16 August 2011 OS Explorer 171 Chiltern Hills West
Length: All day (but quite a saunter)
The Chiltern gentian Gentianella germanica was selected as the County Flower Britain
We parked along Holloway Lane just east of Northend where a footpath starts at the edge of a wood at SU740922. This is Swains Wood. From the starting-point we walked straight downhill through the trees along a wide informal track. This soon leads to an area of chalk grassland which is managed by Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) in agreement with the owner. A permit is needed from BBOWT to enter.
Swains Wood grassland
As well as the usual chalk grassland flowers like wild basil Clinopodium vulgare, marjoram Origanum vulgare, burnet saxifrage Pimpinella saxifraga, common centaury Centaurium erythraea, yellowwort Blackstonia perfoliata, dwarf thistle Cirsium acaule, wild thyme Thymus polytrichus, greater knapweed Centaurea scabiosa (leaves with blister-like galls caused by a gall-midge Loewiola centaureae), ploughman’s spikenard Inula conyzae, dewberry Rubus caesius, milkwort Polygala vulgaris, and eyebright Euphrasia nemorosa, and chalk knapweed Centaurea debauxii, we saw large populations of harebell Campanula rotundifolia, carline thistle Carlina vulgaris, rock-rose Helianthemum nummularium, small scabious Scabiosa columbaria, clustered bellflower Campanula glomerata and particularly Chiltern gentian.
Dwarf thistle
Harebells
Carline thistle
Small scabious
Clustered bellflower
Chiltern gentian, Swains Wood
Blister galls on greater knapweed
The gentians were only just starting to flower and should be good for several weeks yet, although the dark purplish leaves tend to make them obvious even without the reddish-purple flowers whose tube is far longer than the calyx. Small plants, often with single terminal flowers, were probably annual forms of the same species. Earlier in the year there had obviously been a good showing of various orchid species judging from the fruiting spikes – we identified three other species in addition to common spotted orchid Dactylorhiza fuchsii. The round-mouthed snail Pomatias elegans, an indicator of good chalk grassland, was active in the turf still wet from showers the night before, but the cool overcast early morning was not conducive to the appearance of butterflies, another class of wildlife for which the reserve is important. A galium carpet moth Epirrhoe galiata was, however, disturbed from the undergrowth.
Having admired these floriferous slopes for a while we returned up through the wood to the footpath running east along its edge with Holloway Lane. The woodland all along here has frequent clumps of spurge-laurel Daphne laureola.
Spurge-laurel
The figworts Scrophularia nodosa had extensive mines of the agromyzid fly Amauromyza verbasci in some of their leaves. The lane is obviously ancient and well-named, as it is enclosed in high vertical banks, on top of which are boundary-trees of coppiced hazel Corylus avellana and beech Fagus sylvatica.
Coppiced beech
The wood also has oaks Quercus robur and elms Ulmus glabra, wood millet Milium effusum and wood melick Melica uniflora, with the main ground plant being dog’s mercury Mercurialis perennis. There is a sprinkling of wood-sorrel Oxalis acetosella and wood-spurge Euphorbia amygdaloides. Red kites continually mewed in the sky, as they continued to do all day, so numerous have they become since being reintroduced to this area.
The path ends in a track going across and we took this to the left, across the road, over a stile and straight up a field slope (not turning right along a narrow belt of trees beside the road). This field had been cut although we could still recognise common poppy Papaver rhoeas and scented mayweed Matricaria recutita. The path continues through a narrow belt of woodland and up another cultivated field with dwarf spurge Euphorbia exigua and wild mignonette Reseda lutea. This was followed by an uncultivated grass slope (Grays Lane Bank) with generally taller vegetation than in Swains Wood, but still with a rich flora of wild parsnip Pastinaca sativa, rock-rose, clustered bellflower, carline thistle, Chiltern gentian, eyebright, large thyme Thymus pulegioides, fairy flax Linum catharticum, autumn hawkbit Leontodon autumnalis, ploughman’s spikenard, common milkwort, and common knapweed Centaurea nigra. At last a few meadow browns were flying desultorily among the flowers.
Grays Lane Bank
Chiltern gentian, Grays Lane Bank
We were soon through this small but valuable chalk bank and into another hollow way (Grays Lane) through a belt of beech woodland with more dog’s mercury, spurge-laurel and a little gooseberry Ribes uva-crispa.
Grays Lane bridleway
The path leads into the surfaced drive of a house, with a large stand of blackcurrant Ribes nigrum on the left and wood barley Hordelymus europaeus on the right.
Wood barley
This soon becomes a small lane to Helicopter Farm, where a footpath starts on the right. We turned along this path, and kept bearing right to return southwards again through a rather dull woodland of beech and other trees with no botanical interest (Parsonage Wood). The wood slopes steeply to the right and several beech trees had fallen up the slope, their root-plate exposed, but still with some roots in the ground, so that new branches had grown vertically from the trunks and were still flourishing, no doubt a frequent adaptation for a tree that has a shallow root-system and is therefore prone to being toppled by storms.
Fallen beech growing vertical branches
The path bends to the top of the wood and we continued south here along a path still inside the wood. A herd of half-a-dozen roe-deer were frightened from the adjoining field by our presence and stampeded across then path in front of us, stopping to stare back at us at the bottom of the slope.
Eventually we reached Ibstone churchyard on our left, which is unfenced from the wood, and walked into there. While we were here we looked for sowbread Cyclamen hederifolium, supposed to be long established here, but we saw no evidence of it. We might have been just a bit early for its flowering which, as it does so before the leaves appear, would make it impossible to locate. Nevertheless there was some compensatory interest from a single old yew Taxus baccata, whose hollow bole seemed to have been unfortunately in-filled with concrete! It had a good girth of just over 6 metres and must be many centuries old. The only other plants of note here appeared to be dark mullein Verbascum nigrum. The church of St Nicholas
Old yew in churchyard
[Added 25 October 2011: We re-checked Ibstone churchyard today and can confirm that there is no established Cyclamen there anymore. It is still worth a visit for the old yew tree anyway. We also found we missed a trick last time: instead of entering the churchyard from the woodland path at the first opportunity, if you go to the far end of the churchyard to where the woodland path turns sharp right, there is a large colony of small teasel Dipsacus pilosus, a plant that seems to be very scarce these days.]
We left the churchyard on the other side by the road, turning left and then immediately right along another sunken lane, leaving by a footpath on the left at the first bend. This followed the edge of Park Wood, where there was yet more spurge-laurel and through a more open beechwood (than Parsonage Wood above), with much grass growing at ground level around stands of nettle Urtica dioica. The trees were mostly young and the wood had obviously been cleared and replanted not long ago, hence the greater amount of light (and soil disturbance). Although still very overcast one speckled wood managed to take wind. The path eventually turned right to the wood-edge again and then progressed between two fences with the wood on our left and a field of maize on our right. Along here was a multitude of vervain Verbena officinalis, a plant that seems to be much localised. On the wood-bank were rock-rose, mouse-ear hawkweed Pilosella officinarum and redcurrant Ribes rubrum. There were good views down the valley where Turville lies.
We left the churchyard on the other side by the road, turning left and then immediately right along another sunken lane, leaving by a footpath on the left at the first bend. This followed the edge of Park Wood, where there was yet more spurge-laurel and through a more open beechwood (than Parsonage Wood above), with much grass growing at ground level around stands of nettle Urtica dioica. The trees were mostly young and the wood had obviously been cleared and replanted not long ago, hence the greater amount of light (and soil disturbance). Although still very overcast one speckled wood managed to take wind. The path eventually turned right to the wood-edge again and then progressed between two fences with the wood on our left and a field of maize on our right. Along here was a multitude of vervain Verbena officinalis, a plant that seems to be much localised. On the wood-bank were rock-rose, mouse-ear hawkweed Pilosella officinarum and redcurrant Ribes rubrum. There were good views down the valley where Turville lies.
View of Turville from Park Wood edge
Rock-rose
At the far corner of the field a stile gave entrance to a scrubby chalk bank with more clustered bellflower and large thyme but no Chiltern gentian. This led to a long open-access field occupying the steep south-facing slope of Turville (or Cobstone) Hill. The initial flora was limited, largely dwarf thistle, chalk knapweed, small scabious, (with a small heath appearing, to add to our rather sad butterfly tally) but as we neared the eastern end there was a good deal of Chiltern gentian and carline thistle, rest-harrow Ononis repens, and yellowwort.
Chalk knapweed
Chiltern gentian, Cobstone Hill
As we reached the footpath descending the far edge of the field we could just see the tops of the sails of Cobstone Windmill just above the brow. As we descended the path into Turville village, looking back the windmill was now completely visible. It is a smock mill (formally belonging to the parish of Ibstone) built about 1816 to replace an earlier one and used until 1873, after which it steadily deteriorated until restored by film-stars Hayley Mills and Ray Boulting in 1971 to be used as a private residence, which it remains to this day.
Cobstone Windmill
The lane into the village had hedgerow cranesbill at the edge.
Hedgerow cranesbill
Reaching the road there was the Bull and Butcher pub across the road where we could rest for lunch. This has plenty of outdoor tables for finer days.
Bull & Butcher
Turville is so quintessentially rural English that it is frequently used in film-making (“Went the Day Well?”) and TV (“The Vicar of Dibley” and many others), while the windmill featured in “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” and other films.
Turville (pity about the cars)
After refreshment we continued along the road westwards, taking a brief look at the churchyard, where there were a few exotic trees, including what seems to be Malus “John Downie” (see photo).
Malus “John Downie”
This church, St Mary, also dates back to the early 12th century and of course featured prominently in “Vicar of Dibley”. We turned left along the first footpath/bridleway at the end of the village. This was a relatively easy slope up beside a cornfield towards the next ridge. The wheat, as usual, had been sprayed, but at the edge of the crop there were still interesting arable “weeds”, increasing in number as we rose up the slope into chalkier horizons. There was a lot of corn mint Mentha arvensis, sharp- and round-leaved fluellens Kickxia elatine & spuria, fool’s parsley Aethusa cynapium, and dwarf spurge, with scarlet pimpernel Anagallis arvensis, dark mullein, field pansy Viola arvensis, and field madder Sherardia arvensis.
Corn mint
Sharp-leaved fluellen
Round-leaved fluellen
When we reached the wood at the top we continued west along the bridleway that follows the edge of the field. The arable plants were less prominent here, but there was a little small toadflax Cheonorhinum minus.
At the far corner of the field the bridleway turns into Churchfield Wood and we were now faced with the stiffest climb of the day, straight up a very steep slope through beech, dog’s mercury growing in the lighter patches. At the top we turned left into another track to Turville Court, where a road begins that takes one on westwards. Just before a road-junction a path on the right took us into a cultivated field which seemed to be devoted to red clover Trifolium pratense and other plants of disturbed ground. Amongst the clover and common plants like scentless mayweed Tripleurospermum inodorum, orache Atriplex patula, fat hen Chenopodium album, black nightshade Solanum nigrum and common vetch Vicia sativa, there were more surprising and rare plants like long-headed clover Trifolium incarnatum ssp incarnatum, its dark red heads visible from far away scattered over the field. As more flowers emerge below the ones that open first, the head lengthens to give it its name.
Black nightshade
Common vetch
Long-headed clover
Long-headed clover – early flower-head and seed-head
Also here were field woundwort Stachys arvensis, uncommon in this area, the bright blue blooms of cornflower Centaurea cyanus and the now rather rare corn chamomile Anthemis arvensis, stinking chamomile Anthemis cotula, many-seeded goosefoot Chenopodium polyspermum and tall densely-whorled spikes of black bent Agrostis gigantea.
Cornflower
Corn chamomile
Stinking chamomile
Roesel’s bush-crickets Metrioptera roeselii were abundant amongst the dense vegetation. Having been rare even in their south coast haunts a couple of decades ago, these crickets have since spread northwards and can now be found in most areas of scrub and coarse vegetation in this area.
Roesel’s bush-cricket
A stile led into a cow pasture with abundant marsh cudweed Gnaphalium uliginosum which appreciates a regular trampling, and another stile brought us into Turville Heath beside the old red-brick house of Turville Grange (mid 18th century), which has elaborate wrought-iron gates from about 1907.
Turville Grange
We turned right to take the track along the NE side of the common, which is mostly trees and bracken Pteridium aquilinum, with a major invasion of Indian balsam Impatiens balsamifera, which seems to have got into most parts of the common. Although not native it still attracts leaf-mines from an agromyzid fly Phytoliriomyza melampyga.
Indian balsam on common
This whole area, the common surrounded by well-spaced houses is a Conservation Area for its historic interest (including seven listed buildings) and some of the trees.
Turville Grange Cottage (early 19thC) & Rose Cottage (late 18thC)
On this NE side we passed one large tree of large-leaved lime Tilia platyphyllos, but it was not until we had reached the NW corner of this row of houses that the track bent round to the left and into a grand avenue of planted small-leaved limes Tilia cordata and a few common limes Tilia x europaea, the hybrid between the two.
Avenue of limes, Turville Heath
Older trees that had been lost had been replaced by young trees of small-leaved lime. Both small- and large-leaved lime are rare these days in the Chilterns, so although these are obviously planted they are important for conservation. The small-leaved limes were obvious not only because of their noticeably smaller leaves, but because their flowers and (at this time of the year) their fruits are held erect above the leaves, not pendulous like those of the other two limes. There must be about 60 lime trees altogether in this long avenue all along the west side of the common. Another 20 or so border the entrance road to Turville Park Turville Park
Small-leaved lime with fruits & galls
Old small-leaved lime tree
Having reached this side-avenue we took a track eastwards across the centre of the common. There are some old oak trees and silver birch Betula pendula, but there has been a considerable growth of scrub in the last few decades and very little of it is now used as grazing common as it was traditionally, so that despite voluntary management it now looks sadly neglected.
Oak, Turville Heath
A footpath leaves Turville Heath beside Turville Heath Farm. This path goes along another sunken way down through Idlecombe Wood, with mostly male fern Dryopteris filix-mas in the damp shade, but also a little lady fern Athyrium filix-femina.
Lady fern
Below the wood the track proceeds between coppiced hazels with fields each side. Just after the entrance to Spinney Farm we turned left along the path by Holloway Lane with which we had started the walk. In these woods large parties of wrens were conspicuous, presumably teenage gangs of this summer’s broods. Who knows what turf wars were going on!
No comments:
Post a Comment