Waterside countdown: 4. Hawley Meadows & Blackwater Park

Welcome to the seventh in my series of pictorial guides. This time I’m showcasing my top ten favourite waterside viewpoints, selected from our ‘Greenspace on your doorstep’ directory.

At number 4 are Hawley Meadows & Blackwater Park on the border of Surrey & Hampshire…

Meandering through this green and pleasant riparian strip is the River Blackwater. Flowering skyward toward the heavens grow Great Water Parsnip, Wild Angelica, and Meadowsweet – the latter regarded by the Druids as sacred because of its power to heal. The flower is known to contain the same properties as aspirin. Historically, it has been administered for fever and flu; and tea made from the flower has been used to treat stomach ulcers and headaches.

For directions, information and more photographs, go to the Hawley Meadows & Blackwater Park entry in ‘Greenspace on your doorstep’.

Warden Mike

Picture credits: Meadowsweet in header: Alasdair James; View of Hawley Meadows: Thames Basin Heaths Partnership; Meadowsweet: Liisa-Maija Harju; View of Blackwater Park: Gillian Bamford

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