neW urBan environmenTs, C.1860–1950^175be found even further into the capital. Dairy farms still existed at Dulwich
and Highgate, within five miles of Charing Cross, into the inter-war period:
Coldharbour Farm in Mottingham, between Catford and Chislehurst, was
still operating in 1950.^77 Pockets of farmland survived better in the period
up to the 1950s because market gardens and small dairies, in particular,
were more common than they are today. Moreover, the 1947 Town and
Country Planning Act not only limited the extent of unplanned sprawl in
green belts but also encouraged the infilling of remaining pockets of open
ground in those areas that were zoned for development.
Even when fields were sold off and built over, elements of the old
landscape could demonstrate a remarkable degree of resilience, especially in
the lower-density suburbs. Development tended to occur in small blocks, as
individual fields were sold off to builders, and hedges often survived on their
boundaries, albeit degenerating over time and fragmenting as individual
house owners replanted them, or replaced them with fences.^78 Even where
hedges disappeared altogether hedgerow trees often remained. The more
ancient specimens might continue to provide, for a while, homes for tawny
or barn owls. Such survivals were not simply the fortuitous side effect of
patterns of development. In some cases, as for example in Wembley in the
1930s, the Town Planning Permits issued by the Urban District Council
stipulated the retention of established trees as development proceeded.^79
Moreover, those wishing to purchase homes in the suburbs wanted to live
in an environment that was still at least partly rural in character. Fired up
by the example of Letchworth, developers increasingly retained hedges and
trees. Sales particulars for one new estate in south Hertfordshire, on what
was effectively becoming the northern edge of London, emphasized in 1913
that: ‘It is desired to preserve the rural characteristics of the locality as much
as possible, and with that object in view the natural hedges and as many of
the trees will be retained as is consistent with convenient development’.^80
Pockets of woodland have demonstrated a surprising ability to survive.
Within the borough of Haringey, between 6 and 8 kilometres from the centre
of London, there are no less than five areas of ancient woodland – Highgate
Wood, Queens Wood, Coldfall Wood, Bluebell Wood and North Wood –
which still boast a wide range of woodland plants and associated fauna.
In Highgate Wood alone over 900 species of invertebrate, 338 moths, 353
fungi, seven types of bat and 70 bird species have been recorded, the latter
including golden oriole, pied flycatcher, barn owl and long-eared owl. Nor
was it only ancient woodland which survived to provide havens for wildlife
in this way. Knighton Spring, a few kilometres from the centre of Leicester,
is a small oak and ash plantation established in 1840, which is now a local
nature reserve. Not all elements of the old landscape survived equally well,
however. Streams were frequently culverted and ponds usually fared badly.
In Bushey in suburbanizing south Hertfordshire an example on Little Bushey
Lane, ‘formerly used as a watering place for cattle’, was ordered by the council
in 1910 to be filled in as a ‘public nuisance’.^81 The urge to tidy away the more