Since 2020, father and son team, Chris and Nathan, have been working hard to take care of Greater Anglia's station located in the tranquil Essex village of Battlesbridge; famed for being the home of the county's largest antiques centre along the banks of the River Crouch. Read on to learn more about their Urban Wildlife Champion experience.

Our aim was to increase the number of passengers along the Crouch Valley Railway between Wickford to Southminster. The project was also supported by the Essex & South Suffolk Community Rail Partnership (ESSCRP), which is a division of Essex County Council.

In 2023, we teamed up with the Essex Wildlife Trust and signed up to become Urban Wildlife Champions. So far, we have made vast improvements to the area, for example, the installation of a water-butt to avoid using natural resources; a wild meadow area and planters with native flowers casting a rainbow of colour which adorn the platform, thus making the site attractive to not only passengers but bees and butterflies. In time, it is envisaged that the benefits of providing a home for nature to help it flourish is only set to increase. We plan to add bat boxes and more bird boxes to complement the existing layout. We will also implement increased hedgerow planting and add a plethora of homes set up like beetle stumperies. 

We think it is important to recognise the role railways play in providing an environmentally-friendly and sustainable mode of transport. As the station has been un-staffed since 1968, nature has taken the initiative to call this location home, where hundreds of busy commuters bound for London pass daily. Such a scheme is only possible with teamwork; and we kindly thank Essex Wildlife Trust for their partnership.

With thanks to the local Parish Council, Railscape, Greater Anglia, a local nursery and RHS Hyde Hall for their support in improving Battlesbridge Station.