Wilberforce Oak

The Wilberforce Oaks, near Keston.  4 May 2016.

A path leads south from Keston Common past Holwood House towards Downe. It passes a dead oak tree and a seat; this is the Wilberforce Oak. 

It was here that William Pitt the Younger, who lived nearby, met with one William Wilberforce, member of parliament for Yorkshire, on 12 May 1787.  They talked beneath this oak tree, and Wilberforce decided to take action to abolish the slave trade.  His efforts led to the eventual introduction of the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833.

The stone seat opposite the tree was, according to its inscription,  "Erected by Earl Stanmore 1862 By Authorisation of Earl Stanworth." This seat is fenced off now, so you won't be able to sit there.  There's a wooden seat on the path for the likes of us.  (Touches forelock.)

The original Wilberforce Oak, near Keston.  4 May 2016.

This is all very well, and quite historical, but the tree you see growing there now is a replacement, planted in 1969.  The old one whose remains are shown here is supposed to have blown down in 1991, though it must already have been dead, or why plant a replacement 22 years earlier?

The Wilberforce Oak commemorative seat on 5 February 2010.

Here's the stone seat showing its inscriptions.  The one in the cartouche says "I well remember after a conversation with Mr. Pitt in the open air at the root of an old tree at Holwood, just above the steep descent into the vale of Keston, I resolved to give notice on a fit occasion in the House of Commons of my intention to bring forward the abolition of the slave-trade."  

This is supposed to be an extract from Wilberforce's diary, though other sources have it that the entry refers to a conversation with William Pitt and the future Prime Minister William Grenville.  Maybe it was edited for this inscription, to make it refer just to the local dignitary.

The inscription is hard to make out, but it is reproduced clearly on another more modern sign nearby.

As a final bit of mood, here's a photo from February 2010 showing a fragment of the old tree still almost upright.

The Wilberforce Oaks, near Keston.  5 February 2010.

More Late Spring Flowers

Common Bird's-foot Trefoil, Lotus corniculatus.  Hayes Churchyard.  4 May 2015.

 Some more of what's flowering all around.  This Bird's-foot Trefoil even grows in lawns, as long as the owner doesn't use a selective weedkiller.  It's the seed pods that resemble a bird's foot; not visible yet.

Three-cornered Leek, Allium triquetrum.  Roundabout Wood, 8 May 2015.

This Three-cornered Leek (or sometimes Garlic) has a strong oniony smell and is quite edible.  It turns up in many local woods and although it is decorative, it's an invasive pest, so why not eat it to death?  Well, local woods are usually well used by dog walkers, so some caution and a thorough washing would be advisable.

Danish Scurvygrass, Cochlearia danica.  Verge of Heathfield Road, Keston.    4 May 2015.

Many roads are lined by this small white flower, Danish Scurvygrass.  It spreads along the very edges of the grass verges because it is tolerant of salt and its seeds are spread by traffic, which taken together are making it very successful.  Without the roads it would just live at the coast.  It contains vitamin C and (it is said) used to be eaten by sailors to prevent scurvy.

Sheep's Sorrel, Rumex acetosella.  Keston Common, car park and grass nearby.  4 May 2015.

This humble plant gives a reddish tint to areas of acidic grassland.  Those lovely leaves are described as "hastate."  That ought to mean "like a spear" but in botany, it means having the shape of a halberd.  But if you look up halberds, you will be hard pushed to find one of this shape.  So, that name for the shape is not entirely helpful.

Common Vetch, Vicia sativa.  Keston Common, grass near car park.  4 May 2015.

This is one of several vetch species in this area, and so far this year, the only one I have seen in flower. 

The last one today, Wood Speedwell, is similar to the Germander Speedwell shown in the previous post.  The differences are, this one has evenly hairy stems, leaves with stalks, and flowers which are more mauve than blue.  But they are close enough in appearance that many people confuse them, especially when not in flower.

Wood Speedwell, Veronica montata.  Roundabout Wood, 8 May 2015.

Despite the Latin name montana, it does grow in the woods.

Late Spring Flowers

Meadow Saxifrage, Saxifraga granulata.  Hayes churchyard.  4 May 2015.

Many Spring flowers are all around, and the full Summer bloom is not far away.   Here are some I found at the start of May.  The first, Meadow Saxifrage, is scarce in Kent but can be found in (at least) two places near me.  This group is in the churchyard in Hayes, where it is widespread and well established.

Cuckooflower, Cardamine pratensis.  Hayes Churchyard.  4 May 2015.

It competes in size and location with the Cuckooflower, also called Milkmaids or Lady's Smock (Why, I wonder?).  In Latin it's the Meadow Cardamine.  The colour of the flower varies from white to this slightly bluish pink.

But one of the biggest hits of this season is the glorious Bulbous Buttercup.

Bulbous Buttercup, Ranunculus bulbosus.  Keston Common.  4 May 2015.

This is the earliest buttercup to flower en masse.  The woodland Goldilocks Buttercup is earlier, but that is scarce and fleeting.  This one can fill fields with its bright golden glow.  It can be told apart from the Creeping Buttercup, also common, by its fully reflexed sepals, all turned back to touch the stem below them; and most of the Creeping Buttercups come out later.

Germander Speedwell, Veronica chamaedrys.  Hayes Churchyard.  4 May 2015.

Also coming out now, following on from the Common Field Speedwell (which is a foreigner from Persia) is this small bright blue flower, Germander Speedwell, sometimes called Bird's-eye Speedwell.  There are half a dozen common Speedwells and several scarcer ones which are not all that difficult to find, and actually people sometimes mistake this Germander for the Persian species, so you can tell this one by: 1. Flowers in racemes - many of them developing in turn from one flower-stem. 2.  Leaves with no stalks, or hardly any. 3. Twin lines of hair on the stems, on opposite sides, their positions alternating between leaf nodes. 

White-flowered Herb Robert, Geranium robertianum var. bernettii.  Keston, 4 May 2015.

Last for today: an unusual variety of a very common little Geranium, Herb Robert, that normally has reddish-purple flowers.  There are two white-flowered varieties.  The other one, var. alba, is sometimes sold commercially as Celtic White; it has no red pigment at all in the leaves or stems.  This one, var. bernettii, does, as you can see. I saw this in the same spot four years ago, so it seems to be persistent, not just an occasional sport.

Common Darter

Male Common Darter, Sympetrum striolatum.  Mill House, Keston, 31 August 2012.

In 2011 I didn't get many dragonfly photos, but I managed a few nice ones in 2012.  This was a Common Darter I saw resting on a stone that bordered the lawn of the Mill House in Keston, during a trip to see Keston Mill.   It might be disconcerting to groups I'm with when I dash off and photograph something, but the insects won't wait.

One day, I was walking past Keston Ponds and I saw that the lake was buzzing with Common Darters, pairing off and laying eggs.  Dragonflies really do form into pairs.  The male clasps the female and guides her over the water, dipping down occasionally so that she can lay an egg.

Common Darters in tandem, ovipositing.  Keston Common, 8 September 2012.

We know it's the male who chooses when to lay, because it has been observed that even if the female being clasped is dead, the pair still make the same dipping motions.   Perhaps I should have posted this on Halloween ...

Common Darter, Sympetrum striolatum.  Female.  Keston Common, 15 September 2012.

Keston Windmill

Keston Windmill from outside.   31 August 2012.

This time, a post with no natural history, from an outing for the West Wickham Common and Spring Park volunteers, set up by the City of London Open Spaces Department.   Part of it was a visit to the Keston Windmill, a restored but not functional post mill just by the roadside to the south of Keston.

Keston Windmill.  The lever for engaging the gears.  31 August 2012.

We had  a very interesting and informative guided tour.  The mill is not often open to the public, so this was a great opportunity to learn.  For example, I knew that flour dust in air is highly explosive, but did not know how mills like this dealt with the threat. Here you can see that iron gears were opposed to wheels with wooden teeth, to prevent sparks.  

Keston Windmill.  The coarse stone lower grinding wheel.  31 August 2012.

There were two pairs of grinding wheels, one pair of coarse stone and one of imported fine stone.  This is the lower wheel of the coarse pair, used for grinding animal feed.  The finer one was for humans.

Later in the mill's life, people came to desire even finer flour, and so the output from the fine wheel had to be hauled up again and put through a sifter.

There was a good view from a small window in this part of the mill.  This last photo shows structures by the Thames near London Bridge and the Embankment.

View north from Keston Windmill.  St Paul's Cathedral and The Shard.  31 August 2012.

Spring At Keston

The group starting to spread out on Keston Common, 28 May 2011.

This was a morning looking around Keston Common and the Ravensbourne meadows with the Orpington Field Club. It was led by Ishpi Blatchley, accompanied by Judy John of the BCS, whose area this is.

It was not a ramble, nor even really a walk, but a sort of slightly mobile study of the local plants and wildlife. The first photo was taken just outside the car park, and you can see the group already splitting up. Most of the time there were two groups with a few pairs and individuals moving around and between the groups.

It was a chilly and mostly overcast day, but there were occasional sunny breaks and we actually saw a lot more than I had expected. After the recent dry weather, some of the plants were desiccated or stunted, but that didn't affect the wet meadows or the bog. There are some very reliable springs in this area.

Crustose lichen on an oak tree, Keston Common, 28 May 2011.
Identified by Ishpi Blatchley as probably Lecanora chlarotera.

Even the dry area we started in had lots of interest. Sheep's sorrel and cat's-ear were flowering, and a few ox-eye daisies. There were lichens and mosses, grasses, and several vetches.

The second photo is a small patch of crustose lichen on an oak trunk. To the naked eye it could be a stain from a bird dropping, but closer examination shows the apothecia, reproductive bodies looking like craters with white rims.

The flowers had the same beetle population which I have seen elsewhere recently; lots of bright green Oedemera nobilis, browner Oedemera lurida, and Malachius bipustulatus, green with two red dots at the end of its wing cases.

The white flowers of hairy tare. Keston Common, 28 May 2011.

Among the vetches were the pink flowers of some grass vetchlings, which were abundant last weekend at Darrick Wood, and some clumps of hairy tare, with small white flowers, identifiable by its pods which contain two seeds each.

The experts spent some time combing the ground around Keston's war memorial. I was looking around the back of the hedge, where some common cow wheat and herb robert were flowering. In the dry area by the road were some stunted cat's-ears and some mouse-ear hawkweed growing next to each other. The hawkweed has dandelion-like flowers, but of a lighter, fresher yellow. Ishpi, who is a lichen expert, was pleased by the excellent specimens of Parmelia saxatilis on the back of an old wooden seat.

We moved on to the Ravensbourne wet meadows. These were quite lovely, full of meadow buttercups. Around the edges and in the wetter areas were some real treats. Straight ahead of us was a patch of ragged robins, the same patch I photographed on a reptile walk two weeks ago, against a backdrop of hoary willowherb. Judy was anxiously searching for some black sedge, which used to be there; she found some a little way away. Along the edge here one of the predominant plants was water horsetail, just the fruiting bodies on the end of long green stems, looking very prehistoric.

Fruiting body of water horsetail, Equisetum fluviatile.
On a wet Ravensbourne Meadow.  28 May 2011.

We saw several flies and micromoths; a couple of Cantharids, carnivorous soldier beetles; a grasshopper; and a vivid froghopper, the red and black patterned Cercopis vulnerata.

Other meadow edges were quite different. To one side were large and showy clumps of wild yellow iris. This area of meadow also had wild angelica, woody nightshade, brooklime and the buttercup-like lesser spearwort.

Coming back through the woods we heard wren and blackcap song, and saw a goldcrest actually hovering among low branches after insects, almost like a hummingbird, most unusual behaviour and surely not energy-efficient.

Some of the group split off to examine the bog and the rest of us went to look at the ponds to see if there were any dragonflies or damselflies. We only saw one thing, but it was interesting; a damselfly that had recently emerged and had not yet taken its full mature state. The experts thought it was most likely a red-eyed damsefly, known to inhabit that area of the pond. It was on the flower of a water hawthorn.

Walking back towards the car park we saw some clumps of heath rush, scarce in this part of the country.

Some more images:

Identifying and recording common knapweed, Centauria nigra. Keston common, 28 May 2011.

Parmelia saxatilis on a roadside seat.  Keston, 28 May 2011.
The greenish lichen on the right of the main patch is Flavoparmelia caperata.

Flower of Herb Robert, Geranium robertianum, behind Keston war memorial. 28 May 2011.
A white flowered variety; they are usually more or less pink.

Common cow wheat, Melampyrum pratense, flowering on the edge of Keston Common. 28 May 2011.

Brooklime, Veronica beccabunga, on a wet Ravensbourne Meadow. 28 May 2011.

A clump of yellow iris, Iris pseudacorus, on a wet Ravensbourne Meadow. 28 May 2011.

A flower of the yellow iris, Iris pseudacorus, on a wet Ravensbourne Meadow. 28 May 2011.

Cantharis pellucida, a soldier beetle, in a wet Ravensbourne Meadow.  28 May 2011.

Insect eggs, probably a moth, on the underside of a willow leaf by the middle Keston pond.  28 May 2011.

Recently emerged damselfly, thought to be a red-eyed damselfly, on a water hawthorn on the upper Keston pond.
28 May 2011.  This was taken at full zoom and cropped, so is at about the limit of distance for my Ixus 100.

Heath rush, Juncus squarrosus, near Keston Ponds.  28 May 2011.

Lesser Celandine

Lesser celandine, Ranunculus ficaria, at Keston Mark.

What I Saw #8

Cherry blossom at Keston Mark

Keston

Keston Bog in winter

Today there was a history walk around Keston, led by members of the Friends of Keston Common. A pleasant walk around the village and the common, with lots of background information on what we were seeing.

The village was very popular a century ago, and could have thousands of visitors in one day, coming in to Hayes station and then on foot over Hayes common or by bus. There were many tearooms, now all gone, though now there is a delicatessen (reopening soon after a fire) and one, soon to be two, new restaurants.

The common was once mostly privately owned but has expanded by purchase and gift. It has wet and dry meadows and also a bog, shown in the top photo. This bog is the only site in London where Sphagnum moss grows. It was much visited by Darwin, who was particularly interested in its insect-eating sundews, which no longer grow there. The trees that have been shading out the bog have been cut back recently, which might help it to recover.

Botany Bay in Keston

Above the common is an area of Blackheath gravel, once much quarried by the locals, and three ponds, great for wildlife and the haunt of Daubenton's bats. I have also seen terrapins in the lower pond; these intrusive predators appeared in many water habitats after the craze for Mutant Ninja Turtles in the 1980s, when they were bought as pets and later released into the wild.

The second photo is a small group of houses called Botany Bay, where the workers for Keston Mill used to live. The mill is an icon of Keston and has a Wikipedia entry which you can find from the link. Botany Bay is down the hillside and completely out of sight of the village and the road, so is little known even to the locals.