Donkey Wood Improvements 2024
On the 10 July the new improved path was officially opened by Cllr Shaheen and Feltham North ward councillors. The main focus of this project has been to improve access and inclusion along the river path adjacent to the river Crane at Donkey Wood and to reconnect residents with nature through an accessible pathway, allowing easy access for walkers, cyclists, and nature lovers. It will also form part of the wider green travel network within the borough.
As the previous boardwalk was at end of life and without investment the path would have been closed due to safety concerns. This improvement was achieved by Maydencroft and our Parks Project Manager Lee Williams.
Background History
Donkey Wood is a key countryside site managed by the Lampton Services Greenspace Countryside team. This site forms part of the London Loop but is also a popular river trail for residents of the London Borough of Hounslow.
The project aims were to replace and extend the old board walk and upgrade the former dirt path to a compact gravel path to improve accessibility. This was done by funding from CiL and S106. The total value of the project was circa £450k so does represent a significant investment in improving access into our green spaces.
The new installation consists of 294 linear metres of new boardwalk and 700 linear metres of new 1.5-metre-wide compact gravel path that starts from the Donkey Wood entrance at Staines Road and traverses through wet woodland next to the river Crane towards the Causeway.
The total length of improved path is circa over 1km.
The project sees the improvement of the gradient over the existing bridges, the addition of 3 new rustic benches and a new radar key kissing gate at the Staines Road entrance to ensure that access to Donkey Woods is fully accessible.
In 2020 a new wooden bridge over a ditch was created and funded by TFL to further enable continued access. The old bridge was at end of life and was closed.
Further Improvements:
There is still a section of Donkey Wood River path near the causeway that requires improvement – This is on Heathrow land. The team involved are working closely with CVP, FORCE and Heathrow to get this final section of path improved in terms of a plan and budget.
Once all sections are complete, the trail should be about 2.5 miles of new path which would connect to 5 different sites:
Pevensey Road Nature Reserve - Calvary tunnel - Brazil Mill Woods - Donkey Wood - to the Causeway.
Key benefits:
- Retain an infrastructure that allows all year-round public access through a wet woodland that is flooded for 8 months of the year.
- Forms part of the wider Crane Valley Trail vision and implementation of, to create an accessible path along the Crane Valley in Hounslow.
- Promotes and encourages people to access Hounslow’s green spaces for recreation and well-being.
- Following the pathway construction, focus will be directed on improving the ecological quality of the adjacent riverside habitats to benefit Nature Recovery and the experience of the community.
