Park of the week

221. Heybourne Park

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Heybourne Park in Colindale was created in 2010 as part of the regeneration of the 1970s-built Grahame Park Estate and was formerly known as Grahame Park Open Space. It’s an important site for nature conservation due to its ponds, transformed from an existing pond system into an ecologically rich area for wildlife. There’s open, rolling grassland, reflecting its foundation over the site of the former Hendon Aerodrome. The park has many mature trees and a dipping platform at the pond side, allowing access down to the largest pond edge. It’s well known for its large amount and variety of fish dumped in there by locals. Reedmace and rushes fringe the pond. Coots and moorhens nest among the rushes, and frogs and newts are also thought to breed. There’s also a large flock of Canada Geese. 
A “stilling pool” collects rainwater and runoff from the M1, and this overflows into the pond. This has been commended as a Sustainable Urban Drainage System.

The park also includes a neighbourhood play area, an amphitheatre/performance space, dog exercise areas, and a health and fitness trail.

An initiative called Cultivate Colindale is actively transforming a vacant lot adjacent to the park into a hub for sustainability and nature-based learning. This project, run by Wayward and Energy Garden, includes a Community Tree Nursery for donated trees that will be grown and used for local planting schemes across Barnet and North London, a Biodiverse Meadow and Nature Play area and a Reuse Centre aiming to promote sustainability by reusing materials and plants, keeping them out of landfill. 

Judith Field

Heybourne Park, Heybourne Crescent, London NW9 5WY