Scratchwood is an extensive, mainly wooded, country park in Mill Hill

Mill Hill

Mill Hill is a place in the London Borough of Barnet. It is a suburb situated 9 miles north west of Charing Cross. Mill Hill was in the historic county of Middlesex until it was absorbed by London...

 in the London Borough of Barnet

London Borough of Barnet

The London Borough of Barnet is a London borough in North London and forms part of Outer London. It has a population of 331,500 and covers . It borders Hertfordshire to the north and five other London boroughs: Harrow and Brent to the west, Camden and Haringey to the south-east and Enfield to the...

. The 55 hectare site was designated a Local Nature Reserve

Local Nature Reserve

Local nature reserve or LNR is a designation for nature reserves in the United Kingdom. The designation has its origin in the recommendations of the Wild Life Conservation Special Committee which established the framework for nature conservation in the United Kingdom and suggested a national suite...

 in 1997, and it is a Site of Metropolitan Importance. Part of it is ancient forest, a fragment of the vast Middlesex forest which grew up after the last ice age, the Younger Dryas

Younger Dryas

The Younger Dryas stadial, also referred to as the Big Freeze, was a geologically brief period of cold climatic conditions and drought between approximately 12.8 and 11.5 ka BP, or 12,800 and 11,500 years before present...

, ended 11,500 years ago.
The ancient woodland consists mainly of sessile oak

Sessile Oak

Quercus petraea , the Sessile Oak, also known as the Durmast Oak, is a species of oak native to most of Europe, and into Anatolia.-Description:...

 and hornbeam

Hornbeam

Hornbeams are relatively small hardwood trees in the genus Carpinus . Though some botanists grouped them with the hazels and hop-hornbeams in a segregate family, Corylaceae, modern botanists place the hornbeams in the birch subfamily Coryloideae...

, with some wild service trees, while secondary woodland areas are mainly birch

Birch

Birch is a tree or shrub of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The Betula genus contains 30–60 known taxa...

, hawthorns and sycamore

Sycamore

Sycamore is a name which is applied at various times and places to three very different types of trees, but with somewhat similar leaf forms....

. The herb rich grassland and the pond have a number of rare plants. Breeding birds include nuthatch

Nuthatch

The nuthatches are a genus, Sitta, of small passerine birds belonging to the family Sittidae. Characterised by large heads, short tails, and powerful bills and feet, nuthatches advertise their territory using loud, simple songs...

, lesser whitethroat

Lesser Whitethroat

The Lesser Whitethroat is a common and widespread typical warbler which breeds in temperate Europe, except the southwest, and in western and central Asia. This small passerine bird is strongly migratory, wintering in Africa just south of the Sahara, Arabia and India.Unlike many typical warblers,...

 and cuckoo

Cuckoo

The cuckoos are a family, Cuculidae, of near passerine birds. The order Cuculiformes, in addition to the cuckoos, also includes the turacos . Some zoologists and taxonomists have also included the unique Hoatzin in the Cuculiformes, but its taxonomy remains in dispute...

.

The area of Scratchwood south of the entrance was once hay meadows, growing food for London's vast horse population, but in 1866 Scratchwood and neighbouring Moat Mount open space

Moat Mount Open Space and Mote End Farm

Moat Mount Open Space is a Local Nature Reserve, Borough Grade II, in Mill Hill in the London Borough of Barnet. The site is an extensive area bounded by Barnet Way, Barnet Road and Hendon Wood Lane. It includes Barnet Gate Wood and Scratchwood Countryside Park, but is separate from Scratchwood...

 were part of a 400 hectare estate which was purchased by Edward William Cox, and Scratchwood was then used for sport and rearing game. The areas which are now nature reserves were purchased by Hendon Urban District Council

Municipal Borough of Hendon

Hendon was an ancient civil parish of around which included Mill Hill, as well as Golders Green and Childs Hill. In 1894 it was created an urban district of Middlesex and in 1932 it became a municipal borough...

 in 1923.

Scratchwood is next to the M1 motorway

M1 motorway

The M1 is a north–south motorway in England primarily connecting London to Leeds, where it joins the A1 near Aberford. While the M1 is considered to be the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the United Kingdom, the first road to be built to motorway standard in the country was the...

, and the nearest service station to London, Scratchwood Services (now renamed London Gateway Services) was named after the nature reserve.

The main entrance is Scratchwood car park, which has a cafe and a toilet. This is on the northbound lane of Barnet Way, a dual carriageway which is part of the A1 road

A1 road (London)

The A1 road in London is an A road in North London. It runs from London Wall to Bignell's Corner, where it crosses the M25 and becomes the A1 motorway, alternating with the A1 as it continues to Edinburgh. The London section of the road passes through four London Boroughs: the City of London,...

, near Stirling Corner. The London Loop crosses the reserve, entering by a path from Barnet Lane, Elstree

Elstree

Elstree is a village in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire on the A5 road, about 10 miles north of London. In 2001, its population was 4,765, and forms part of the civil parish of Elstree and Borehamwood, originally known simply as Elstree....

, and leaving by a path south of main entrance, then going to an underpass opposite Courtland Avenue, and back up Barnet Way to enter Moat Mount open space on the other side of the road.

External links

• Scratchwood on the VisitWoods website