Totteridge Fields is a 97-hectare Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC) in

Totteridge Totteridge is a residential area and former village in the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is a mixture of suburban development and open land (including some farmland) situated 8 miles (13 km) north north-west of Charing Cross. It ...

in the

London Borough of Barnet The London Borough of Barnet () is a suburban London boroughs, London borough in north London, England. Forming part of Outer London, the borough was formed in 1965 from parts of the ceremonial counties of Middlesex and Hertfordshire. It is the ...

. The SINC includes the privately owned Highwood Hill, and at the western end is a seven-hectare Local Nature Reserve owned by Barnet Council and managed by the

London Wildlife Trust London Wildlife Trust is an English wildlife charity based in London. Founded in 1981, London Wildlife Trust is one of 46 members of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts (known as The Wildlife Trusts), each of which is a local nature charity ...

. The Local Nature Reserve is an ancient hay meadow habitat consisting of three fields, known as Nutt Field, Hen Mead and Nearer Slay Land, with hawthorn and

blackthorn ''Prunus spinosa'', called blackthorn or sloe, is an Old World species of flowering plant in the rose family, Rosaceae. It is locally naturalized in parts of the New World. The fruits are used to make sloe gin in Britain and patxaran in Basq ...

hedgerows. The entrance is on Hendon Wood Lane,

Arkley Arkley is a village in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Barnet. It is located north-northwest of Charing Cross. It consists of a long village strung out between Barnet and Stirling Corner, and composed of the ancient ...

. The main part of the site consists of a large area of uncultivated grassland and old hedgerows between Totteridge Common and Mays Lane, crossing

Dollis Brook Dollis Brook is a waterway which runs through Barnet in north London. It is a tributary of the River Brent, which is itself a tributary of the River Thames. The Dollis Valley Greenwalk follows almost all of Dollis Brook, apart from a short se ...

, which is also an SINC. The grassland has a wide range of wildflowers, such as

sneezewort ''Achillea ptarmica'' is a Eurasian species of herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the genus ''Achillea''. Common names include the sneezewort, sneezeweed, bastard pellitory, European pellitory, fair-maid-of-France, goose tongue, sneezewort y ...

and

harebell ''Campanula rotundifolia'', the common harebell, Scottish bluebell, or bluebell of Scotland, is a species of flowering plant in the bellflower family Campanulaceae. This herbaceous perennial is found throughout the temperate regions of the northe ...

. The site also hosts the declining

skylark ''Alauda'' is a genus of larks found across much of Europe, Asia and in the mountains of north Africa, and one of the species (the Raso lark) endemic to the islet of Raso in the Cape Verde Islands Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially ...

and several rare beetles and spiders. The

Dollis Valley Greenwalk The Dollis Valley Greenwalk (or Green Walk) is a footpath route in the London Borough of Barnet in London, England, between Moat Mount Nature Reserve in Mill Hill and Hampstead Heath. The route is designed to act as a link between the Capital Ri ...

and

London Loop The London Outer Orbital Path—more usually the "London LOOP"—is a 150-mile (242 km) signed walk along public footpaths, and through parks, woods and fields around the edge of Outer London, England, described as "the M25 for walke ...

cross Totteridge Fields.London Loop map

See also

References

Further reading