May 6, 2024 by ammcculloch49

The inaugural ‘Bluebells of north-west Kent’ award goes to …

The inaugural KWNL bluebell award results are in, now that the bluebell season is drawing to a close. The judge (that’s me) has visited a number of sites renowned for their bluebells at this time of year and come to his decision, without seeking the opinions of others (I prefer it that way, for clarity of thought). First, let’s be honest, it’s been a slightly underwhelming field this year compared with previous years, when this competition wasn’t held. It’s pissed down with rain largely, the sun has generally refused to appear, and it’s been so windy that lots of branches have fallen in the woods disrupting the shimmering fields of azure and making the place look untidy generally.

4th PLACE – EMMETTS/SCORDS WOOD on the IDE HILL ROUTE

Emmetts Garden/Scord Wood was the strong favourite to be the winner given their popularity and reputation so it is something of a shock to see it down in fourth in 2024. The position of the flowers on the slope and the widely space trees help makes them easy to photograph nicely, especially with late afternoon sun casting long shadows – the perfect bluebell shot. However, it was grey and cold during my visit and there were a few too many bare patches – unlucky, but rather like an Ofsted inspection on the way day the usually impeccably behaved pupils have nicked the headmaster’s car and left it upside down on the cricket pitch. Beautiful of course, but somehow not quite up to usual levels of greatness. No trophy but Champions League nonetheless.

3rd PLACE – MEENFIELD WOOD ON SHOREHAM WEST ROUTES

Meenfield Wood on the various Shoreham/Polhill western Darent Valley routes was also expected to make the top two, but just fell short. The full inspection took place on a Saturday again heavy with cloud with approaching rain from the south. The lime green of the beeches coming into leaf contrasted with the blue flowers to make for a colourful sight despite the conditions. Splotches of stitchwort added to the jollity at times. Many might argue it was a worthy contender to win; and in another year it may have.

2nd PLACE – NEW YEAR’S WOOD, CUDHAM CHALK PATHS

Doing much better than expected this year was New Years Wood, on the Cudham circular route. A lovely, quiet woods without many paths to interrupt the swathes of blue. More mysterious feeling even than Meenfield and it was easier to imagine the bluebells somehow continuing for miles into the distance – you couldn’t see where they ended.

1st PLACE – BLUEBERRY LANE MEADOW, KNOCKHOLT POUND

Close to the Cudham circular and Chevening walks, this magical spot (view from the gate: no entry into field) was not considered a contender until the judge happened to cycle past it on Sunday 5 May. This grassy field dotted with outstanding oaks, one of which appears damaged by lightning or storm, had never previously attracted the judge’s attention. The flowers appeared a very dense dark blue instead of rather milky blue of the previous two entrants, perhaps because of some trick of the light. There was some consideration that it should not qualify because it’s not strictly speaking on one of the walks, but this was overruled eventually, as cycle routes at KWNL also count.

Submissions from One Tree Hill, Lullingstone, Ide Hill, Hever and Oldbury were received too late to be considered unfortunately. They also breached the judge’s criteria of “not too much mud”.

I think there’s good bluebell viewing until around 13 May, but the beginnings of the end are already visible, so good luck!
See my cycle routes at Plot A Route

April 15, 2024 by ammcculloch49

Sand, clay, chalk and bluebells

“When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be happiest. The only thing that could spoil a day was people and if you could keep from making engagements, each day had no limits.”

That’s a fun quote from Hemingway. I take it to mean prioritise walks above socialising, now it’s a bit warmer (I reserve the right to be wrong about that) and to get out in the woods and downs, witness the transformation from grey and brown to green, blue and yellow. I say “witness” but it happens suddenly, overnight perhaps, when you’re not looking. Suddenly the air is soft, the countryside hues have changed and spirits have lifted.

We chose the 3.5-mile Knockholt/Chevening North Downs route for late Saturday afternoon and a 4.5-mile stroll on the Greensand Ridge at Hosey for the following morning. On the Hosey route bluebells were two-thirds in bloom and were mixed beautifully with stitchwort and anemone. We heard coal tit, nuthatch, song thrush, chaffinch joining in the merry burble of song from great and blue tits, robins and wrens. A delightful pint of Westerham Brewery’s Light Ale ensued after the walk at Squerry’s Winery.

At Knockholt, along the escarpment, three red kites drifted overhead throughout the walk and a pair of buzzards hung in the air. These raptors love the updraft along the ridge and I think this walk is the most reliable route for seeing them on of all the walks here, though they can pop up on any. Please don’t think me callous but I rather hope the birds of prey feast on pheasants; there are too many of the latter human-introduced birds in these parts and they kill a large number of reptiles and amphibians.

Redwood tree above Chartwell, at Mariner’s Hill on the Hosey/Westerham route
Dandelions on Mariner’s Hill, mid-April.
Bluebells on Mariner’s Hill on the Hosey/Westerham walk
A view of Chevening House and the Vale of Holmesdale from the chalk escarpment near Knockholt Pound. The Hosey and Westerham walks are the Greensand Ridge in the distance
The cleft in the Downs on the Knockholt/Chevening shorter version
Marsh marigold by the infant Darent river, on the Hosey/Westerham routes

The chalk Knockholt/Chevening walk on the North Downs ridge is separated from the Hosey walk on the Greensand Ridge by the clay Vale of Holmesdale, an east to west valley that runs in parallel to the two lines of hills and which contains the M25 and M20 motorways. Holmesdale clay runs between the chalk and sandstone yet despite the starkly different geology in such a small distance the plants and tree species don’t superficially appear to differ that much – presumably the plants have adjusted to the contrasting soils over the millennia. But there are some differences – there are more likely to be orchids and expanses of grassland on the less densely wooded chalk hills; while on the greensand the woods seem a tad more extensive and are more likely to include stands of pine, which like the sandier soils. I’m no expert so I won’t go on. Bluebells like both; that’s the main thing and this week they are reaching their peak at sites like Meenfield Wood, Scords Wood, and Mariners Hill. Enjoy them, they’ll be gone within about four weeks.

May 19, 2020 by ammcculloch49

Thanks and best wishes to all readers… let’s get walking again

First of all, I wish all the best to Kent Walks near London readers as we all try to get through this period unscathed in terms of our health, your livelihoods and sense of wellbeing. To those who have had or still have Covid-19, many sympathies – it sounds horrendous in many cases. The countryside is slowly opening up, but we should all be mindful of social distancing and try to make way for each other on narrow paths. Let’s avoid overcrowding in good weather and take wipes for handling gates and stiles if possible.

Second thing, thanks to all those who have donated to this website… entirely voluntary so a heartfelt thanks from me. It’s only a small amount of course but it will help me produce more walks, better mapping and information and some will be going to charities too. There are adverts on the site too, you’ll see, but a niche page like this is never going to pull in the big bucks from the AdWords model so it’s little more than a token gesture towards commerciality. Maybe display ads from dedicated sources – outdoor retailers, pubs, or as you are about to read, apps – may be the way forward.

Oh, and please check out the Kent Wildlife Trust website. KWT manages some of the woods and sites on here (as does the Woodland Trust), helping maintain the paths and creating brilliant areas for flora and fauna. It deserves our full support (and donations right now).

’appy days with wildflower apps

Out and about for the first time in a while at the weekend made me reflect that May, June and July are probably the best times of year for trying to work out what kinds of wildflowers you hopefully aren’t trampling over.

Many wildflowers aren’t that spectacular compared with cultivated garden plants and we sort of take them for granted. But notice how, unlike some of our garden species, they don’t seem to suffer from the dry conditions so much.

Until recently I only knew obvious ones: cow parsley, buttercup, ox-eye daisy, buttercup, pyramidal orchid, etc. I was a blooming ignoramus you might say. But I started adding to my list by asking friends, looking at my dear departed mama’s old, faded book of illustrations (complete with samples turning to dust) and looking at websites. I half remembered things my mum told me as a kid, so pretty soon I could identify scabious, red campion and the like. And the more you keep an eye out and record, the more interesting the whole caboodle becomes. You start to appreciate the shy little flowers of the woods, meadows and margins, their colour and what they give to various creatures.

Common spotted orchid and trefoil, White Hill, Shoreham, on the Fackenden Down walk (in June 2019)

But by downloading the Picture This app on my phone (there are other similar tools too in the App Store, such as the excellent iNaturalist which I’ve also used) I’ve revolutionised my learning. The app compares your photos with its database pictures in seconds to tell you what you’re looking at. This has helped me identify stitchwort, bugle, white helleborine, yellow pimpernel, archangel, ground ivy, vetch, sainfoin, trefoil and milkwort, among others. It does tree leaves too. I’ve been quite oblivious to all this stuff for a long time, so please forgive my excitement.

Soon, an abundance of orchids will appear in places like Polhill Bank, Fackenden Down, Lullingstone, Magpie Bottom (see Walks on the menu above) and I can’t wait to get stuck into working out what’s what. The walks on this site are excellent for flora with chalky soils predominating on the North Downs; sandy soils on the Greensand Ridge and Weald routes.

I suppose flowery stuff is not the most useful information you’ll pick up in life but I find being able to identify wildflowers really does pique my interest and triggers curiosity about other things too… insects, birds and how our ancestors used these plants. It also makes up for the fact I am a pretty useless gardener.

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February 21, 2016 by ammcculloch49

The first bluebell of 2016 is out!

If you look hard there are probably quite a few around but I wonder if February 20 is some kind of record for bluebells. Daffodils in December is one thing but bluebells in February is a new one for me. This i-Phone picture of a rather under-developed looking flower (looks as if it knows it’s early) was taken on Saturday Feb 20, 2016, in Meenfield woods above Shoreham, Kent.

June 7, 2015 by ammcculloch49

Buzzards, aeroplanes and wild flowers

The bluebells are well and truly finished now we’re into June, but the meadows in this little pocket of near-idyll from Westerham to Eynsford are alive with wild flowers. The field adjacent to Down House is particularly spectacular as are the open grass sweeps of Lullingstone. I’m no expert on variety identification but there’s more to see than just daisies and buttercups – there’s pyramidal orchids, abundant cow parsley, cowslips, chalk milkwort, speedwell…

Pyramidal orchid. Photo: Durlston Country Park, Dorset, flickr Creative Commons

Cycling near Cudham recently I disturbed a large buzzard. Close up, the scale of this bird of prey is decidedly impressive, but what suddenly occurred to me is that, when growing up, it was unheard of to see buzzards so close to London. They were definitely considered birds of the upland wilds, not the suburban fringe. There’s clearly been a sharp rise in their population in recent years in these parts … I wonder if there’s a breeding programme nearby, or perhaps it’s that their persecution by landowners has stopped. Soon after this I saw two buzzards soaring over the valley between Downe and Cudham, closely followed by a red kite gliding at height from north to south. Again, sightings that would have been almost unthinkable up until 10 years ago.

At Downe Bank, on another cycle on a recent coldish evening, I saw my first ever badger in the wild, hurrying across Cudham Road ahead of me as I laboriously ascended that steep hill.

Red Arrows pictured near Biggin Hill by Adam McCulloch

On June 13 walkers in the area will be treated to the sights and sounds of Spitfires, Hurricanes and the Red Arrows, all flying at the Biggin Hill Festival of Flight. The air show marks the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, and while a more modest affair than the airfield’s major International Air Fairs (until 2010), the event should prove a fitting tribute to those who fought against the Nazis from Biggin Hill. And walkers and cyclists in the area that day will get some unusual and exciting views of the planes as they manoeuvre for passes over the airfield.