Hounslow Heath, Staines Road, Hounslow.

Tel.: 0845 456 2796

email: hounslow-info@laing.com

The Crane splits into two, one section is known as the Mill Stream and the other the River Crane. The Mill Stream runs to the east of the Crane as they enter the proposed Crane Riverside Park from the west through Feltham Marshalling Yard and joins the main river just to the west of Crane Park Island LNR.

From Pevensey Road LNR in the west the river flows through riverine woodland, neutral hay meadows and formal parkland to Twickenham Station in the east. The woodlands north and south of the Hanworth Road hold a series of veteran oaks, willows and alder pollards, a number of which are hundreds of years in age.

The river also has several silted up ponds adjacent to it the remnants of old watercress beds. Important breeding species on the Crane throughout this section include Water Voles, Kingfisher’s and Grey Wagtails.

The river north of Hanworth road is very natural with scrapes and riffles, deeper pools and in stream islands, Once past Crane Park Island the river becomes more uniform although work has been undertaken to install in stream barriers to add variety to the rivers flow and depth. The River holds good populations of fish such as Chub, Roach, Perch and Carp the fry of which create food for hunting Grey Heron’s and Kingfishers.

The shot tower on Crane Park Island is only a very small fraction of the huge gunpowder works that used to exist during the 18th and 19th centuries north of the river, with mills and jetties on the river and the island which used to supply the power and raw materials for gunpowder production.

The River Crane has an established friends group, Friends of the River Crane Environment (FORCE). Please contact eimear.mckernan@laing.com for details or go to www.force.org.uk for more information.

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