -

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New Hedge at the Hawkers Centre - Goodbye Swingbridge

The final phase in the implementation of this winter’s towpath management plan has been completed between Teddington and Kingston by the Thames Landscape Strategy in partnership with the Surrey Care Trust, the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and the Royal Borough of Kingston. Much of the work has been carried out by local volunteers and workers from the Community Payback scheme aboard the Surrey Care Trust’s community narrow boat Swingbridge2 that has been moored at Teddington Lock since Christmas.

Recent work has included pruning back vegetation over-hanging the towpath between Teddington and the Hawker Centre, constructing habitat piles from dead riverside material, continuing the long-term rotational coppice along Canbury Gardens, litter picking, hedge planting and scrub clearance.

The group has also carried out a full day of litter and fly-tipping removal in Ham Lands Nature Reserve and have planted a native hedge along the Hawker’s Centre fence line. This new hedge has been planted using a variety of thorns, cherries, roses, hazel, and elder that would all be found naturally in the UK, with the intention of it growing into a fantastic new habitat for wildlife such as nesting birds and insects. The saplings are still very young and will be left for the next two years to develop. After this period they will be laid by volunteers in the traditional manner. The hedge will be managed through the Thames Landscape Strategy Towpath Management Plan.

The Swingbridge 2 has now moved back to its base on the Wey Navigation but will hopefully be back in the autumn.

Jason Debney, Co-ordinator of the Thames Landscape Strategy commenting on this year’s work said ‘Our towpath management plan is such a valuable tool in managing the riverside between Hampton and Kew. We have so many different factors to weave into the annual programme of work and this year’s cold weather has made things particularly tricky. A huge thank you to all those at Swingbridge, staff, volunteers, and offenders, who have worked extremely hard over the last 4 months through some pretty tough conditions’.

Thank you to the Environment Agency staff at Molesey Lock and Teddington Lock, Molesey Cricket Club, Petrofac – Woking office, Thames Young Mariners and the YMCA Hawker’s Centre for their support.

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