Discovering The Deneway

By Huw Morgan

Community Action Officer

Stretching for half a mile along the London to Brighton railway, The Deneway nature reserve in Westdene, Brighton is our only urban reserve. A linear site offering a sheltered wildlife corridor from open downland into the suburbs, The Deneway is a hidden gem. Home to a wide variety of wildlife, the site offers a great space to work with volunteers, school visits, corporate groups, community projects and forest school trainees.

The site is readily accessible by public transport and bicycle and within walking distance of several schools who have used its mixed woodland habitat for environmental education and developing forest school skills. Groups such as the Brighton Hit Squad volunteers regularly work there opening up glades and planting native wild flower species to help pollinators. On a stroll through on a sunny morning you might find Speckled wood, Orange-tip, Brimstone and Peacock butterflies enjoying the warmth.

Recent funding from Scottish Power and the Coop has allowed us to develop the infrastructure of the site installing a compost loo and storage facilities which help make it easier to host groups. Planned improvements to the pathways will further increase accessibility. A new pond has been created and is teeming with life, alive with tadpoles, newts, invertebrates and damselflies.

The accessibility of The Deneway reserve offers an opportunity to explore nature and wildlife to those who might not be able to reach many of our other more rural reserves and provides a great setting to help introduce diverse audiences to the natural world and the work of the Trust. It’s a brilliant site for us to develop our education, volunteer and community engagement work within the city.

The Deneway nature reserve is not open to the public, access is by prior arrangement for organised groups only