Arkley Lane and Pastures

Arkley Lane and Pastures is a 50-hectare nature site in the London Borough of Barnet. It lies on the Barnet Plateau, where an old drovers’ road now runs as a quiet country lane. The lane still shows its traditional bank and ditch, lined with thick hedges of beech, hornbeam, ash, field maple and large pedunculate oaks. These hedges shelter cow parsley and other wild plants. The ditches hold wetland flowers such as water figwort and wild angelica. The small woodland beside the lane is probably ancient and holds nesting birds. Sparrowhawks, willow warblers and stock doves have been recorded there. Muntjac deer are often seen moving through the undergrowth. The fields on either side are managed in the traditional way, some grazed by horses and others cut for hay. Three fields have never been improved by modern farming and still support old grassland wild flowers like sneezewort and pignut. Public access is limited to the lane itself. Beyond the Barnet boundary the tarmac road turns into a bridleway. It leads on to Saffron Green Meadows in Hertfordshire and finally reaches the A1 road. The lane remains a peaceful place where the old countryside still shows through.