Grove Park Nature Reserve

In the mid C18th the area that is now Grove Park Nature Reserve and the majority of the surrounding area was in agricultural use, at one time largely in the ownership of a branch of the wealthy Baring family who founded Barings Bank in 1762. The railway line from Charing Cross to Tonbridge and the Kent coast opened in 1865, with Grove Park Station opening in November 1871. The railway company owned most of the land either side of the line between St Mildred's Road and Grove Park station, which it used for a marshalling yard. The Baring Hall Hotel nearby was built in 1882 to serve the growing district's residents and travellers arriving at the station. In the late C19th and early C20th what is now the southern end of the reserve, around the current entrance, held a row of tennis courts. The land immediately north of this was within the garden of a large house on Baring Road from the late C19th, and became wooded early in the C20th. The remains of an old cast iron fence that was once part of the boundary fence of the garden is still visible. 

Between 1894-1899, writer and poet, Edith Nesbit (1858-1924) lived in a large house named Three Gables on Baring Road, where the residential apartment building Stratfield House now stands. Her garden backed up to the railway line and overlapped with what is now the southern part of the nature reserve. It is suggested that the location inspired her to write her children's book The Railway Children, which was published in 1906, having been serialised in The London Magazine the year before. The fictional house near the railway in the story is called Three Chimneys, similar in name to Nesbit's own house near the railway in Grove Park. The footpath running along the southern side of Grove Park Nature Reserve, where Nesbit's garden was previously located, has been named Railway Children Walk, in memory of the book and its author. The route forms part of the Capital Ring Walk, and South East London Green Chain Walk.

For much of the mid-C20th, up until the 1980s, the strip of land along the east side of the railway line from St Mildred's Road in the north to Grove Park in the south, including what is now Grove Park Nature Reserve, was used mostly as allotments. During WWII these allotments played an important role in the 'Dig for Victory' campaign and there may have been an anti-aircraft battery located here.

Although the site had been used informally by local residents for recreation for many years, it officially became a nature reserve in 1984, initially known as Hither Green Nature Reserve, when Lewisham Council agreed to manage the area under licence from British Rail. In 1987 Lewisham acquired the freehold of the land, following a public enquiry the previous year in which planning permission for housing on land just to the north was granted. In 2007 the site's name was changed to Grove Park Nature Reserve, and the Friends of Grove Park Local Nature Reserve was set up. One of the Friends' earliest projects, resulting from a grant of £30,000 awarded by the National Lottery Community Fund, was to provide new signs and seats, make improvements to the entrance and the path, install a bat box and sculpture, with a number of open day activities provided. Grove Park Nature Reserve has won the Green Flag Award several times since 2009. In 2020 the Nature Reserve and Railway Children Walk were temporarily closed so UK Power Networks could complete works to maintain the electricity supply network. Although there were delays caused by ground conditions, and the COVID-19 pandemic, the site re-opened in November 2020 after the grassland and pathway was returned to its previous state. 

The site is bordered by the railway line to the west, residential streets to the east and north, and more woodland and a footpath to the south where the site's entrance is located. The reserve is 4.6 ha (11 acres) in size, being 400 m (440 yd) long north to south, and around 150 m (160 yd) wide, containing woodland in the south and centre, and shrubland and meadow in the north where the site narrows to only 50 m (55 yd) in width. Baring Road, the A2212 with several bus routes is located immediately to the east of the reserve. The reserve itself has paths, a footbridge passing over an unnamed stream, which flows westward and empties into a small pond. The nature reserve is accessed by local primary schools for Forest School trips and is also used for dog walking and fruit picking.

Several species of tree grow in the woodland including oak, birch and ash. The northern meadow area is home to numerous wildflowers such as meadow vetchling and common vetch. Blackcap, green woodpecker, owl and kestrel are among 39 bird species that breed in Grove Park Nature Reserve. Other animals spotted include bats, grass snakes, hedgehogs and common lizards.  Many insect species have been seen in the reserve, including 19 species of butterfly. 

There are proposals for future development of Grove Park Nature Reserve and surrounding green space by Grove Park Neighbourhood Forum, which would link various green spaces in the area and make other improvements to the path network and facilities.