Denham Lock Wood is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) next to the

Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter ...

, and near Denham in the

London Borough of Hillingdon The London Borough of Hillingdon () is the largest and westernmost borough in West London, England. It was formed from the districts of Hayes and Harlington, Ruislip-Northwood, Uxbridge, and Yiewsley and West Drayton in the ceremonial county ...

. It was notified in 1986 and is managed by the

London Wildlife Trust London Wildlife Trust (LWT), founded in 1981, is a local nature conservation charity for Greater London. It is one of 46 members of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts (known as The Wildlife Trusts), each of which is a local nature conservatio ...

on behalf of Hillingdon Council. It lies within the Colne Valley Regional Park. It is a poorly drained wet woodland and fen site which is skirted by the

Frays River Frays River is a semi-canalised short river in England that branches off the River Colne at Uxbridge Moor and rejoins it at West Drayton. It is believed to be a mainly man-made anabranch north of the confluence with the River Pinn to feed wat ...

. The main trees are

alder Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...

and

crack willow Crack frequently refers to: * Crack, a fracture in a body * Crack, a fracture (geology) in a rock * Crack, short for crack cocaine Crack may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Cracks'' (film), a 2009 independent thriller * Crac ...

in the wetter areas, and elsewhere oak and ash with a shrub layer of hazel. In winter wildfowl are visible and in spring many flower species. Invertebrates include red cardinal beetles, banded demoiselles and the rare and protected

Desmoulin's whorl snail Desmoulin's whorl snail (''Vertigo moulinsiana'') is a species of minute air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc or micromollusc in the family Vertiginidae, the whorl snails. This species was named in honor of the ea ...

. The balsam carpet moth was added to the list of British species when it was found at the Wood in 1955, and it is only known at one other site in Britain. Access is by a footbridge across Frays River from

Frays Farm Meadows Frays Farm Meadows is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Denham, Buckinghamshire, Denham in the London Borough of Hillingdon. It was notified as an SSSI in 1981, and has been managed by the London Wildlife Trust on behalf of H ...

, which is also an SSSI managed by the London Wildlife Trust, south of the Wood. Access to the Meadows is by a stile on the east side of the Grand Union Canal at Denham Lock.

References

{{London Wildlife Trust Sites of Special Scientific Interest in London Nature reserves in the London Borough of Hillingdon Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Hillingdon London Wildlife Trust

See also

References