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We know what it looks like now, but have you ever wondered what this area might have looked like in the past? What might have lived here? Follow the Beverley Brook Lost Nature Trail to find out! On this self-guided walk you will spot species that are threatened or extinct, that would have once called this area home. You can get your tickets here.
Each ticket includes a Guide Sheet and map (which you can collect or download) and a badge (which you can collect before or after completing the trail). Use the worksheet and map to follow the trail and record the cut-out animals – once you have completed the trail, you can submit your evidence to be entered into a prize draw!
After finishing the walk, come back to this page to find out more about these species. Learn why they went missing or why are they endangered, and what we can do to prevent further loss and improve the biodiversity in the Brook.
This event is held as part of London Rivers Week, a week-long annual campaign inspiring the public to celebrate all of London’s rivers and the many projects taking place to protect them (22-30 June 2024).
Large Copper Butterfly (Lycaena dispar)
Status in the UK: Extinct
Locally: Extinct
The Large Copper Butterfly lived in the fens of East Anglia and became extinct by 1851, due to the fenlands being drained for homes and agriculture. They can still be found in Continental Europe. Their caterpillars feed primarily on Water Dock (Rumex hydrolapathum).
For our Nature Trail, this animal has been placed in the woodland of Barnes Common. However, historically this was the location of an additional channel of the Beverley Brook known as The Wrythe. A picture can be found here – https://www.barnes-history.org.uk/scanarch/B18.jpg
Read more about the Large Copper Butterfly here.
White Clawed Crayfish (Austropotamobius pallipes)
Status in the UK: Endangered
Locally: Very rare
Our only native freshwater crayfish, the White Clawed Crayfish has been in decline after the introduced North American Signal Crayfish brought a disease, crayfish plague with it, to which the White Clawed Crayfish has no natural defence. It lives in small freshwater streams where populations are also threatened by pollution events such as releases of untreated sewage.
Read more about the White Clawed Crayfish here.
Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar)
Status in the UK: Endangered
Locally: Very rare
Atlantic Salmon start their lives in very clean, cool rivers. Once fully developed, they swim out to the ocean and spend their lives there, only travelling upstream and returning to their birthplace to spawn at the end of their livespan. Wild salmon stocks in the UK are down due to a combination of factors such as water pollution, overfishing, loss of tree cover leading to river heating, and habitat loss.
Read more about the Atlantic Salmon here.
Northern Pool Frog (Pelophylax lessonae)
Status in the UK: Critically endangered
Locally: Extinct
Native Pool Frogs were thought to have become extinct in the UK in the 1990s after the deterioration of their habitat in the fenlands of Norfolk. They have been reintroduced in the 2000s using Northern Pool Frogs from Sweden. They are the same size as Common Frogs, but the males have loud calls generated with inflatable vocal sacs on both sides of their mouths, whereas Common Frogs have a single vocal sac under their chin.
Read more about the Northern Pool Frog here.
Grass Snake (Natrix natrix)
Status in the UK: Least concern
Locally: Rare
One of our six native reptiles, the Grass Snake is our only egg-laying snake. Favouring wetlands and ponds, these snakes can also be found in gardens and woodland, laying their eggs in rotting compost. Like most of our reptiles the Grass Snake is threatened by the fragmentation and loss of its habitat. They have been seen swimming in the Beverley Brook at Palewell and they can be found in Richmond Park too.
Read more about the Grass Snake here.
Dalmatian Pelican (Pelecanus crispus)
Status in the UK: Extinct
Locally: Extinct
Once resident in the UK, the Dalmatian Pelican is now a rare visitor. The breeding colonies of these huge birds disappeared from the British Isles in medieval times, when wetlands were drained and the land put to agricultural use. There is a colony of White Pelicans living in St James’s Park in London, but they’re a different species, introduced in the 17th century; the Dalmatian Pelican is slightly bigger than them.
Read more about the Dalmatian Pelican here.
Western Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus)
Status in the UK: Vulnerable
Locally: Very rare
This large bird of prey prefers marshes and wetlands with large reedbeds as its breeding and hunting ground, feeding mainly on small rodents but also young birds. Over the past century, it nearly went extinct in the UK due to extensive persecution, but numbers have now stabilised at 400 breeding pairs. They are still threatened by habitat loss.
Read more about the Western Marsh Harrier here.
Water Vole (Arvicola amphibius)
Status in the UK: Endangered
Locally: Rare
The Water Vole lives in burrows on the banks of rivers and lakes, and in marshes and reedbeds. Their numbers have been decimated by habitat loss, water pollution and also predation by the invasive American Mink, an escapee from fur farms. In Kingston, where the last voles were sighted in 2017, they’ve been reintroduced into the Hogsmill River in 2022, a tributary of the Thames upstream of Barnes.
Read more about the Water Vole here.
Eurasian Otter (Lutra lutra)
Status in the UK: Least concern
Locally: Rare
The population of otters suffered a huge decline in the middle of the 20th century due to the pollution of waterways, habitat destruction and persecution. They became locally extinct in southern and central England. Once the Wildlife Countryside Act banned their persecution in the 80’s, the same time as water quality improved throughout the country, and otters were released in some areas, their numbers have started growing again. Otters have been spotted in large cities including London. They live in clean rivers, feeding mainly on fish.
Other otters: the WWT in Barnes has a pair of otters living on site, but those are Asian Short-Clawed Otters, a vulnerable species from South-East Asia.
Read more about the Eurasian Otter here.
European Beaver (Castor fiber)
Status in the UK: Endangered
Locally: Extinct
The European Beaver was once widespread in Eurasia, but by the year 1900, only about 1200 animals survived after being extensively hunted for fur and castoreum. This is a substance beavers use for scent marking and humans use in perfumes for its ‘leathery’ smell. Beavers were extinct in the UK in the 16th century, but have been successfully reintroduced in the last two decades, with the first family of beavers in London released in Paradise Fields in Ealing last year.
Read more about the European Beaver here.
Photos by Chucholl, Ch., Dluogs, Hans-Petter Fjeld, Ron Knight, Klaudiusz Muchowski, Allaya Nija, Charles J. Sharp, Piet Spaans, Andy Spark, Adam Tinworth via Unsplash.
We know what it looks like now, but have you ever wondered what this area might have looked like in the past? What might have lived here? Follow the Beverley Brook Lost Nature Trail to find out! On this self-guided walk you will spot species that are threatened or extinct, that would have once called this area home. You can get your tickets here.
Each ticket includes a Guide Sheet and map (which you can collect or download) and a badge (which you can collect before or after completing the trail). Use the worksheet and map to follow the trail and record the cut-out animals – once you have completed the trail, you can submit your evidence to be entered into a prize draw!
After finishing the walk, come back to this page to find out more about these species. Learn why they went missing or why are they endangered, and what we can do to prevent further loss and improve the biodiversity in the Brook.
This event is held as part of London Rivers Week, a week-long annual campaign inspiring the public to celebrate all of London’s rivers and the many projects taking place to protect them (22-30 June 2024).
Large Copper Butterfly (Lycaena dispar)
Status in the UK: Extinct
Locally: Extinct
The Large Copper Butterfly lived in the fens of East Anglia and became extinct by 1851, due to the fenlands being drained for homes and agriculture. They can still be found in Continental Europe. Their caterpillars feed primarily on Water Dock (Rumex hydrolapathum).
For our Nature Trail, this animal has been placed in the woodland of Barnes Common. However, historically this was the location of an additional channel of the Beverley Brook known as The Wrythe. A picture can be found here – https://www.barnes-history.org.uk/scanarch/B18.jpg
Read more about the Large Copper Butterfly here.
White Clawed Crayfish (Austropotamobius pallipes)
Status in the UK: Endangered
Locally: Very rare
Our only native freshwater crayfish, the White Clawed Crayfish has been in decline after the introduced North American Signal Crayfish brought a disease, crayfish plague with it, to which the White Clawed Crayfish has no natural defence. It lives in small freshwater streams where populations are also threatened by pollution events such as releases of untreated sewage.
Read more about the White Clawed Crayfish here.
Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar)
Status in the UK: Endangered
Locally: Very rare
Atlantic Salmon start their lives in very clean, cool rivers. Once fully developed, they swim out to the ocean and spend their lives there, only travelling upstream and returning to their birthplace to spawn at the end of their livespan. Wild salmon stocks in the UK are down due to a combination of factors such as water pollution, overfishing, loss of tree cover leading to river heating, and habitat loss.
Read more about the Atlantic Salmon here.
Northern Pool Frog (Pelophylax lessonae)
Status in the UK: Critically endangered
Locally: Extinct
Native Pool Frogs were thought to have become extinct in the UK in the 1990s after the deterioration of their habitat in the fenlands of Norfolk. They have been reintroduced in the 2000s using Northern Pool Frogs from Sweden. They are the same size as Common Frogs, but the males have loud calls generated with inflatable vocal sacs on both sides of their mouths, whereas Common Frogs have a single vocal sac under their chin.
Read more about the Northern Pool Frog here.
Grass Snake (Natrix natrix)
Status in the UK: Least concern
Locally: Rare
One of our six native reptiles, the Grass Snake is our only egg-laying snake. Favouring wetlands and ponds, these snakes can also be found in gardens and woodland, laying their eggs in rotting compost. Like most of our reptiles the Grass Snake is threatened by the fragmentation and loss of its habitat. They have been seen swimming in the Beverley Brook at Palewell and they can be found in Richmond Park too.
Read more about the Grass Snake here.
Dalmatian Pelican (Pelecanus crispus)
Status in the UK: Extinct
Locally: Extinct
Once resident in the UK, the Dalmatian Pelican is now a rare visitor. The breeding colonies of these huge birds disappeared from the British Isles in medieval times, when wetlands were drained and the land put to agricultural use. There is a colony of White Pelicans living in St James’s Park in London, but they’re a different species, introduced in the 17th century; the Dalmatian Pelican is slightly bigger than them.
Read more about the Dalmatian Pelican here.
Western Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus)
Status in the UK: Vulnerable
Locally: Very rare
This large bird of prey prefers marshes and wetlands with large reedbeds as its breeding and hunting ground, feeding mainly on small rodents but also young birds. Over the past century, it nearly went extinct in the UK due to extensive persecution, but numbers have now stabilised at 400 breeding pairs. They are still threatened by habitat loss.
Read more about the Western Marsh Harrier here.
Water Vole (Arvicola amphibius)
Status in the UK: Endangered
Locally: Rare
The Water Vole lives in burrows on the banks of rivers and lakes, and in marshes and reedbeds. Their numbers have been decimated by habitat loss, water pollution and also predation by the invasive American Mink, an escapee from fur farms. In Kingston, where the last voles were sighted in 2017, they’ve been reintroduced into the Hogsmill River in 2022, a tributary of the Thames upstream of Barnes.
Read more about the Water Vole here.
Eurasian Otter (Lutra lutra)
Status in the UK: Least concern
Locally: Rare
The population of otters suffered a huge decline in the middle of the 20th century due to the pollution of waterways, habitat destruction and persecution. They became locally extinct in southern and central England. Once the Wildlife Countryside Act banned their persecution in the 80’s, the same time as water quality improved throughout the country, and otters were released in some areas, their numbers have started growing again. Otters have been spotted in large cities including London. They live in clean rivers, feeding mainly on fish.
Other otters: the WWT in Barnes has a pair of otters living on site, but those are Asian Short-Clawed Otters, a vulnerable species from South-East Asia.
Read more about the Eurasian Otter here.
European Beaver (Castor fiber)
Status in the UK: Endangered
Locally: Extinct
The European Beaver was once widespread in Eurasia, but by the year 1900, only about 1200 animals survived after being extensively hunted for fur and castoreum. This is a substance beavers use for scent marking and humans use in perfumes for its ‘leathery’ smell. Beavers were extinct in the UK in the 16th century, but have been successfully reintroduced in the last two decades, with the first family of beavers in London released in Paradise Fields in Ealing last year.
Read more about the European Beaver here.
Photos by Chucholl, Ch., Dluogs, Hans-Petter Fjeld, Ron Knight, Klaudiusz Muchowski, Allaya Nija, Charles J. Sharp, Piet Spaans, Andy Spark, Adam Tinworth via Unsplash.
Barnes Common
Vine Road Pavilion
Vine Road
Barnes SW13 0NE