Pyl Brook Meander in Hamilton Avenue Recreation Ground

Image: © Marathon Taken: 11 Sep 2013

Hamilton Avenue Recreation Ground is a relatively new park created as part of Kimpton Open Space. Some 20 years ago there was just a footpath alongside the Pyl Brook and a strip of wildlife habitat between Kimpton Road and the A24 at London Road. The Pyl Brook is a tributary of the Beverley Brook which in turn feeds into the River Thames up river of Putney. The Pyl Brook runs underground for part of its course upstream before emerging above the ground here. At the time of the 1866 Ordnance Survey Map, this part of the Pyl Brook was surrounded by small fields, bordered by trees and hedges. The rural outlook changed within 30 years as the 1896 Ordnance Survey Map showed a gas holder, a sewage works and a cemetery to the north. In May 2011 the revitalised Pyl Brook was re-opened after major works were carried out to re-route and re-landscape this section of the brook and create a meander. The aim is to reduce flooding in the area and, with suitable planting of the banks and margins of the new meander, to increase the biodiversity of the area. As can be seen the planting has certainly thrived.

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