| The Downstream Nature Conservation Area This wooded area had been owned by Sir Alexander Johnson and before that the Duc d'Aumale. It was part of the property bought by The Urban District Council of Twickenham in 1924 from the executors of Sir Ratanji Jamsetji Tata, commonly called Sir Ratan Tata, the parsee owner of York House, who died on 5th September, 1918. The exact boundary between the conservation area and the boatyard was not settled until 1990, but just off the sanctuary Harry Ambler had moorings on which he kept his floating dock, made from the Ant or the Bee, iron lighters owned by Thames Lighterage. Her sister has survived, sunk into the ground on Lots Ait at Brentford. These two are the oldest surviving lighters on the river. There is no formal access to the nature conservation area. Where the flood water stops, ivy starts developing. Some sycamores have a diameter of 60 to 80 cm and others of only 15cm. Elder, Himalayan balsam, ivy and cow parsley dominate. There is little understorey and very poor biodiversity. There is an exposed beach with probable Chinese mitten crab holes. Species
found during a recent survey:
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