Haysden Country Park is a country park and Local Nature Reserve on the outskirts of

Tonbridge Tonbridge ( ) is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Malling, it had an estimated populat ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. It is owned by

Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council Tonbridge ( ) is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Malling, it had an estimated population ...

, the Highways Agency, Network Rail and the Environment Agency, and managed by the council.

Geography

The park comprises of countryside to the west of

. The park has two lakes, Barden Lake and Haysden Water, and has a stretch of the River Medway running through it, with various branches and streams. Consequently there are a large number of bridges, many of which are named. The park is home to a variety of wildlife including

waterfowl Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which i ...

wild flower A wildflower (or wild flower) is a flower that grows in the wild, meaning it was not intentionally seeded or planted. The term implies that the plant probably is neither a hybrid nor a selected cultivar that is in any way different from the w ...

s, and insect life. It is designated as a

Site of Nature Conservation Interest Site of Nature Conservation Interest (SNCI), Site of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC) and regionally important geological site (RIGS) are designations used by local authorities in the United Kingdom for sites of substantive local nature ...

, and as of it has been designated a Local Nature Reserve. The A21 passes on a viaduct near Haysden Water. Immediately to the east of this viaduct, and roughly parallel to it, is the Medway flood barrier. The

railway line Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...

from Tonbridge towards Redhill, Surrey also passes through the park.

History

The park was opened as a Country Park in 1988, but the land had been partly owned by the Tonbridge Council and had been used by the public long before then. It is still managed by

. Leading off the River Medway is the Straight Mile, which was dug in 1830. James Christie intended this to be a canal leading to Tonbridge Water Mill, but it was never filled with water. The Stone Lock, built in 1829 (also by James Christie) at Haysden, remains largely intact. It leads towards Haysden Water (and continues on the other side of Haysden Water, outside the park). The lock was intended for transferring

barges Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...

between the level of the Straight Mile and the higher level of the River Medway.James Christie and the Penshurst Canal
/ref> Another section of the park is The Shallows, a winding stream leading off the River Medway, with various gravel beds for crossing the river.Tonbridge Collectables – Early Tonbridge Finds
/ref> It was at one stage part of the River Medway, with

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex ba ...

s which were sometimes shallow and therefore difficult to navigate with large boats. Since the river was used by canal craft, a navigable diversion was constructed around this section. The Shallows then became a quiet backwater stream which is gradually developing into marshland. Barden Lake was created when sand and gravel were extracted from the land between 1974 and 1980.

Dragline excavator A dragline excavator is a piece of heavy equipment used in civil engineering and surface mining. Draglines fall into two broad categories: those that are based on standard, lifting cranes, and the heavy units which have to be built on-site. Mo ...

s were used to dig the material out. The Lake is approximately 3.6 metres (12 feet) deep. A

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

pillbox Pillbox may refer to: * Pill organizer, a container for medicine * Pillbox hat, a woman's hat with a flat crown, straight upright sides, and no brim * Pillbox (military) A pillbox is a type of blockhouse, or concrete dug-in guard-post, norm ...

can be found in the hedgerow along the riverbank. This pillbox and others along the River Medway formed part of the Ironside Line. On 27 May 1944, Prime Minister

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

put General Sir Edmund Ironside in charge of creating a first line of defence against German invasion forces.Pill Boxes
/ref> A project to name the 14 bridges that are included in the park was announced on at the Tonbridge Forum; names had been decided. As at 2015, this work appears to be complete.

How to get there

From Tonbridge, the Lower Haysden Road leads towards Lower Haysden and Upper Haysden. On the right (when driving from Tonbridge) is the visitor centre and car park. Regional Cycle Route 12 leads from Tonbridge through the park towards

Penshurst Penshurst is a historic village and civil parish located in a valley upon the northern slopes of the Kentish Weald, at the confluence of the River Medway and the River Eden, within the Sevenoaks district of Kent, England. The village is situ ...

, and can also be used by pedestrians. The nearest railway station is Tonbridge (1.5 miles to the visitor centre).

Activities

The park is a setting for a variety of leisure activities. *

Walking Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an ' inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults ...

- The Eden Valley WalkEden Valley Walk Walking Route
/ref> and

Wealdway The Wealdway, Kent and East Sussex, is a public footpath that runs for 83 miles / 134 km from Gravesend, Kent on the Thames estuary, to the A259 at Eastbourne, 3 km north of Beachy Head.The Wealdway 80 miles long distance footpath, 1981, pu ...

lead through the park. *Children's play area *

Sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cou ...

Fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

* Nature study *

Volunteering Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serv ...

Fishing

This is run b
Tonbridge & District Angling & Fish Preservation Society
and is controlled by a warden on Barden Lake.

Sailing

This is encouraged on Haysden Lake b
Tonbridge Town Sailing Club
for small vessels.

Nature and Historical Trails

Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council publish guides for people to use to discover the nature and history of the area. These walks have been described as "interesting"

Awards

Since 2006 the park has been a

Green Flag Award The Green Flag Award is an international accreditation given to publicly accessible parks and open spaces, managed under licence from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, a UK Government department, by Keep Britain Tidy, ...

winning park. In January 2001, the park was applauded by the Tonbridge and Malling Access Group for its achievement in providing access for disabled people.

References

External links

Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council page
{{Local Nature Reserves in Kent Tourist attractions in Kent Country parks in Kent Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council Local Nature Reserves in Kent Tonbridge