Ups and Downs

Thursday 23 June 2011

Ups and Downs

An inquisitive Dexter cow near Biggin Hill. 21 June 2011.

That was Ewa Prokop's name for the walk she led on Tuesday. Ewa always looked for quirky names for her walks, and they were always energetic strides across the beautiful countryside of Bromley. This time the walk started at Pratt's Bottom and crossed three of Bromley's valleys, on the edge of the North Downs.

Previous walks planned by Ewa had covered parts of this route, but the whole feel of the countryside was different at this time of year. More and different wildflowers were prominent in the meadows and fields. Also, I have learned a lot over the past few months, some of if from Ewa, and the more you know, the more you see.

This was Ewa's last walk for Bromley Countryside Services. A third of Bromley's rangers are losing their jobs in the current series of cutbacks. All the jobs are being redefined, and it is likely that there will be fewer of these walks and less support for the "friends" groups which care for their local country parks, commons and woods. Of the six rangers I have met, three will be retiring or will become redundant, and I wish them well. They are people with vast knowledge of their areas and a real feel for conservation, and their loss cannot be good for Bromley's countryside.

So, I arrived early at Pratt's Bottom village green; very neat, very middle-class. Yes, I think the name is funny too. I got a couple of close-up photos before the others arrived — just two walkers and Ewa — and we set off uphill along a bridleway.

Flowers of male white bryony, Bryonia dioica, on the edge of Pratt's Bottom village green. Ups and Downs walk led by Ewa Prokop, 21 June 2011.

Flowers of male white bryony, Bryonia dioica. 21 June 2011.

Ewa was telling us about the countryside we passed through, and pointing out interesting plants and places where she had worked with volunteers to lay new hedgerows. We saw grasses like the drooping wood melick that lined the shady path; coppiced hazels; flowering black horehound (which Ewa knew as stinking horehound) and hedge woundwort, musk mallow and hedge bedstraw. There were butterflies; meadow brown, ringlet, large skipper.

We passed by Charmwood Farm and the gated end of a long, lime-lined track and came to an unnamed valley. At first sight this seemed to be just grassland, but there were many other plants hidden among the stalks. We saw the yellow flowers of black medick and St. John's wort, and as we climbed the far side some wild basil, a patch of wild thyme, and yes, some pyramidal orchids.

This was the same valley I photographed on 25th January for my first entry in this blog. That was one of Ewa's walks too, though she had not been able to come out that day and Jenny Price led it.

Then, some more woods and fields. The wind blew, cooling us down nicely. A day-flying moth, a white ermine, landed on one of us and promptly died, a very strange occurrence. Then we walked through the churchyard at Cudham and down into Cudham valley, another beautiful place. We came through this valley on Ewa's primrose walk in March. The solitary tree in the background of the photo of meadow cranesbill, fourth from the bottom below, is the same one that appears in the second photo down in that earlier post, and there are also photos showing Bottom Barn Farm in both posts.

Pyramidal orchid, Anacamptis pyramidalis, in a Bromley Valley. Ups and Downs walk led by Ewa Prokop, 21 June 2011.

Pyramidal orchid, Anacamptis pyramidalis, in a Bromley Valley. 21 June 2011.

In this valley the purple flowers of common knapweed and the white-and-yellow of ox-eye daisies were prominent in the long grass. Marbled white butterflies flew across the path.

This time we walked straight across the valley and up the hill through the ancient woods of Twenty Acre Shaw. That was quite a steep climb, and my ears popped at the top. On the far side, the last valley on our walk was less salubrious. It was small where we crossed it, more of a dip than a valley, and at the bottom our path led through a yard surrounded by ramshackle buildings with corrugated iron roofs and a skip full of rubbish.

Now we were approaching Biggin Hill. There was one slight mishap when we started to walk through someone's garden; the stile was thirty yards away, hidden in a hedge. We passed a field containing a miniature cow, a Dexter. Soon we were at the edge of suburbia and the end of the walk. Luckily for us, Ewa gave us a lift back to our cars at the starting point.

As we neared the village green it started to rain. Good timing. Then we shook hands and said goodbye to Ewa for the last time.