Russia Dock Woodland

Russia Dock Woodland is a long narrow park in Rotherhithe, London, created by the infilling of one of the former Surrey Commercial Docks. The woodland divides the Rotherhithe peninsula, running from Bacon's College in the North to the Dalton Cross area in the South.

The former Russia Dock was originally used for the importing of softwoodtimber from Norway, Russia and Sweden. Known as "deal wood", it was mostly used for newsprint and for manufacturing furniture. Following the closure of the docks in the early 1970s, the area was redeveloped by the London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC).

Russia Dock Woodland was made up of a number of docks, including Russia Dock, Island Dock and Surrey Basin, which were infilled (save for a thin 'stream' through the woodland) and planted as a 34.5-acre (140,000 m²) woodland in 1980. The Woodland still contains surviving dock features including the retaining wall capstones, depth gauges, bollards, mooring chains and tracks.

The woodlands were established by the LDDC and were handed over to –and are now managed by –Southwark Council with the assistance of the Friends of Russia Dock Woodland.^[1] The LDDC established various footbridges (including the Alfred Salter footbridge) and paths (including Waterman's path along the stream) through the woods, which are now maintained by Southwark Council.^[2]The Conservation Volunteers (formerly the Trust for Urban Ecology) maintain the neighbouring Stave Hill Ecological Park.^[3] Both areas are an excellent resource for residents of and visitors to Rotherhithe.

Stave Hill itself is a 30-foot (9.1 m) high artificial mound in the shape of a truncated cone, with a viewing platform and relief map of the former docks in cast bronze by Michael Rizzello at the top. ^[4] It provides views over Canary Wharf, the City of London, and much of south and central London; on clear days the view stretches as far as Wembley Stadium.

تم إنشاؤها في عام 1985 من قبل شركة LDDC، باستخدام مواد النفايات والأنقاض من الأعمال لملء وتنسيق أحواض السفن التجارية السابقة.

تضم محمية روسيا دوك وودلاند وستيف هيل البيئية مجموعة متنوعة من موائل الحياة البرية، بما في ذلك أنواع عديدة من الأراضي الشجرية ، والغابات ، والبساتين ، والمراعي ، والبرك ، وجزء قصير من مجرى مائي طباشيري ، وحديقة فراشات . ومن بين الأنواع التي شوهدت في المحمية: القنافذ ، والزواحف ، والخفافيش ، وفراشات المروج البنية ، والفراشات الزرقاء الشائعة ، وثلاثة أنواع من اليعسوب . ^{[ 5 ]}

في عام 2017، منحت هيئة "ناتشورال إنجلاند" كلاً من غابة "روسيا دوك" ومتنزه "ستيف هيل" البيئي صفة "محمية طبيعية محلية" . ^{[ 6 ]}

• الموقع الرسمي لمجلس ساوثوارك (الحكومة المحلية)
• غابة روسيا دوك على موقع وودلاند تراست الإلكتروني
• مقال عن منحوتة مايكل ريزيلو بقلم المدونة المحلية أندي بيرنز

51°30′04″ شمالاً 0°02′20″ غرباً / 51.501° شمالاً 0.039° غرباً / 51.501؛ -0.039