Celebrate Crews Hill and Enfield's countryside on the National Day of Action for Nature, Parks and Green Spaces

On Saturday 18th April the Community Planning Alliance, in cooperation with CPRE – the Countryside Charity, is organising a National Day of Action for Nature, Parks and Green Spaces. The purpose is simple: to demonstrate, visibly and collectively, that people everywhere care deeply about the natural world and want to see it protected and restored. Events will take place all over the country.;

Locally, Enfield RoadWatch is combining forces with other members of Action for Enfield's Future to organise events at locations in Crews Hill and "Chase Park" that are threatened by the proposed "new town". The Enfield RoadWatch booth will be set up outside Thompson’s on Cattlegate Road from 10am to 4pm.

Key event locations for the day on the map below. The 456 bus will bring you to Crews Hill and you can also get there by train on the Hertford Loop Line to Crews Hill Station. Otherwise, there are car parks throughout Crews Hill associated with the various businesses.

Celebrate Crews Hill!

• Visit Crews Hill Golf Club from 11am, where you will be made welcome by the members and staff and can enjoy a free tea or coffee. Council Leader, Ergin Erbil, recently described the golf course as devoid of wildlife, restricted from public access, not Green Belt and supported by only 20 members. You’ll be able to see for yourselves if any of that is true. Parking on site or a short walk from the Enfield RoadWatch booth.
• Visit Theobald’s Farmhouse’s award-winning, 2 acre organic Arts and Crafts garden. Entrance is by a timed numbered ticket ONLY. Tickets can be picked up from the Enfield RoadWatch booth on the day. No advance bookings and no direct bookings with the garden. £10 donation requested.
• Explore Culver Garden Centre near Crews Hill Station – home to 13 very varied businesses, you’ll be surprised by what you find there.
• Explore Browns Garden Village on Theobalds Park Road where there is an extensive antiques emporium, alongside a crafts shop, dog grooming and more.
• Satisfy your curiosity about reptiles at Crews Hill Reptiles, fish at Kingfisher Aquatics or Maidenhead Aquatics, or birds at the Enfield Bird Centre or London Bird Shop.
• Stroll and socialise – there are over 30 plant-related businesses to see and 10 or more cafes for a break.

Celebrate Enfield’s Countryside!

The proposed Crews Hill & Chase Park New Town would cover 884 hectares of Enfield’s Green Belt, only 10% of which has existing buildings. The rest is rolling farmland, the remnants of the historic Enfield Chase. Although much of this countryside is still actively farmed, it is criss-crossed by a network of footpaths that allows the public to experience an open rural setting that is rare in London. Some are easily accessible from Crews Hill, such as the footpath through the golf course or the path off Strayfield Road to Rectory Farm.

If you’d like to plan a longer day out in Enfield’s beautiful countryside, you can download three routes from the Enfield RoadWatch website. Other walks in Enfield are available on the Enfield Society website.

Don't forget Whitewebbs!

Also under threat is a nearby environmental treasure, the former golf course at Whitewebbs. In this case, the threat is not housing, but the transformation of a large part of the site into a training centre for a wealthy football club.

There will be a walk here too at 10am on 18th April: "Explore the Ancient Woodlands".

Walking in Whitewebbs will be leading the guided walk from Whitewebbs to Crews Hill. Starting from the cafe near Beggars Hollow and passing through ancient woodland. An opportunity to see, first hand, the site of Tottenham Hotspur’s proposed women’s football academy.

Ahead of next month's council elections, this call to all candidates and parties was issued by Sean Wilkinson from Save Whitewebbs:

"Whitewebbs Park is a vital part of Enfield’s Green Belt and a treasured public open space. Any proposal that restricts public access or hands control to private or exclusive corporate interests is unacceptable and undermines the principles of fair, transparent planning while damaging our shared green environment. In the May election, we have a crucial opportunity to defend these spaces. All candidates and parties should give a clear, specific, and unambiguous commitment to keep Whitewebbs Park and all publicly owned green spaces natural, undeveloped, and freely accessible to everyone."