Long Meadow and River Pinn Conservation Area

The Seasonal Meadow
A selection of the plants, insects and birds that occur in, ​though not necessarily photographed within, Long Meadow

Click on the oak tree image to access the photo slide show.

Long Meadow is the flood plain for the River Pinn. and forms part of the Celandine Walk, a 12 mile walk from Pinner to Cowley, with links to the Hillingdon Trail.

In the 1930s the course of the river was diverted for proposed development. The development did not take place, and the land was bought by the Middlesex County Council, later being given to the London Borough of Hillingdon.

To view the photos below please click on the image and then use the arrows to scroll through them.

The meadow, forming part of the Pinn Meadows, is now being improved as part of the Colne Catchment Action Network which aims to bring the Colne Valley into line with the European Water Framework Directive. Both the Friends of Eastcote House Gardens and the Friends of Pinn Meadows are stakeholders in this project.

As part of the improvements a link from the river to the old course of the river has been introduced to create a small backwater. A second larger backwater further downstream has also been created. Both of these improvements provide more diverse wetland habitat and have encouraged frogs and dragonflies to breed increasing the wildlife diversity of the meadow. A boardwalk has been installed linking the gardens to the bridge over the river and the meadow as this area became very boggy in wet weather. There was once an ornamental pond here. [The outline of the pond can be seen on the above maps: click on them to enlarge.]

Two sections of chipped stone path have been installed in the wettest and muddiest parts of the main path along the meadow to improve walking conditions for the many people who visit the meadow.

In conjunction with the Eastcote Conservation Panel, FEHG have taken part in the Conservation Foundation project, ‘Ulmus Londinium’, which aims to bring disease free Elm trees back to London. The trees will be monitored for many years to assess the level of disease resistance. A list of veteran trees (click here) has been registered with the Woodland Trust.

Information boards have been installed to inform visitors about the meadow and the wildlife that can be seen in it. The Countryside Conservation group, part of FEHG, will in conjunction with LBH maintain the Meadow as a hay meadow, introducing more native plant life to improve biodiversity. Surveys of the wildlife and ground flora will be carried out each year. The results will be kept updated on the Wildlife Records page.