`Brooklands Community Park' is the new name for the southern half of the old Brooklands airfield, plus a large area of woodland to the south of it. The northern half is now `Mercedes Benz World', an enclosed area of test tracks, the wildlife value of which has sadly decreased in recent years. Fortunately, the community park is now managed by Elmbridge Borough Council, for both recreation and wildlife. It is accessed chiefly from a car park near the Tesco superstore, close to which are the play areas for children of all ages, and the remains of the old runway. Beyond these stretch many acres of grassland, scrub, woodland, riverside, two ponds, and a large section of the old banked racing track, all of wildlife interest.
Our guide on this walk was Dave Page, who is not only responsible for the park, but is also an ENHS member. We were also accompanied by Julian Temple, general manager of the Brooklands Museum. We did a clockwise circuit of the airfield section of the park, as time did not allow us to visit the banking, or the riverside walk and the woods. The west side of the park comprises some of the original hay-cut grassland of the old airfield, a rare habitat. Today we recorded yellow rattle, lady's bedstraw, bird's-foot trefoil, knapweed, ox-eye daisy, hares-foot clover, and hoary cinquefoil amongst the many different grasses. Several common blue butterflies were found around the trefoil, an early meadow brown was flying, and burnet companion, silver-Y, and yellow shell moths were disturbed. We also found the caterpillars of knotgrass and mullein Shark moths.
A high earth bank, along the edge of the meadow, screens the park from Tesco and the rest of the commercial area. It is rabbit-grazed and has become a useful habitat in itself for mining bees and the like. Unfortunately its builders planted Robinia trees along the top, which put out a mass of suckers and threaten to take over from everything else. Dave will try to control them, but it is not an easy job. Where the road crosses the runway is another patch of thin soil that Dave monitors in season for dwarf vegetation species. On the east side of the runway is a more modified habitat, but still of interest. Today, we noted mouse-eared chickweed in flower, and a lot of hairy sedge.
A flood relief channel from the River Wey leads into an overflow pond, the water level of which fluctuates considerably. Today it was almost dry, and full of tall greater reed-mace, interspersed with greater bird's-foot trefoil. The banks of the channel are planted with broom, but the south-facing one is also good for mining bees. Unfortunately, perhaps, both channel and pond are the responsibility of the Environment Agency, and it is hoped that collaboration will be possible to conserve habitats of wildlife interest. Beyond the channel is a large rabbit-maintained area of short grass, where small heath butterflies have been recorded. The rabbits are based in a large scrub-covered bank to the south, the origin of which is uncertain.
With heavy rain threatening, and time pressing, we are unable to explore the interesting `Aerodrome Road', a narrow track between two ditches which is the original (and listed) connection between the old motoring and flying `villages'. Instead we made a beeline for the half-hidden area behind the children's nursery, a little garden of lawn and shrubs that contains a small pond fringed with 66 tall orchids. These Ross and Lynn have previously identified as a hybrid, Dactylorhiza x grandis. An impressive display, which Dave hopes to conserve.
Dick Alder