The Great North Wood
Daga Allotments sit inside an area that was once the Great North Wood, an ancient woodland that once covered the high ground between Deptford and Selhurst and gradually became fragmented by the development of south London's suburbs.
Brockley Nature Reserve
A narrow cutting was first dug in 1801-03, for the Croydon Canal. Later it was widened as part of the Brighton Main Line that was built along the route and the current rail tracks that sit alongside the allotments today. The New Cross Gate Cutting, also known as Brockley Nature Reserve, is one of the most important railway cuttings for wildlife in London.
Nature Conservation
The allotments are home to dozens of wildlife species, including squirrels, hedgehogs, hawks, frogs, slow worms, foxes, birds and newts.
The area is now considered a “Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation” and is protected from development. See some pictures of the wildlife that our plot holders have taken here
Wldlife Gardening Foarm (WLGF)
The WLGF aims to inspire and encourage everyone to garden with wildlife in mind and many allotment holders are sympathetic to its aims.
Slow-Worm
The slow-worm is neither a worm nor a snake, but a legless lizard. We find a lot at the allotments, where they seem to like hunting around the compost heaps! See our pictures here
Slow-Worms are protected in the UK under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981. Priority Species under the UK Post-2010 Biodiversity Framework.