Berkshire/Oxfordshire: Wittenham Clump to Sutton Courtenay

18 August 2015                                                         OS Landranger 164

We began at the car-park immediately south of Wittenham Clump SU5692.  The Clump is a group of beech Fagus sylvatica crowning an outlier hill rising immediately from the Thames, which, while being of no great height, forms a landmark for miles around.

Wittenham Clump

Immediately above the car-park is a prehistoric fort with deep ditches.  Although on chalk the turf had few plants of interest - woolly thistle Cirsium eriophorum, chalk knapweed Centaurea debeauxii, red bartsia Odontites verna, agrimony Agrimonia eupatoria, dwarf mallow Malva neglecta, black horehound Ballota nigra.

Woolly thistle with common ragwort

Dwarf mallow

Much of it was rough grassland - a colony of welted thistle Carduus crispus had many seven-spot ladybirds, despite these creatures having become much scarcer recently.

Welted thistle with 7-spot ladybirds

A large bright pink flower close to the ground had us wondering for a moment, but it was only an escaped garden tree mallow Malva x clementii that was lying down rather than standing erect.  There were a lot of these growing at the Earth Trust Centre close to Wittenham Clump and it was obviously the source of this errant plant - amusing to think that this environmental organisation could be responsible for the countryside being overrun by aliens it has introduced!

Garden tree mallow with clustered dock

We walked from the fort northwards beside Little Wittenham Wood, a nature reserve with open access.  Along the edge were the expected plants like spindle Euonymus eyropaeus, guelder rose Viburnum opulus, black bryony Tamus communis, hawthorn Crataegus monogyna, hairy StJohn's-wort Hypericum hirsutum and wild parsnip Pastinaca sativa.

Spindle berries not yet ripe

On the downward slope we passed through a meadow with lots of yellow rattle Rhinanthus minor, some musk mallow Malva moschata and chicory Cichorium intybus, a plant that always flowers when summer has passed its best.  There was a good view down to the Thames.

Chicory

Thames from Wittenham Hill

A dried-up pond lower down the meadow gave us the first water plants that would mostly be seen again along the Thames - greater pond sedge Carex riparia, false fox sedge C. otrubae, hairy sedge Carex hirta, purple loosestrife Lythrum salicaria, water mint Mentha aquatica, gypsywort Leucopus europaeus, and yellow iris Iris pseudacorus.  There was also a bush of downy rose Rosa tomentosa.  A ditch close to the village of Little Wittenham added bulrush Typha latifolia, meadowsweet Filipendula ulmaria and great willowherb Epilobium hirsutum, as well as leaves of meadow cranesbill Geranium pratense.

Great willowherb

In Little Wittenham village it was a very short walk down the track past the church to the river. 

The churchyard seemed to favour horse-chestnut Easculus hippocastanum and lime-trees Tilia x europaea to the usual yews, but opposite it there stood an unfamiliar hawthorn, which we later keyed out to Crataegus rhipidophylla or large-sepalled hawthorn.  It had well-cut leaves that varied immensely in size and persistent sepals on the haws.

Large-sepalled hawthorn

Leaves and fruit of large-sepalled hawthorn

At the bottom of the track was a hedge of butcher's broom Ruscus aculeatus and small balsam Impatiens parviflora in a side-stream of the Thames.  At the river itself, which we crossed by a bridge and then re-crossed to the west bank at a weir, we saw additional waterside plants - marsh woundwort Stachys palustris, common clubrush Schoenoplectus lacustris with its grey stems, common fleabane Pulicaria dysenterica, hemlock water-dropwort Oenanthe crocata, wild angelica Angelica sylvestris, yellow water-lily Nymphoides peltata and two more balsams - Indian and orange Impatiens glandulifera and I. capensis.  The first heron of the day rose up with a harsh cry, but we were to see plenty more through the day.

Common clubrush under crack willow

Common fleabane

At the weir we passed over Day's Lock where boats were just being let through by the lock-keeper.

Day's Lock

Here we saw pellitory-of-the-wall Parietaria judaica, dewberry Rubus caesius and wood horsetail Equisetum sylvaticum with its distinctive branched branches.

Wood horsetail

The bank north of here had a series of old crack willow Salix fragilis pollards, along with old ash Fraxinus excelsior and alder Alnus glutinosa trees.

Crack willow pollards

One of the willows had fungi at the base of somewhat anonymous appearance until closer examination showed that they had a thick ring around the stem and a very long tap-root, sufficient to identify them as rooting poisonpie Hebeloma radicosum.  The long root in this species comes from underground dead bodies (eg mole), so that its association in this case with the willow was incidental, there presumably being mammal burrows beneath it and its hollow interior.

Rooting poisonpie in situ

Specimen showing ring and long root

Just past this tree was an old ash with shaggy bracket Inonotus hispidus.

Shaggy bracket on ash trunk

As walked along we were struck by the fact that the river provided a narrow colourful oasis of flowers in sharp contrast to the green but largely flower-less fields to the other side of us.

Purple loosestrife and bulrush by the Thames

We continued to add a few species to our list - brooklime Veronica beccabunga, water forgetmenot Myosotis scorpioides, reed Phragmites australis, hard rush Juncus inflexus, square-stemmed StJohn's-wort Hypericum tetrapterum, water figwort Scrophularia aquatica, common skullcap Scutellaria galericulata, great water dock Rumex hydolapathum, water chickweed Myosoton aquaticum, hemp agrimony Eupatorium cannabinum and celery-leaved buttercup Ranunculus sceleratus.

Water chickweed

Great water dock

Among these natives were frequent colonies of escaped common Michaelmas-daisy Aster x salignus.

Common Michaelmas-daisy

Canada geese frequently flew over us in flocks, some of them settling down in the fields behind us, where we could look back to Wittenham Clump still dominating the background.

Canada geese and Wittenham Clump

We had been hoping to find greater dodder along here on riverside nettles Urtica dioica, but these had been sparse until we got very close to Clifton Hampden, where we came across a large colony - but still no dodder, which has eluded us in every trip we have taken beside the Thames, although this is its locus classicus.  The only compensation as we approached the village was a tree of Midland hawthorn Crataegus laevigata and a flock of goldfinches on seeding spear thistles Cirsium vulgare.

Midland hawthorn

We then crossed the Thames by a road bridge, where there was greater celandine Chelidonium majus and a walnut tree Juglans regia, and continued west along the other bank of the river.  The vegetation along here was bushier and rougher and less rewarding, but hop Humulus lupulus was frequent and we added hedgerow cranesbill Geranium pyrenaicum, rest-harrow Ononis repens and common buckthorn Rhamnus catharticum.

          A low wet meadow had lots of wild angelica and also the true native form of common comfrey Symphytum officinale with its creamy flowers.

Wet meadow with wild angelica

Common comfrey

A bare arable field also provided black nightshade Solanum nigrum, field pansy Viola arvensis, common poppy Papaver rhoeas and bristly ox-tongue Helminthotheca echioides.  The land had had dredgings from the river thrown on it, including shells of the swollen river mussel Unio tumidus.

Swollen river mussel

After crossing the railway line and under a line of pylons, both from Didcot and its power station, we arrived at Culham where there was another bridge to take us across to Sutton Courtenay and the end of our exploration of the river.  At the bridge were wall-rue Asplenium ruta-muraria and fruiting cherry-plums Prunus cerasifera with golden yellow fruit.  The Fish Restaurant on the village provided a welcome lunch opportunity and rest.

After lunch we walked south past the church to the region of former gravel-pits where we turned east past several lakes.  The white water-lilies Nymphaea alba here were introduced, as they included several cultivars of various colour and the blue globe-thistles Echinops bannaticus were obviously garden escapes, although the water horsetails Equisetum fluviatile may possibly have come in naturally.  There was view across one lake to Didcot Power Station.

Blue globe-thistle

We then came across a bare dry field that was probably wet in the winter and had a number of arable plants, although it was dominated by a vigorous grass which was spreading by underground stolons and had long narrow leaves with prominent white mid-ribs.  This turned out to be Chinese silver-grass Miscanthus sinensis, which is grown as an ornamental in gardens and also used as a bio-crop.  We do not know the origin of this field of alien grass - perhaps it was a planted bio-crop in itself.  It does not flower until September or October.

Chinese silver-grass

The more expected "weeds" here were: frequent round-leaved fluellen Kickxia spuria, very little sharp-leaved fluellen K. elatine, a little bugloss Anchusa arvensis, many-seeded and maple-leaved goosefoots (goosefeet?) Chenopodium polyspermum & C. hybridum, black bindweed Fallopia convolvulus, scarlet pimpernel Anagallis arvensis, wild basil Clinopodioum vulgare, frequent common orache Atriplex patula, abundant rough sow-thistle Sonchus asper, frequent square-stemmed willowherb Epilobium tetragonum, dwarf mallow and much redleg Persicaria maculata (many plants with greenish flowers and unspotted leaves, making them confusable with pale persicaria).

Bugloss

Round-leaved fluellen

Many-seeded goosefoot

Maple-leaved goosefoot

Redleg - green flowers

We saw the violet ground beetle Carabus violaceus here.

Violet ground beetle

When we reached a cross-track the footpath ahead (which would have taken us to the outskirts of Appleford) was blocked and supposedly re-routed, but the path was now unkempt and difficult and in places non-existent or impassable.  This was probably in connection with plans for a new quarry, signs opposing which we saw all over Appleford when we got there.  Certainly the footpath mitigation was not adequate.  At one point through this difficult section we passed blue fleabane Erigeron acer and the uncommon narrow-leaved birdsfoot-trefoil Lotus glaber, much slenderer and wirier than the common species.

Narrow-leaved birdsfoot-trefoil

We eventually came out along the road into Appleford (though further away than the original footpath), passing aspens Populus tremula.  We kept an eye open for apple Malus pumila in the hedges, given that this village is named for this tree, which must have been cultivated here long ago, but it was not until we emerged on the other side that we found some in a field hedge.

Apples for Appleford

The path continued to Long Wittenham, coming quite close to the Thames once more.  As we entered the village we passed naturalised lilac Syringa vulgaris and viper's bugloss Echium vulgare.  At the main road through the village we turned NE, passing a planted hawthorn that had unusually flattened haws.  Checking this thoroughly later it was inseparable from Midland hawthorn, although we can find no pictures of this (or a hybrid) with such flattened fruits.

Midland hawthorn with conspicuously flattened haws, planted in Long Wittenham

From the north end of this village a road and then paths take one to Little Wittenham and then back up the steep hill to Wittenham Clump and the end of the walk.

London: East End: Bethnal Green to Stoke Newington

7 August 2015

All day

This walk not only allowed us to see a variety of sites of botanical interest, but also to contrast the friendly present-day multicultural community of, particularly, Turks and Jews, with surviving signs of an industrial and even agricultural past.

We started from Cambridge Heath station at Bethnal Green and walked north up the main road to the Regents Canal at Andrews Road.  As always in these London walks the street art was immediately evident - so accepted these days that street artists are now commissioned by businesses and local authorities to contribute further works.  This applies, for instance, to Christiaan Nagel, who began by placing brightly coloured mushrooms on various rooftops, but was commissioned by the Bar and Restaurant Ombra, which we passed, to create a whole group of them on its own roof.

At the corner of Andrews Road was a work "Based on a True Story" by Zabou, who came as a French art student to London, now lives and works as a designer here, but still continues with her nocturnal creations, this one in collaboration with Sr.X from Spain.

By the side of the canal we immediately started recording the (mostly alien) plants expected at such a site: buddleia Buddleja davidii, petty spurge Euphorbia peplus, shaggy soldier Galinsoga quadriradiata, yellow corydalis Pseudofumaria lutea, Guernsey & Bilbao's fleabanes Conyza sumatrensis &floribunda, red valerian Centranthus ruber, hollyhock Alcea rosea, haresfoot clover Trifolium arvense, wall barley Hordeum murale, gypsywort Leucopus europaeus, annual mercury Mercurialis annua and black horehound Ballota nigra.  In the canal were greater, common and least duckweeds - Spirodela polyrhiza, Lemna minor, L. minuta.

          On Andrews Road, going west, we passed Hoyles Foundry, a relic of the industrial 19th century still operating, making decorative ironwork.

Nineteenth century ironworks, Andrews Road (note the alien Canna cocacola in road verge)

Beyond here, across the canal, was a more recent relic that is no longer used and is about to be converted into new housing - the empty framework of 20th century gasometers.

From opposite these gasometers we walked north as far as Westgate Street, on the other side of which lay London Fields, even its name redolent of the long gone agricultural past of this area.  It is now a park and as we entered we passed a flowering tree of walnut Juglans regia.

But the past is not forgotten, as several constructions here made by Freeform, a community arts group, in collaboration with local schools, provided mosaic seats among memorials to the old flower-sellers and sheep, for this was once where an ancient drove road came and flocks were rested before going on the final lap to the market.  The bowler hats of the flower women give them the appearance of Peruvian Incas, an exotic touch congruent with the community.

A large part of the park has been devoted to creating an "urban meadow" by scattering a wild flower mix (almost all alien flowers) on bare, somewhat sandy, ground.  By now it was past its best but there was still plenty of colour here and there, and a bewildering variety of plants.  We were able to recognise sweet alison Lobularia maritima, common poppy Papaver rhoeas, California poppy Eschscholzia californica, cornflower Centaurea cyanus, Virginia stock Malcolmia maritima, Clarkia cv, purple viper's bugloss Echium plantagineum (incl. 'Alba'), prostrate toadflax Linaria supina, Linaria maroccana, Cosmos bipinnatus cv's, Dahlia 'Star'cv, Echinacea angustifolia; plus several that presumably came in of their own accord - marsh yellow-cress Rorippa palustris, false London-rocket Sisymbrium loeselii, common orache Atriplex patula and scentless mayweed Tripleurospermum inodorum.

Purple viper's bugloss

The colourful meadow seems symbolic of the ethnic mix of the surrounding community

Echium plantagineum 'Alba'

Cosmos bipinnatus

Dahlia 'Star' cv.

Echinacea angustifolia cv.

Cornflower

Linaria maroccana

As is usual in London parks the older trees are dominated by London plane Platanus x hispanica, with a fine avenue towards the northern end.

Plane trees, London Fields

From the north end of the park we walked across Mare Street and along Morning Lane (passing tomato Solanum lycopersicum, garden catmint Nepeta x faasenii and snapdragon Antirrhinum majus) to Churchwell Path.  This took us north along a quiet route away from the traffic and building noise through Hackney churchyard, past wall lettuce Mycelis muralis and Canadian fleabane Conyza canadensis to a play-area with a new café on the west side "Brew for Two" where we sat to eat crêpes and drink fresh water-melon juice.  Returning to the path we continued north past a line of old horse-chestnuts Aesculus hippocastanum, planted in 1797 by Harry Sedgwick to commemorate the consecration of Hackney Church that year (as is explained in a nearby plaque).

Horse-chestnuts along Churchwell Path

At the end we continued north along Lower Clapton Road (annual wall-rocket Diplotaxis muralis, hedgerow cranesbill Geranium pyrenaicum) to Lea Bridge Road, which we followed east to the bridge itself, which spans the Lea Navigation Canal.  At the bridge a path goes south by the side of the canal and over a bridge to the entrance to what was once Essex Filter-beds but is now preserved as a park (part of the extensive Lee Valley Park).  The concrete structures and ponds still remain as a memorial to this major engineering feat and provide an interesting environment for wildlife and local residents, celebrated in a work by Paula Haughney called "Nature's Throne" (1990).

"Nature's Throne"

The vegetation, in and out of the water, is dominated by rough wasteland plants and of little interest botanically, although there are large stands of giant hogweed Heracleum mantegazzianum and some large trees of fruiting fig Ficus carica.

Giant hogweed

Fig

Other plants here worth mentioning are Turkey oak Quercus cerris, Canadian goldenrod Solidago canadensis, hairy Michaelmas-daisy Aster novae-angliae, common spike-rush Eleocharis palustris, perennial wall-rocket Diplotaxis tenuifolia, water bent Polypogon viridis and the alien subspecies of black nightshade Solanum nigrum schultzii.

          We returned to the Lea Bridge and across the road was a Park, North Middlefields, where there was another expanse of sown "urban meadow", including quite a few species not seen at London Fields, such as corn marigold Glebionis segetum, chamomile Chamaemelum nobile, Linum grandiflorum and Italian catchfly Silene italica (pink and white forms).

Chamomile

Linum grandiflorum

Italian catchfly

A path beside the park and the Lea Navigation took us north a little way until we could return west along Mount Pleasant Hill.  This gave us a chance to add more canal-side plants: great water dock Rumex hydrolapathum, black mustard Brassica nigra, common polypody Polypodium vulgare, white stonecrop Sedum album, narrow-leaved ragwort Senecio inaequidens, common skullcap Scutellaria galericulata, California brome Ceratochloa carinata, all on the bank; and fat duckweed Lemna gibba, fennel pondweed Potamogeton pectinatus, rigid hornwort Ceratophyllum demersum, Canadian waterweed Elodea canadensis and south American waterweed E. callitrichoides in the canal.  In addition, and rather unfortunately, beside the bridge where we left the canal was a large patch of the very invasive floating pennywort Hydrocotyle ranunculoides, the leaves reminiscent of marsh marigold.

Lea Navigation passing Essex Filter-beds

Common skullcap

Perennial wall-rocket

Dense patch of floating pennywort

We had a long trek up Mount Pleasant Hill, passing a young fig growing in wasteland, and along Northwold Road, to Stoke Newington, where we arrived opposite the entrance to Abney Park Cemetery.  This 13-hectare woodland is kept as a local nature reserve.  Abney Park was taken over in 1840 by a nursery (Loddiges), which planted many exotic and native trees.  It then became the site for a cemetery and it is strange to walk through an environment of late 19th to early 20thC gravestones, all now toppling at various angles because of the growth of the woodland around them.  Interesting veteran trees are marked on a helpful map (downloadable) that provides a trail through the reserve.  A few of these are shown below.

Hollow ash Fraxinus excelsior near the entrance

Pollarded black Italian poplar Populus x canadensis 'Serotina'

Old hawthorn Crataegus monogyna

Rare bracket fungus Phylloporia ribis at base of the old hawthorn

Jumbled graves and old hornbeam Carpinus betulus (left of centre)

"One-legged" ash - it is still living!

Sorbus latifolia (Service tree of Fontainebleau)

Spotted thorn Crataegus punctatus

Fruit and leaves of spotted thorn. Spots (lenticels) on the haws give it its name.

Leaf near the haws has a mine of the moth Stigmella oxyacanthella.

The ground flora of Abney Park was unremarkable, given the disturbance and prevalent shade, although there was a patch of escaped garden Solomon's-seal Polygonatum x hybridum.  We saw speckled wood butterflies - the park is said to have the largest colony of these in London; also ring-necked parakeets and a brown rat (for which the undergrowth and crumbling graves must provide excellent habitat!).

          To complete our multicultural experience we walked south down Kingsland High Street and had a meal at a Turkish restaurant in Arcola Street, Mangal 1 Ocakbaşi ("ocakbaşi" is a grill room with an open fire pit with red-hot coals in the centre, a common form of restaurant in this area).