Folly Brook
Folly Brook is a 2¼ mile (3.6 km) long brook in the London Borough of Barnet. It is a tributary of Dollis Brook, which is a tributary of the River Brent, which is a tributary of the River Thames.
Folly Brook rises near the bottom of Highwood Hill,[1] Mill Hill, and flows east through fields and public open spaces to Woodside Park. The water quality of the brook is very good, especially in its upper reaches. It is lined for most of its length by narrow strips of woodland and scrub, with a good variety of trees and shrubs.[2]
From Highwood Hill to Darland's Lake Nature Reserve, the brook passes through private land which is not open to public access, apart from a short section next to a footpath through Folly Farm. Darland's Lake was originally ornamental, created by damming the brook, but the lake and surrounding woods are now managed as a nature reserve.[3]
There is a footpath along Folly Brook from Darland's Lake to Dollis Brook. This path starts close to the Darland's noticeboard east of the lake, and follows the brook through woods to grassland between Burtonhole Lane and Pasture and Woodridge Nature Reserve, where it is joined by its tributary, Burtonhole Brook. It then crosses Southover Way to meet Dollis Brook not far from Woodside Park tube station, connecting it with the Dollis Valley Greenwalk.
Folly Brook and Darland's Lake Nature Reserve are a Local Nature Reserve, Borough Grade 1.[2]
The brook marks the boundary between the ancient parishes of Hendon to the south and Totteridge to the north. Until 1965 Hendon was in Middlesex and Totteridge in Hertfordshire, and the brook was thus also the boundary between the two counties.
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ Highwood Hill, which is private land, is itself part of a local nature reserve, a Site of Metropolitan Importance. London Wildweb, Totteridge Fields and Highwood Hill
- ^ a b London Wildweb, Folly Brook and Darland's Lake Nature Reserve
- ^ Darland's Lake Nature Reserve, London Gardens Online
