Sometimes you just want to go for a nice walk, nothing too taxing, a bit of a stroll, wildlife guaranteed, railway-adjacent, mostly dry underfoot, broad pylon vistas, binocular opportunities, possibility of lapwings, won't take long. So here's a brief birdwatching treat near some gravel pits in Sutton, nowhere near enough to make a day of it but a nice walk all the same.
It's called Beddington Farmlands not because that's what it is but because that's what it was, a huge wedge of marshy fields to the south of Mitcham Common. Sewage from the town of Croydon was first used to fertilise the crops in Victorian times, then sludge beds appeared and in 1969 a full-on sewage works was built. Ornithologists learned to appreciate the wide range of birdlife that flew in to enjoy the sprawling wetland habitat. But in 1993 Thames Water sealed off the site for gravel extraction and landfill operations, covering most of the former sludge beds and severing the one remaining right of way that linked the Hackbridge and Beddington flanks. Thankfully there is still a permissive path along the western edge, a full mile long, from which a reborn Beddington Farmlands can be intermittently seen. And that's the nice walk.
The easiest place to slip into Beddington Farmlands is the northwest corner of Beddington Park, just down the road from Hackbridge station. Most people ignore the entrance, the park being a much easier place to roam and let their dogs run amok, plus once you're through the gate there are very few alternative exits so it might feel a tad oppressive. But give it a go and you enter a stripe of woodland alongside a long secure fence with a few surprises ahead, the first of which is a box of squirrels. To be fair it's more a large cage supported on a post, with a single wildlife access point via a long perspex pipe and a seed-filled bird feeder hanging free inside. I was torn as to whether the target diners were squirrels or birds, but because it's all behind a locked gate I couldn't get close enough to check.
Where things get good, and a tad unexpected, is when a short path opens up on the right-hand side with a bird hide at the end. It's a low cost bird hide, essentially a screen of corrugated metal with a few horizontal slots and absolutely nowhere to sit should you fancy resting here a while. I know some people do linger because the three binbags hanging alongside are bulging with takeaway wrappers, empty cans and bottles of vodka. But it does its job, shielding occasional humans from the waterfowl on the southern lake and the southern reedbed so they can flap around in oblivious privacy. What I will say is that this is not the best of the bird hides due to an excess of intermediate foliage so best move on.
We're currently round the back of Hackbridge station, not that you'd know other than the occasional sound of a braking train. The path has opened out a little to reveal what looks like a power station in the distance and is in fact the Beddington Energy Recovery Facility, burner of the refuse from four boroughs and the reason why this 400 acre site is no longer used for landfill. There'll be a much better view later. But you do now get a first sense of how vast and undulating the reclaimed brownfield is, and also how verdant because they've been transforming it into something much nicer over the last couple of years - the Beddington Farmlands Nature Reserve.
The plan is twofold, to make the site much more attractive to wildlife and also to permit public access for the first time in 30 years. It looks wonderful in the most recent consultation, an undulating landscape of open meadow pocked with lakes and drainage ponds threaded through with paths linking to at least four new entrances. But site owners Valencia Waste Management have been progressing their plans at a glacial pace causing local residents to wonder if it'll ever open, and they're also highlyunimpressed by recent downgrades to the number of accessible paths and the diversity of grassland habitats. Big business alas doesn't always deliver on its green promises. In the meantime only keyholding members of the Beddington Farm Bird Group are permitted inside, one of whom I spotted yomping up a dirt track past an inquisitive fox towards a lakeside hide, and I could only look on wistfully.
The only intermediate access point along the permissive path is along what's left of Mile Road, a direct link across the railway to the heart of Hackbridge. Most joggers and dogwalkers bear off here, alongside what should one day be the main western entrance to the reserve. But hardier souls continue north along the peripheral woody strip with no hope of egress for the next fifteen minutes. The path initially splits in two, one concreted, the other immediately alongside but a tad lower and potentially muddier. And eventually another bird hide is revealed, this time with a far less obstructed view across the northern lake, distant meadowed slopes and potentially a few large grazing animals. The tops of Croydon IKEA's chimneys poke marginally above the horizon.
Just round the next bend, where the Irrigation Bridge used to land, the adjacent landscape switches to (very) wet grassland. A third and final hide provides the finest view of all, the one where I spent most time, above a marshy scrape that birds just love. I smiled when I thought I'd spotted three motionless herons but one proved to be just a reflection in the water. Above all this is strung a chain of pylons and over to the right the full-on vision of the Beddington ERF busy consuming Sutton's cardboard and Kingston's peelings. Keep panning and the towers in Croydon town centre stand proud, intermingled with loads more pylons, those IKEA chimneys and a foreground of teasel-edged lakeside. Yes I did bring my binoculars and yes they did get good use, both for bountiful birdlife and for infrastructure.
The path continues along its narrow woody corridor, currently finely bedecked in autumnal shades, with the railway shielded somewhere behind the trees. I passed beneath lofty transmission cables and dodged past two cyclists making the most of an imaginative shortcut, while high in a tree a raucous rookery launched en masse from their roost and swirled above my head. Further locked gates suggested additional landfill access might be possible if only people pulled their fingers out and furthered their plans. As the final gate approached, with its entirely illegible spraypainted sign, I kept wondering how I'd never realised all this was here.
This mile-long nice walk ends in the middle of nowhere beside an old freestanding railway bridge. Cross that and you land in a wooded corner of Mitcham Common, near Carla's shrine, with maybe a five minute walk to the main road. Straight ahead is the 7th tee of Mitcham Golf Club where an unsigned stile crosses the fence, but I didn't fancy running the gauntlet of a party of retirees so chose not to risk that. Instead I turned right and followed another long stripe of woodland which eventually emerged at the end of Beddington Lane tramstop. I'd always wondered where that exit went and now I know it leads somewhere ultimately unique. Just hurry up and open it up properly.
