Kent

Sunday 19th May - Thursday 23rd May 2024

Sixteen members travelled to Kent in the southeast of England for this year's annual holiday.  The Group last visited Kent in late May 2012 and we visited many of the same sites as last time.  Only 4 of our Group had attended the previous trip to Kent.  BBG member Alan Schofield led many of the excursions and also organised two group pub meals, one at each end of the holiday.  For some of the sites we had external leaders thanks to Neil who had organised much of the holiday.  Staying at various accommodation in the pretty coastal town of Hythe, this was the perfect base for our excursions.

RR = scarce, RRR = rare (rarity status in New Flora of the British Isles by Clive Stace)

19th May: Beechwoods Nature Reserve

Leader: Alan Schofield

Text by Kay; Photographs by Alan and Kay

After three hours drive from West Yorkshire we arrived at the site near Cambridge in sunny, slightly breezy weather. In the entrance to the nature reserve we noticed Rough Chervil (Chaerophyllum temulum) with its purple blotched stems, which Laurence pointed out that the specific name temulum means feeling sick, especially post alcohol!

Bruce showed us Dogwood (Cornus sanguinea), which has leaves with 4-5 secondary veins raised on the underside of the leaf. Then someone spotted the first White Helleborine (Cephalanthera damasonium) and all our attention quickly diverted to looking at these plants and searching for more.

There was lots of Hawkweed (Hieracium agg.) with attractive purple blotched leaves which was probably a garden escape. We also saw Wood Meadow-grass (Poa nemoralis) and Sanicle (Sanicula europaea). I had a look at the stellate hairs on the twigs of Wayfaring-tree (Viburnum lantana), which is a feature mentioned in Poland’s Vegetative Key, and then observed Upright Brome (Bromopsis erecta) with ‘eyelash’ hairs on the edge of its leaves.

Susan spotted a patch of slime mould sparkling in the sunlight. Andy Woodall, our group’s fungi expert, later identified it from the photograph as the honeycomb variety of Coral Slime Mould (Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa var. porioides).  We then set off for Kent.

20th May (morning): Park Gate Down

Leader: Alan Schofield

Text by Rita and Anthony; Photographs by David and Susan

This is a Kent Wildlife Trust Reserve, known as the Hector Wilks Reserve, comprising 7 hectares of ancient chalk grasslands, spread over 3 fields.

We arrived at this site with keen anticipation to see if we could find an array of dazzling orchids. The first ones were Early-purple Orchid (Orchis mascula), many in a poor state, being at the end of flowering, together with Common Spotted-orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii). Thereafter we found Chalk Fragrant-orchid (Gymnadenia conopsea) which is highly fragrant in the evening to attract its pollinators – night flying moths.

At the same time, Bruce was recording a series of common species for a plant list for the site, including the attractive Common Milkwort (Polygala vulgaris). Alan, our leader, and others were making a search for a rare orchid. This was Monkey Orchid (Orchis simia) (RRR) for which the site is renowned. It is found only at 2 sites in East Kent, and either 1 or 2 in Oxfordshire. Former sites included one in S.E. Yorkshire. Our farming forebears have much to answer for!!!

We found at least 30 Monkey Orchids in full flower plus many more in bud.

Eventually we were all marshalled by Alan to go to a further field. Here we found a single Lady Orchid (Orchis purpurea) in superb condition along with exceptional numbers of Common Twayblade (Neottia ovata), a very fine specimen of Early-purple Orchid and small numbers of Fly Orchids (Ophrys insectifera).

There was just one Greater Butterfly-orchid (Platanthera chlorantha) – one of the most graceful of butterfly orchids. We spent the whole morning here, starting off in a very cool wind, but ending in glorious sunshine, so it turned out to be the most spectacular start to our Kent holiday.

20th May (afternoon): Yockletts Bank

Leader: Alan Schofield

Text by Seebra; Photographs by Susan

A meandering walk along a lane lined with hedgerow species such as Wild Privet (Ligustrum vulgare) and climbing Black Bryony (Tamus communis) led us to the entrance of Yockletts Bank Wood. Barely a few metres into the woodland, we spotted a White Helleborine (Cephalanthera damasonium), particularly intriguing to those who hadn't joined yesterday’s walk. Our interest heightened as we encountered Lady Orchids (Orchis purpurea), far larger and more numerous than any we had seen in the morning. It was fascinating to see them thriving in such a different habitat - the damp, shaded woodland - compared to the open meadow we had visited earlier that day. Other species included Wood Spurge (Euphorbia amygdaloides ssp. amygdaloides), with its dark red stems, and the lush, rounded leaves of Broad-leaved Helleborine (Epipactis helleborine).

After marvelling at and photographing the glamorous Lady Orchids, we followed the track deeper into the wood, spotting many ancient woodland indicators such as Wood Melick (Melica uniflora), Giant Fescue (Schedonorus giganteus), Bugle (Ajuga reptans) and Sanicle (Sanicula europaea). Tall Beech (Fagus sylvatica) and Hazel (Corylus avellana) trees were adorned with thick hanging vines of Old Man’s Beard, also known as Traveller's-joy (Clematis vitalba), giving the woodland layers the feel of a temperate rainforest.

The walk led us to an open glade with a steep meadow and a tree trunk bench, providing a good place for a rest. While catching our breath, we identified Fly Orchids (Ophrys insectifera), Common Twayblade (Neottia ovata), Salad Burnet (Poterium sanguisorba ssp. sanguisorba) and other calcareous meadow species.

As we continued deeper into the woodland, the ground flora became sparse under the thick canopy of trees, which blocked most of the light. Although we couldn't find the patch of Herb-paris (Paris quadrifolia) we had heard about, we were delighted by an off-piste discovery of Town-hall clock, also known as Moschatel (Adoxa moschatellina). This dainty and inconspicuous ancient woodland species has five flower faces orientated in different directions.

A final flurry of tall and proud Lady Orchids at the woodland edge completed the afternoon; we must have seen 50 or more of these beauties!

21st May (morning): Dungeness

Leader: Owen Leyshon

Text by Anthony and Rita; Photographs by Laurence, Tom and Susan

Dungeness is one of the largest areas of vegetated shingle in Europe, a rare habitat with scarce plants, leading to its designation as National Nature Reserve. Owen Leyshon gave us a brief introduction to the site, including longshore drift during storms.  He mentioned that the nuclear power station was built on the wrong site and is continually being eroded, with shingle trucked across each year to fill the eroded side!  As a result of heavy winter and spring rains it was a substantially greener Dungeness than many of us expected.

We started in the car park, seeing Slender Thistle (Carduus tenuiflorus), a coastal speciality, together with Bur Chervil (Anthriscus caucalis), a largely southern species.  As our time was limited today, Owen set a brisk pace - an immediate stop was made for Nottingham Catchfly (Silene nutans), a scarce plant (RR) but fortunately abundant here. Nearby was Broom (Cytisus scoparius) in a prostrate form, not the ssp maritimus but merely a form of the normal broom, its small size being caused by the lack of nutrients and restricted water.

Sheep’s bit (Jasione montana) was shown, being extremely small here, also Dodder (Cuscuta epithymum), looking like the old strings of pink liquorice, together with Sea Stork’s-bill (Erodium maritimum) and Bulbous meadow grass (Poa bulbosa) (RR) - only its bulbils visible as it is an early flowerer. This is a coastal plant and thrives on shingle and sand habitats. An attractive patch of Yellow-vetch (Vicia lutea) (RR) with many creamy flowers was much photographed.

We returned to the car park, seeing other interesting plants, to start our car safari.  Our first stop was on a shingle ridge where there were very many patches of Sea Kale (Crambe maritima) towering over the ground-hugging Sea Pea (Lathyrus japonicus) (RR). We were extremely lucky to see just one flower of the Sea Pea amongst the widespread leaves.

From here we journeyed along the coast to Littlestone-on-Sea. There was abundant Wild Clary (Salvia verbenaca) and Common Storksbill (Erodium cicutarium) on a sandy bank. Closer inspection revealed the tiny but exquisite pink flowers of Sand Catchfly (Silene conica) (RR), of which we counted 55 in full flower.

This was a memorable ending to our morning visit to Dungeness and we warmly thanked Owen for his friendly and knowledgeable leadership.

21st May (afternoon): Folkestone Downs

Leader: Brad Foster

Text by Susan; Photographs by Peter, Laurence and Tom

Despite the rain, we added two more species of orchid to our already extensive list this afternoon. Brad Foster, who helps to manage this species-rich grassy hilltop site, gave us a warm welcome and expertly guided us to our target species. At first we admired our new orchids from a little distance, protected from trampling feet by a roped barrier. Brad then advised half the group to proceed on a little distance to get a close view of a Man Orchid (Orchis anthropophora), while the other half were directed in the opposite direction for a close view of a Late Spider Orchid (Ophrys fuciflora).

From a distance, flower spikes of Man Orchid are a little like those of Common Twayblade – not big and showy like Lady Orchid, but interesting on closer inspection. Rain drops had settled on the purple-tinged upper petals of the Man Orchid, adding an extra sparkle to the flowers.

The Late Spider Orchid was another new species for me, looking similar to Bee Orchid until you see it’s yellow ‘goatee’ (a forward-pointing yellow appendage on the tip of the flower lip).

We looked down on the Channel Tunnel terminal, sprawled below us, on what was once a rather nice wet chalk woodland according to Brad. Work to transplant some of the woodland species from the flat valley bottom to the adjacent sloping hillside before construction of the terminal, have, unsurprisingly, not been entirely successful.

Other plants we saw at this site included Woolly Thistle (Cirsium eriophorum), Common Gromwell (Lithospermum officinale) and Charlock (Sinapis arvensis).

22nd May (morning): Sandwich Bay

Leader: Sue Buckingham

Text by Rita and Anthony; Photographs by Susan

We met Sue Buckingham (East Kent co-recorder, Wild Flower Soc. and BSBI, referee for Willowherbs, amongst others) at the car park below the world famous St. George`s Golf Club.  Towering over the car park were the large plants of Greek Dock (Rumex cristatus), which is now widespread in Kent. We saw long stretches of it on our journey down to Hythe on the central verges of the M20 near Maidstone.

Other interesting plants in the car park or nearby were the clovers: Subterranean Clover (Trifolium subterraneum), Rough Clover (Trifolium scabrum), Suffocated Clover (Trifolium suffocatum) (RR), together with Bur Medick (Medicago minima), whose burs are in the form of small wheels, and Toothed Medick (Medicago polymorpha). Other interesting plants were Sharp Rush (Juncus acutus) (RR), Little Mouse-ear (Cerastium semidecandrum) and Rue-leaved Saxifrage (Saxifraga tridactylites).

However, our eyes were drawn to orchids and broomrapes. The most obvious were the Lizard Orchids (Himantoglossum hircinum) (RR), this site holding probably 90% of the UK population.

Other orchids were Pyramidal (Anacamptis pyramidalis) and Green-winged (Anacamptis morio). We then looked at Broomrapes in detail, starting with Bedstraw Broomrape (Orobanche caryophyllacea) (RRR) - here it is parasitic on Lady`s Bedstraw (Galium verum). Its other, more attractive, name is Clove-scented Broomrape and it did indeed smell of cloves. Although it is a rare plant, here it is abundant. The other broomrape was Common Broomrape (Orobanche minor), which was in smaller quantities.

We then moved seawards to a shingle bank, seeing lots of seaside plants including Sea Sandwort (Honckenya peploides) and Sea Spurge (Euphorbia paralias).  Walking back through grassland, we headed towards the far side of the golf course, seeing Field Mouse-ear (Cerastium arvense), Early Forget-me-not (Myosotis ramosissima), Adder’s-tongue (Ophioglossum vulgatum) and one Southern Marsh Orchid (Dactylorhiza praetermissa).

Here also was Common Twayblade (Neottia ovata) and the leaves only of Marsh Helleborine (Epipactis palustris). Walking along a track we found lots of Wild Clary (Salvia verbenaca), a carpet of Green-winged Orchids and a few Upright Chickweed (Moenchia erecta) (one of Sue Buckingham`s favourite plants she told us).

Heading back, we saw an escaped Garden Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis) and Hoary Cress (Lepidium draba) – here called Thanet Weed.  We returned to our cars and took a short ride to an area of grass and sand where we saw seven Man Orchids (Orchis anthropophora) (RR), Rosy Garlic (Allium roseum) and the attractive grasses of Dune Fescue (Vulpia fasciculata) and Sand Cat's -tail (Phleum arenarium). However the real glory belonged to Sand Catchfly (Silene conica) (RR), of which there were over 150, many in clumps of leaves, flowers and seeds. Our final finds were Knotted Clover (Trifolium striatum) and Clustered Clover (Trifolium glomeratum), together with further Lizard Orchids in flower

We warmly thanked Sue Buckingham for her excellent and highly informative leadership.

P.S. in writing this report I was surprised that Lizard Orchid only has a rarity status of RR (scarce). However I see that it is also found in both of the Channel Islands and in very small quantities at other UK sites. On the other hand, Bedstraw Broomrape is a RRR (rare) and is only found in East Kent.

22nd May (afternoon): Samphire Hoe (near Dover)

Leader: Alan Schofield

Text by Rita and Anthony; Photographs by Alan, Laurence, Helen, Susan and Tom

This is a completely man-made reserve. A large breakwater platform was created from the spoil from the Channel Tunnel. This comprises almost five million cubic meters of chalk marl. It was then landscaped and sown with 35 species of wild flowers and grasses in 1994. By 1996 the first Early Spider-orchids (Ophrys sphegodes) were noted. The population peaked at several thousand plants, but this year approximately 1,700 flowered. At the time of our visit only a tiny fraction of these were still in flower. Fortunately Alan had booked ahead and we were escorted to a restricted area where Early Spider-orchids (RR) were still flowering.

Before this there was a large, yellow-flowered plant in the car park – it was Wild Cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. oleracea). This is the native Wild Cabbage found on sea cliffs mostly in the south.

We continued in the restricted area, seeing fine specimens of Common Spotted Orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii), together with Vipers Bugloss (Echium vulgare), Eyebright (Euphrasia agg.), Yellow-wort (Blackstonia perfoliata), Parsley-piert (Aphanes arvensis) and Mouse-ear Hawkweed (Pilosella officinarum).

A Cream-spot Tiger moth (Arctia villica) was a fine sight, as was a slow worm under a cover. From here we had a fine view of our entry road tunnel above the twin railway tunnels.

We then moved past a pool and were shown entwined adders (Vipera berus) by our careful guide, and then had a Peregrine flying above the top of the white cliffs against the blue sky.

Starting from the car park, where the flowers of Sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia) made a superb sight, we took the short circular route round part of the site. This gave us the opportunity to appreciate the setting, with the sea on one side of us and the towering white cliffs on the other.

A notable sight was Sea-buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) almost covered in Traveller`s Joy (Clematis vitalba), and nearby were 11 Common Spotted Orchids and an excellent Early Spider-orchid.

Returning to the Information Centre, some of us looked at the superb display panels of the orchids of Kent and just a few keen members went to see the adders again!

Finally, Rock Samphire (Crithmum maritimum) (not on the cliffs or sea rocks) was found by the Information Centre. This plant is mentioned by Shakespeare in his play, King Lear.

At this site, we saw a wealth of wildlife.

23rd May: Ranscombe Farm

Leader: Alan Schofield (plus introduction to site by Ben Sweeney)

Text by Susan & Tom; Photographs by Alan and Susan

Our numbers were reduced to 11 for this last site of the holiday. We didn’t get off to the best of starts due to major hold ups on the M20, but eventually all our party assembled. Reserve manager Ben Sweeney wasn’t able to show us around this time but gave some of his time to welcome us and show us the Interrupted Brome (Bromus interruptus) which was growing on the edge of a wheat field near by.

Interupted Brome is endemic to England and was thought to have become globally extinct in the early 1970’s. However, seed collected from the last remaining population has been used in conservation efforts to re-establish wild populations at a few sites, including Ranscombe Farm. There seemed to be a good number of plants present today, although Ben told us that due to the tenant farmer ploughing this spring rather than last autumn, numbers of interupted brome at this site have decreased by 90% compared with last year, with about 700 plants compared to about 7000. Also here by the Interupted Brome was Black-grass (Alopecurus myosuroides), a frequent arable weed of southern and eastern England.

With time being short, we headed straight to find two target species, Meadow Clary (Salvia pratensis) and Ground-pine (Ajuga chamaepitys), for which we had grid reference locations, about a mile from the car park. We did stop briefly on route when we came across Field Madder (Sherardia arvensis) and Butcher's-broom (Ruscus aculeatus). After climbing a farm gate, we easily found the small patch of Meadow Clary in flower by a large oak tree.

The Ground Pine however, was much more problematic! We searched in the location of the grid reference and spent some time debating whether or not we had found it. Opinion was divided! Small plants with pale green linear leaves looked quite similar to Ground Pine but didn’t seem to fit all the id features in our books. We did, however, see Dwarf Spurge (Euphorbia exigua) in flower, as well as a group of Man Orchids (Orchis anthropophora), in the area known as the Kitchen Garden Field.

We also spotted a Burnet Companion Moth (Euclidia glyphica), a relatively common moth in the south of England, but scarcer further north.

On our return route we stopped to check the identity of a Crepis, and confirmed this as Rough Hawk's-beard (Crepis biennis). Getting back to the cars, we thanked Alan for leading the field meetings of our Kent holiday, another enjoyable BBG annual holiday. Alan said that thanks must also go to Neil who organised our trips despite not being able to attend himself.