Blog Archives: Travel by Rail

Sunbury & Surbiton

Britain's Wildlife, Travel by Rail

Dipping our toes back into our world of monthly short breaks by public transport, we headed out to Sunbury-on-Thames. For no other reason than Jude had seen an embroidery museum that interested her … and there are pubs, a hotel and of course the river Thames. All we need for a couple of days away!

So we headed there, with the prospect of glorious summer weather changing for the worse. Sunbury Park looked interesting, but it was remarkably dry. Like the Serengeti when we arrived, deluged the following night, and no doubt within a very few days it will be greening up.

In the park is the very well preserved walled garden. Not my idea of a good garden in its over-regimented formality, but there were a few interesting plants including Trumpet-vine in flower and Carolina Silverbell in fruit.

And of course the café, and refuge from the first of the sharp showers that came our way. Right next to it was the embroidery exhibition, featuring the Sunbury Millennium Embroidery, a remarkably detailed piece of work highlighting the important features of the local community, including its historic buildings and abundant Thames-side wildlife. While perhaps most meaningful to locals and not worth the travel from afar just to see it, as part of a wider interest visit as ours was it certainly passed a good few minutes. And kept us dry!

And so down to the River Thames. Not the easiest of access, because too many long stretches of what should be a public asset have been privatised by wealth. But wherever access is possible the views of the river are very attractive, encompassing a well-wooded southern shore, islands, moorings, locks and weirs.

And as always, green space and natural margins provides for wildlife, including Harlequin Ladybirds and a Green Shieldbug; a distinctively marked Gelis ichneumon wasp (possibly G. areator) and a wax-secreting aphid; as well as several galls including the sawfly Euura bridgmanii on broad-leaved willows and the mite Eriophyes pyri on Rowan.

Perhaps the best view of all, from the Magpie pub with its riverfront terrace. As we discovered, the umbrellas are pretty water-resistant, and as the afternoon showers merged into heavy rain, the open, dry terrace seemed a good place to linger for the duration. Lots of time to appreciate the local birds, from Red Kites and Rose-ringed Parakeets, to Mute Swan families and Egyptian Geese, and even a couple of Kingfishers. Ripples in the river, stirred up by the freshening breeze and sprinkled with raindrops, made for photographic opportunities that lasted for a good pint or two! Indeed, it was so welcoming that we returned there for our evening meal.

Lower Sunbury had plenty of other interesting buildings as well, including our very comfortable accommodation, the Flower Pot.

And, after a very rainy night, an excellent breakfast. A bus drivers’ strike thwarted our plans to move on by bus, but it did give us the opportunity in the morning to look at and into St Mary’s Church. Some interesting-looking lichens in the churchyard were completely eclipsed by the interior glass and decor, in pre-Raphaelite/Eastern Orthodox style. Very impressive indeed!

And then it was off by train to our final, much anticipated destination, the Art Deco masterpiece that is Surbiton station.

And as an added bonus, once inside we found it is now the home to the restored William Blake-inspired mosaic panels of art and poetry that we had last seen several years ago in a rather battered state underneath the arches near Waterloo Station.

So far as the rest of Surbiton is concerned, it felt a whole lot more real than Sunbury, populated by real people living normal lives. Sadly St. Andrew’s Church that looked so  dramatic inside online was closed. But then there was always Wetherspoons, a converted early 20th century lecture hall. However we eschewed the charms of the cheap for the lovely atmosphere, good beer and great value lunch at the independent Elm Tree pub, complete with Guinness mural. A fine way to round off our return to the world of short breaks!

 

 

 

 

 

 

A day out in Needham Market

Britain's Wildlife, Travel by Rail

Our first day out for a month, and so much has changed. The memory of rain while I was in hospital has long evaporated, and we are back into drought. Summer has become autumn already. We headed by rail to Needham Market, somewhere we haven’t been, other than speeding through on the train, for a decade. Just because we can!

Our walk was along the River Gipping, starting at the impressive station, Grade 2 listed in ‘mock Elizabethan’ style, one of the few stations to have been unceremoniously dumped by Beeching but subsequently reopened. Thence, through the Cattle Tunnel, it was onto the grassland known as the Camping Ground, recreational both now and in history: ‘campan’ was a mediaeval ball game that was played there and variations of which evolved into both rugby and soccer.

Little to see in the droughted grassland itself apart from that hardiest of late summer nectar sources Yarrow, and surrounded by tree plantations, including Field Maple covered in the mite galls of Aceria macrochela, another sign of the advancing season.

At least by the River Gipping there was moisture, even though the flow was evidently at a low ebb. A few Banded Demoiselles, Willow Emeralds and Common Darters were out hunting, as indeed were flocks of pondskaters searching for trapped insects to suck dry on the meniscus. In common with so many other rivers at this time of year, the dominant plant was Himalayan Balsam, undeniably beautiful despite its habit of choking out native plants. But without it, what would bumblebees do…it was buzzing! Only Purple Loosestrife was fighting its corner valiantly against the balsamic onslaught and yes, it too was feeding insects, including Small and Green-veined whites.

In just a few more open locations other water plants included Water Mint and Gipsywort, while up on the drier bank sides, struggling through the Nettles, were some lovely specimens of Small Teasel, only to be found in this semi-shaded, ‘near to but not in water’ niche, and not a common plant hereabouts.

The shade was provided by Alders, and fruiting Blackthorn (a good year for sloe gin is in the offing!), Alder Buckthorn and Dogwood, with scrambling Hops, not yet pollinated showing there is still life in summer yet!

Plentiful insect life in the riverine corridor included Commas, Peacock caterpillars, a lumbering Elephant Hawkmoth larva seeking out bare ground for pupation, and Dock Bugs in a complete range of instars. A smart parasitoid wasp might have been Bracon otiosus, but they are legion and there are no accessible sources of information and images.

Further upstream the river has been made to work, with channels cut from it to power the water mills, the still, impounded waters covered in dense mats of Least Duckweed …

… while Hawks Mill now stands impotently (but attractively) over the waters it once harnessed, creating abstract reflections of the Mill Stream walls.

Into the town, first stop was the impressive St John the Baptist Church, with its magnificent double hammerbeam roof. It was here ten years ago that, encouraged by Jude, I first let my eyes and heart appreciate the wonder of ecclesiastical architecture: it’s not just ‘a pile of old stones’!!

And the rest of the village is also impressively historic, with a fine High Street, although  sadly suffering from the curse of cars, all seemingly driving on through, not stopping and spending. Thank goodness then for our final stop the Rampant Horse pub: an outstanding lunch, including some of the best whitebait I have ever had, plus sea bream for me and Mediterranean vegetable risotto for Jude. That and a couple of pints and it was back to the station. A fine first foray out, all in the name of a sustainable recuperation, and we will be back, especially to that pub! And next step, back into the pattern of monthly short breaks…not long to wait now!

 

A Steaming Day at Crossness Pumping Station

Britain's Wildlife, Miscellaneous, Travel by Bus, Travel by Rail

Crossness Pumping Station is a key part of the sewage treatment system designed by Joseph Bazalgette in the mid-19th century to try and ensure that London never again suffered from a ‘Great Stink’ from untreated sewage pouring into the Thames, as it did most famously in 1858.

The components of this system have stood the test of time, delivering the capacity needed until the construction of the Thames Tideway tunnel, opened and completed in 2025, although not without controversy, given its cost, and missed opportunity to manage combined rainwater/sewage flows sustainably, by opening lost rivers and retaining and enhancing water-absorbing greenspaces.

Bazalgette’s system included an extensive system of street sewers, with two intercepting outfall sewers, one each side of the river, reaching pumping stations at Beckton (north) and Crossness (south), which lifted the sewage for gravity discharge into the Thames. Of course times changed and sewage treatment works were retrofitted at each of the pumping locations, and now Beckton is claimed to be the biggest treatment works in Europe.

Those who delivered public works in the Victorian era were clearly not afraid to spend a little more money to raise the utilitarian to a thing of beauty. We have seen Abbey Mills Pumping Station from a distance in the past in the middle of the vast Beckton works, been fascinated but never had the chance to visit, so when we discovered the open days at Crossness, including ‘steaming days’ when the giant pumps would be in motion, we just had to go!

Crossness Pumping Station, on those special days, is approached on a vintage (rattly!) Routemaster bus from Abbey Wood rail station, thence a narrow-gauge railway out to the Pumping Station itself, the air laced with a reminder from the modern sewage treatment plant of its past purpose. 

From the outside, the station seems so much more ornate than the 20th century public utilities we are used to …

… but then you get inside, and are greeted with a riot of colour and ironwork. Closed in 1956, the building has been substantially restored, and opened to the public on special days since 2016. And the restoration lives up to Pevsner’s description: “a masterpiece of engineering – a Victorian cathedral of ironwork”.

At the heart of the pumping station were four (others were added later) huge steam-driven pumps, raising sewage by 9 to 12 metres, 6 tonnes being lifted by each stroke (11 per minute) of each engine into a high-level holding reservoir to be discharged on an ebbing tide.

The pumps are in various stages of restoration but one was operating on our visit, thrillingly so even for one like me who is definitely not of the ‘cloth cap, smell of the grease, covered in soot’ fraternity!

And the unrestored, rust-laden sections are engagingly artistic and worth the visit in themselves.



Apparently, nature on the adjacent Erith marshes is good, but not for today with some torrential downpours. So the only wildlife of note was the remarkably abundant fruiting of Wild Plums, the fallen fruit forming into unusual groundscapes.



Then it was back on the bus to Abbey Wood, into the Abbey Arms for one of the best Sunday roasts (pork belly) I have ever had the pleasure to consume.

Afterwards we still had a while before our train, and the sharp showers had blown through, so we took a walk to Lesnes Abbey, an interesting area and one we felt merited a longer visit some time.

So, a fascinating day out, an one which fulfilled its primary aim of taking our minds off what was to come, my major vascular abdominal surgery just five days hence!

Well that is now in the past. Recovery continues and thanks to our wonderful NHS all went swimmingly, from initial diagnosis to surveillance to a plan of action, with delivery of the repair within three months from action being triggered. A week ago right now I was under the knife. Six days later I walked out of Colchester General with a stapled tummy and new plastic abdominal aorta, looking forward to the next 65 years. And nothing but fulsome praise for our NHS and its rainbow of wonderful staff #♥theNHS: I just hope other countries who have provided staff have the trained staff for their own needs as well…

 

From Blackpool to Leeds, via Blackburn and Burnley

Britain's Wildlife, Travel by Rail

Our second short break of this month was a trip with a purpose, to see granddaughter Eleanor dance in a national competition at Blackpool’s Winter Gardens. Which she did beautifully, and it gave us the chance to explore that remarkable set of buildings. Last time we were in Blackpool, it was March, pre-season and closed…

So this time plenty of opportunity to enjoy the surroundings of the Empress Ballroom and the photogenic Art Deco delights of its setting:

   

Away from the dancing, Blackpool was  of course loud and lairy, night and day, as the holiday crowds sweltered under incessant sun or sweated through the airless nights. But it is not without its charms, one being the tower always looking on over your shoulder…

… and others being the piers and beach. Sitting on the North Pier, watching the tideline figures, like a live-action Lowry beachscape or even Another Place (just down the coast from here), we also noticed good numbers of 7-spot Ladybirds, potentially some of the many we had seen sweep into East Anglia a week previously, boldly going ever westwards…

And then there are other architectural delights, including the cinema-turned-drag show venue and department store-turned-Wetherspoons, the telephone box street-art and even the rather elegant façade of our Premier Inn.

But after the weekend, the weather turned and it was time for us to head off. Burnley was our stop for the night, but first Blackburn gave us a great couple of hours’ break on our train journey. The cathedral, almost next to the station, was a wonderful mix of architecture, art and wildlife, all delivered to us with a warm welcome.

Externally, a church of two halves – the traditional and the excitingly modern…

… with lofty interiors…

… filled with colour and light…

Art, both outside …

… and inside…

… together with geology, from the lovely pastel colours of the stone columns to the marine fossils featured in the interior flagstones.

And then outside in the Cathedral Court, a very pleasant herb garden with Rosemary Beetles on most Lavender flower-spikes, a leaf-cutter bee on the Tansy flowers and on the Sage leaves, two species of leafhopper: the common Eupteryx melissae, and the much scarcer E. decemnotata, here at the very northern edge of its known distribution.

Although this was the only spot in Blackburn we visited, we both felt quite drawn to it and we may well return to explore further. But this time, Burnley beckoned. Why? Well it has railway stations (three of them) and it has featured in our favourite source of travel inspiration, Where tourists seldom tread, in The Guardian.

And, as we discovered, a landscape of old mills, the River Brun through its centre, and almost surrounded by the Leeds & Liverpool Canal…

 

There were Grey Wagtails feeding and breeding alongside the water, together with Rosebay Willowherb and Tufted Vetch in full flower, Burnet Rose in fruit, and all manner of pollinators visiting the canalside flowers.

Half way along the stretch of canal we were intending to walk, there was a very convenient pub, the Finsley Gate Wharf (and a bridge to get to it!) for a rest and refreshment, with the view of an attractively decaying disused rail bridge…

Here in the old wharf basin, marshland vegetation has colonised: Purple Loosestrife, Marsh Woundwort, Hairy Willowherb, Water Mint, Water Forget-me-not and Hemlock Water-dropwort, with large numbers of dragons and damsels, including Common Blue Damselfly, Banded Demoiselle and Brown Hawker, all very active in the warmth.

Then it was the long northward straight, a high-level canal, above the rooftops, offering panoramic views, including Pendle Hill as a backdrop.

Alongside the towpath much of the way ran a stone wall, upon which there were numerous mammalian scats, full of Cherry stones, among the hairy moss-cushions of Grimmia pulvinata. The scats had all the appearance of Pine Marten poos, and were in very typical, prominent locations. But their presence in the area is far from established: while they are spreading in the northern Pennines, down to Settle and also the southern Pennines, from Bradford to Sheffield, the latest map on the National Biodiversity Network Atlas shows the nearest record in the vicinity of Todmorden, over the watershed into Yorkshire, near the head of the Calder Valley. The canal and towpath certainly provides an excellent dispersal corridor.

Our Premier Inn was not the best. Some distance from rail stations and rather basic in facilities, the room was at least well insulated from the nearby road noise. But the food provision, especially the seriously inattentive service, was perhaps indicative of a ‘captive audience’: there are no other outlets within easy walking distance, so perhaps they didn’t need to try…?

On the other hand though, it is convenient for those walking the towpath, and it is set adjacent to a large greenspace, Thompson Park, through which runs the River Brun, fringed by Alders, their leaves with numerous mite galls and many munching Alder Leaf-beetle larvae…

Our last day, and heavy rain was forecast, so we decided to head early for Leeds, hoping to get into the rain shadow east of the Pennines. Trudging to the station in the rain through Burnley probably coloured our perception of the place, but it felt unloved, with dereliction and litter all too obvious, despite the pleasantly pedestrianised town centre. Not a place we feel moved to revisit…

The rail journey to Leeds was very attractive, albeit in the rain, downhill all the way once over the watershed, through Todmorden, Hebden Bridge and Bradford. But once in Leeds, we soon found ourselves immersed again in an urban cityscape featuring canals, locks, rivers and bridges… and the very best meal of our holiday in the Adelphi Pub!

We had an afternoon to wander around, in improving weather. The Minster was closed, and felt rather bleak and forbidding from the outside…

… whereas the Cathedral was welcoming, with some very positive messages of compassion and inclusivity, so often lacking in such establishments. Read the story of the Lampedusa cross here…

And finally it was into the City Museum. with everything from a Miffy exhibition to a Roman mosaic with a remarkable Wolf illustration! And the natural history section was equally interesting, with very strong conservation messages (lacking only the ‘elephant in the room’ – to breed less!!)

Leeds felt very vibrant, the second time we have been there in three years, and a destination we may well return to in the future.

The Ladybird Blizzard at Walton-on-the-Naze

Britain's Wildlife, Travel by Rail, WildEssex

Our long-planned day out in Walton last week was hijacked by circumstances: it came at the height of the recent massive insect immigration event. Everywhere the air was thick with flying ladybirds (seemingly just one species, the 7-spot) while every Fennel, Wild Carrot and Hogweed umbel was covered in hoverflies (mostly half-a-dozen species):

… and Buddleia was a-flutter with butterflies, of which the Large Whites and Red Admirals at least were likely immigrants, alongside presumably locally bred Brimstone and Peacocks.



The beach was clearly a first arrival point, with many hoverfly and ladybird casualties, and the lucky ones just resting after the rigours of a sea crossing. While not on the scale of the ‘red tide’ I saw in Bridlington in 1976, the simple number of flying insects was phenomenal.



However, our main reason for visiting was to look at the back-side of Walton: the town celebrates its beach and cliffs, its pier and amenities. And rightly so. But it has another side, the Backwaters, a tidal embayment which almost turns the outer part of the town into an island on spring tides.



As we found, the back-side is lovely, saltmarsh with Sea-lavender and Golden Samphire, sea walls with Crow Garlic, each bulbil a tasty mouth freshener on what was turning into another hot day. Alexanders too, the seeds now ripe, becoming aromatic peppercorns, and Duke-of-Argyll’s Tea-plant, soon to be the source of goji berries. A feast indeed!

Around the yacht harbour, there were in excess of a hundred Swallows, no doubt relishing the abundance of aerial food, more Swallows together than I have seen in the whole of Essex this summer. The way their activity ebbed and flowed, erupting every few minutes in twittering crescendos, seemingly unrelated to the presence of any potential predators, was fascinating. It was almost as if we were witnessing the internal battle between two competing and contradictory forces: the urge to migrate, and the counter-pull of the rich supply of food, right there, right now…



Walton Mere, a former boating lake captured from the estuary in times past is now barely visible, the sea walls surrounding it now largely broken down. The Mere has been welcomed back into the Backwaters. This was a pleasure to see…last time I was there twenty or more years ago was to express my official disapproval of plans to fill in the Mere and build flats on it, changing the whole face of the town (and no doubt the bank balance of the proponent). Still, had the worst happened the flats would probably have sunk into the Essex ooze by now!

The problems with exploring the back-side of Walton are the interruptions to access round the sea wall. But the one stretch that is available was very pleasant, alongside a bank of extravagantly scented Japanese Rose, the leaves of which harboured large numbers of Box Bugs, in all instars save for adult, as well as clutches of golden eggs, like precious jewels.

And so we crossed to the beach, moving from solitude to the summer masses in just a couple of hundred metres. But the young Sea-slaters on the groynes were oblivious to the beach activity, and very active in the sunshine.

All that was left to complete our day by the seaside was a lovely snack and pint in the Victory and an ice-cream overlooking the sea, with battalions of ladybirds and hoverflies still thick in the air.

Lowestoft & Hopton – as far east as you can get

Britain's Wildlife, Eleanor's photos, Travel by Bus, Travel by Rail

Between our May and June short breaks, as far south (Isle of Wight) and as far west (Haverfordwest) as possible, respectively, we had a free week, and so an opportunity for another cheeky little break – just two nights, with Eleanor and her mum. A holiday camp in half-term might not sound like everyone’s idea of fun, but the weather was lovely and the Hopton  Beach holiday camp, between Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth a lot greener than one’s prejudice might suggest.

The train to Lowestoft was a delight, a landscape never before experienced by us in that mode of travel. And as soon as we disembarked, our experience was transformed by the sound of Kittiwakes, a bird call that just speaks to me of my childhood around Bridlington.

Kittiwakes breeding everywhere, on the piers, on the seafront buildings, and even a little way inland on a church. I had no idea they had colonised like this since my last visit. Seems that, while birds have nested on the harbour since the late 1950s, the move into the town, perhaps triggered by Fox predation, and subsequent rapid population growth to around a thousand pairs has happened over the past decade. And this is important: over the time that Kittiwakes have colonised Lowestoft, the UK population has fallen by some 40% for a variety of reasons, probably mainly linked to the effect of climate change/sea temperature rises on their food.

While Kittiwakes feed only at sea, and won’t attack ice creams, bags of chips, small dogs or babies as urban nesting Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls are variously accused of, they do of course make deposits below their nests and so are not universally welcomed. But it was  pleasure not to see a town bristling with anti-bird spikes or festooned in potentially lethal netting, testament no doubt to the work of the local Kittiwake project that not only helps clear away mess from the streets but also provides advice on how to love and live alongside these gentle bundles of feathers that are the very spirit of the the wild sea.

There are other mitigations, including the provision of nesting hotels, both in the town and out at sea. Seems however that the success of the offshore ones is somewhat limited so far.

And in another example of apparent tolerance of nature that others revile or fear, there was much evidence along parts of the prom of defoliation of street trees (Sorbus) by Brown-tail Moths. And there were caterpillars everywhere, on trunks, seats and benches, but not a single sign saying ‘Danger’ or ‘Keep Away’. The sign of an enlightened populus that knows its place within nature? Or a council that is so cash-strapped it hasn’t the capacity? I hope it is the former.

Other life on the seafront included a Harbour Seal in the harbour mouth; Waxy Pine Aphids and a Philodromus spider on ornamental pines; edgelands in bloom with Eastern Rocket, so typical of ports, and Jersey Cudweed, now a constant feature of block-paving in East Anglia; grass growing on the beach, seemingly a trigger for ecocide in some coastal areas; and of course urban larger gulls.

And quite apart from the natural, there is always something reassuringly familiar about ‘British Seaside Architecture’… from working portscapes to ornamental flower beds:

So after a very entertaining couple of hours it was on the bus north, eventually to Hopton-on-sea, over the border into Norfolk. The first thing you see is the ruined church, which of course we couldn’t resist, along with the Turnstone pub (ditto!).

Near there, a strange creature running across a pavement. At first glance a mealybug (a sapsucker of ornamental plants), this actually seems to be a Mealybug Destroyer, larva of an Australian ladybird used in this country, especially in glasshouses, as a biological control agent.

And then, heading towards the sea, the holiday camp. Large, busy, all one would expect at half term, but set in rather pleasant surroundings.

Right next to to our van a pond with Heron and occasional other visitors. And here and around other onsite pond, here were damselflies and other insects, a flowering Southern Marsh Orchid and other marshland plants.

Other insects were enjoying basking on the hedges and bushes, including most impressively several Red-headed Cardinal beetles and a Golden-bloomed Longhorn…

… along with a good number of various spiders.

An afternoon on the beach was delightful, from soft cliff slopes covered in Tree Lupins and clifftop turf lit up by the occasional Cinnabar moth….

On one of the the most erosive stretches of the British coast, there are extensive sea defences aimed at reducing erosion of the sandy cliffs, and inadvertently providing habitat for Limpets and brown seaweeds that simply could not otherwise exist on this soft interface between land and sea.

And as so often, the delight was in the details, from the rusting metal among splintering timbers, right down to the Sandhopper Talitrus saltator busying and burying itself in the sandy beach itself…

 

The journey home was via Norwich. Again, the Lowestoft to Norwich line was not known to us previously, but lovely: across Halvergate marshes, up the Yare valley with sightings of Marsh Harrier, Brown Hares. Roe and Chinese Water Deers. A fitting finale to an unexpectedly lovely break.

And of course here is the chance to showcase just a few of Eleanor’s photos!

Exploring the Lee Valley

Britain's Wildlife, Travel by Bus, Travel by Rail, WildEssex

We don’t have to go far to have fun on our short breaks by public transport. The western boundary of Essex is the River Lea, and just across the river and canal is Enfield, Middlesex as was. The whole valley is a complex of waterways and greenspace, much of it under the wing of the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority.

Our two-night stay at Enfield Premier Inn saw us arriving in middle of the hottest day of the year (so far), a ferocious heat that drove us first into the Greyhound pub for refreshment. A drink, but no atmosphere or food, a pub that sadly makes nothing of its prime location next to the canal, the River Lee Navigation.

So we moved swiftly on, walking the towpath but not really paying much attention in the heat, apart from seeing and smelling the recent grassland wildfires. And the sound of screaming Swifts above, always a good sign…

After a couple of hours respite in the hotel and restaurant, it had cooled down sufficiently to make the idea of a towpath walk attractive. Banded Demoiselles, like fluttering fairies, were everywhere, as the cooling air was filled with birdsong – Whitethroats, Chiffchaffs and Song Thrushes especially – and a Red Kite flew over and into a copse. It was hard to believe we were inside the M25…

Hogweed and Wild Carrot umbels attracted numerous hoverflies and other insects, Russian Comfrey provided for the bees, and indeed everything seemed to be hosting insect life…

The impression of tranquil countryside continued to grow as dusk started to fall, with the temperature still up at 26 degrees. We were at Enfield Lock, as with all such spots a place of timeless delight. Many more Demoiselles, with fast-flying Emperors and a Southern Migrant Hawker dragonfly providing the entertainment, along with some impressive Greek Dock plants with exquisitely sculpted seeds and Himalayan Balsam flowers, a beacon for bumblebees.

After a night of rain, the morning air smelled of a grateful Earth. We headed to Walthamstow Wetlands, a flagship London Wildlife Trust reserve based around Thames Water reservoirs. ‘Greenwashing’ comes to mind given the reputation of the water company, but the repurposed buildings are impressive: the Engine House café, which provided excellent breakfast, and the Coppermill Tower with extensive views over the reserve and beyond.

As to the reserve, well there was wildlife – Common Terns, Great-crested Grebes, breeding Cormorants, Mute Swans with ‘Polish’ cygnets, Vervain, Blue-tailed Damselflies etc – and we learned from a friendly volunteer that the Barnacle Geese that tried to mug us are probably the only ones breeding in London. But the margins felt too manicured and with too much focus on fishing. And the weather was dull and rainy, which might have coloured our opinion!

For us, the Paddock, a community nature park just across the road, was much more authentic, the sort of brownfield bonanza that London does best. A rich, multicultural mix of plants from all corners of the world, managed to a point but not tamed, retaining the joys of randomness. You never know what to expect around the next corner…

In fact we liked it so much that we returned later in the day when the sun came out, and found it filled with insects:

Packing in more experiences, we headed out of the valley through Springfield Park, with interesting grassland, a family of Mistle Thrushes and old trees, including Walnuts with mite galls, and London Plane with lepidopteran leaf-miners. Who says non-natives have no value? And another good café!

Into Stoke Newington, Abney Park Cemetery provided welcome shade now the sun was out. One of the famous garden cemeteries, even the stone is now seeming to crumble to dust as the urban jungle takes over.

Meadow Cranesbill and Enchanters’-nightshade lent their colour to the ride-sides, and the large Burdocks were covered in Terellia tussilaginis picture-winged flies, including females laying the foundations of the next generation.

The Three Crowns, just off the High Street, had some elegant styling, but our refreshment stop of choice was the Coach & Horses, with a friendly welcome, good beer, tales of the Krays and a recently unearthed wooden wall featuring drinks advertising posters dating back to the 1880s!

Then a bus ride took us back to Tottenham Hale, and to the Ferryboat Inn for an excellent meal, overlooking the Coppermill Stream, with nest-building Coots, tree-clambering Moorhens on the hunt for ripe brambles and egg-laying Emperor Dragonflies among the Yellow Water-lilies.

 

And while we were there in the evening sun, it seemed like a great opportunity to explore this developing part of town, around Tottenham Lock:

Our final day saw us heading north along the canal, upvalley and under the M25. Incensed by the towpath litter, Jude had gathered a bag full of plastic before we reached Waltham Abbey. Surely the houseboaters wouldn’t despoil their own back yards…so is it the anglers, or cyclists, or simply your average ‘hard of thinking’? Whatever, it didn’t put us off .. the local folks we met were pretty much universally polite and welcoming.

Sadly Waltham Abbey Church was closed. But the churchyard was shady and cool on what was unfolding into another very hot day, the heat amplified by the humidity arising from yesterday’s rain. And it gave us more time to explore the gardens and grounds.

And here we found what we were looking for, one of the main reasons for this break, Striped Shieldbugs. Very familiar to us from mainland Europe, this area is the only reliable place to find them in the UK, having first turned up here three or four years ago, possibly related to the salad-packing factories nearby. And here they were, in singles and doubles on Hemlock plants around the margins of the grounds.

The rough grassland also contained other interesting invertebrates, including Bee-wolf, Yarrow Plume moth and Privet Leafhopper.

And then there were the formal gardens, especially those with Lavender hedging and edging. We simply had to sit and enjoy the huge number of bees, more in one place than than I have ever seen before in this country. The buzz was much more like that I used to enjoy in the Pyrenees. In just one short stretch of eight  metres of flowering Lavender we counted at least 150 bumblebees alone on one snapshot survey, involving at least six species.

And they were far from the only insects. There were a few Honeybees, plus numerous ladybirds, Cinnamon Bugs and Deraeocoris ruber, Commas, Large and Small Whites, Peacocks and a Painted Lady. Simply remarkable. And as we wandered off, a surprise in the form of a fly-through Marbled White, too fast for a photo, but always good to see. Congratulations to the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority for the provision and management of this greenspace and garden.

 

Maybe we should have stayed there longer, but it was getting to be very hot again so, after a short stroll along Cornmill Stream past Sweet-flag in the river and the first sweet blackberries in the hedges, the Crown pub was beckoning us for a lunchtime cold pint, in very pleasant surroundings.

Afterwards, a bus to Waltham Cross, to get the train home. While there, we thought a look around might be good. But we hadn’t contended with the heat, the crowds, too much traffic, the noise, the dust, the roadworks…and the Eleanor Cross (one of three remaining originals) inevitably was shrouded in hoardings and netting. Waltham Cross, you had your chance to engage, but blew it!

And so home. But clearly there is much more for us to explore in the Lee Valley,  downstream to Stratford and the Thames and upstream to Hertford and beyond. We will be back!

 

Way out West 4/4: Newport (Gwent)…

Britain's Wildlife, Travel by Bus, Travel by Rail

Thence to Newport. Why? Well, we like old ports (redeveloped or otherwise) and had seen its sculptures and bridges from station in past. It felt tempting, and when it appeared in our ‘go to inspiration’ the Guardian series Where tourists seldom tread... there was no doubt we would follow. Not that we are antisocial or anything like that!

We turned up at the hotel, the Mercure, with ease. It is the tallest building in town, a tower block that it has to be said is a bit of a blot on the landscape. But it is modern, comfortable, the staff very helpful and the views spectacular. And the building is called the Chartist Tower, a name that intrigued us. So we looked into it and that shaped our second day…

But first the river and riverside walks. We took a long walk down the east bank and back on the west, with convenient bridging points, the outermost giving us views to the next crossing, the iconic and apparently still functioning transporter bridge.

The tidal River Usk has saltmarsh, mud and reeds; brownfield sites and greenspace; bridges and sculptures, a combination that is both familiar from home, and individually unique…

And of course there was plenty of wildlife interest: plants, both wild and cultivated; Sycamore leaf galls caused by the mite Aceria pseudoplatani; and a variety of insects including Lackey moth caterpillar, Green Shield-bug nymph, Tree Bumblebee, the micromoth Teleioides vulgella, and some caterpillars (as yet unidentified) munching away communally and contentedly on the underside of Sallow leaves.

Rain came overnight, but the awful forecast for the following day never quite materialised and when it was at its worst we were conveniently dry in a café, museum or pub! The excellent museum helped fill in some of our interest in the Chartists that had been piqued by the name of our hotel building. A call for real democracy, to include votes for all men irrespective of property status, secret ballots, payment for MPs to allow the working class the opportunity to serve and all the trappings of the democracy we now take for granted (apart of course from female suffrage).

And so recently: demands for social and political reform arising from the working classes. Worse still, the abuse of power by those in charge, seeking to keep power and privilege to themselves, a rising quashed by force, leaving more than twenty Chartists dead, and the leaders of the movement sentenced to be hung and quartered. Simply shocking that this should have happened only 120 years before we were born…

So next it was a bus ride out to Rogerstone to see the Chartists’ Memorial, a roadside mosaic, for ourselves:

And there were found ourselves serendipitously close to the Fourteen Locks flight of locks that runs down to Newport. On a branch of the Monmouth & Brecon Canal, built originally in the late 18th century to transport coal and ores from the South Wales mountains.

Long disused and derelict, although now partially restored, the locks with their balancing ponds tumbling down the hillside in a 50 metre fall over just 700 metres gave us a lovely walk, one of the unexpected highlights of our entire holiday.

There was so much to see, including Alder Leaf-beetles. After being extinct in the UK for several decades, this was rediscovered twenty years ago and has subsequently colonised most of England; Newport is currently at the very western edge of its range. The highlight for us though was an Enchanters’-nightshade Stiltbug, only the second time we have seen this insubstantial insect. The area between Newport and Bristol (where we saw our first) seems to be one of its UK strongholds.

There was also a Garden Chafer and a Grypocoris stysi plant bug that feeds mostly on White Bryony, together with lots of ferns and duckweeds, and everywhere (as throughout the whole holiday) Hemlock Water-dropwort.

All rather damp given the weather, but none more attractively so than the droplet-bedecked Large White caterpillars adorning the canalside.

And returning  this way on foot took us past our final, almost horrifying, delight. Newport’s other blot on the landscape is the monumental civic centre. Started in 1937, completed in 1964, ostensibly Art Deco in style, to us it radiated more of a Franco Fascist-era grain silo aura. Rather unfortunate that, but it is undeniably monumental!

By now it was late afternoon, just time for a good meal in the Wig & Pen, and back home by train. Another holiday completed with no public transport delays at all!! And a theme seems to be developing…that’s two Newports in three weeks, after the Isle of Wight one. 100% approval rating so far. Perhaps we should look to complete the set of 16 (according to Wikipedia)?….

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Previous blogs of this holiday:

Way out West 1/4: Gloucester… | Chris Gibson Wildlife

Way out West 2/4: Haverfordwest… | Chris Gibson Wildlife

Way out West 3/4: St Davids & Solva… | Chris Gibson Wildlife

#WildEssexWalks: Harwich and Landguard Point

Britain's Wildlife, Bug & Botany Walks, Travel by Rail, WildEssex

Phew! That was a hot one: midsummer, crystal blue skies, fierce sunlight, tempered only by a little welcome sea breeze by and on the water around Harwich and Felixstowe Dock. Our first port of call was Harwich Beach, an interesting area of low sand dunes, rich in specialised, often drought-tolerant plants.

The first small stretch of beach featured White Ramping-fumitory and Sea Beet, alongside fleshy Sea Sandwort, waxy-leaved Lyme Grass and tightly rolled but flowering Marram.

Moving around the corner to the larger beach, we were among Dittander (tasting of horseradish) and Rock Samphire (with more than a hint of diesel); Sea Holly and Sea Spurge; Red Valerian (in both red and pink forms) and Japanese Rose. The latter is hated by many, given that it can be invasive and overwhelming on sand, but this patch has barely  grown since I first saw it three decades ago. Bees love it, and so do I: the most intense rose scent you could ever imagine!

With views across to Landguard in Suffolk, shells on the beach were many and varied, including Portuguese Oysters, Common and Slipper Limpets, Periwinkles and Cockles. Then above the town Swifts were screaming, and on the grassy Mallow-covered banks, several Meadow Browns and a couple of Painted Ladies, probably newly emerged rather than newly arrived, given their pristine plumage.

Back through Harwich, past the many historical sites, and the geological display of ice-transported boulders dredged from the channel when it was last deepened; and also Jersey Cudweed, once an extreme rarity but now an expected colonist of block paving.

To Ha’penny Pier where most boarded the foot ferry to Felixstowe, a 15-minute crossing on flat calm seas, ideal opportunity to see the port and its shipping relatively close up. It is a remarkably complex bulk operation, but it does beg the question ‘how much of the stuff in those boxes do we actually need?’. Fast fashion has a lot to answer for…

A beach landing at Landguard led straight to the Viewpoint Café and a very pleasant lunch, before we headed out for another hour on foot around Landguard Point, taking a large loop around the perimeter of Landguard Fort, a strategic defensive establishment protecting the harbour over the past few centuries.

But for us it was the shingle flora that was the attraction, including Yellow Horned-poppy, Sea Kale and Viper’s-bugloss on the more bare shingle…

…Biting and White Stonecrops, along with Rest-harrow, in areas with greater vegetation cover (albeit heavily Rabbit-grazed)…

… and maritime scrub, incorporating Wild Privet (scenting the air alluringly and extravagantly), Tamarisk and Duke-of-Argyll’s Tea-tree, in flower and fruit.

Aside from the plants there were plenty of Linnets bouncing and twittering around the scrub, noisy packs of unruly teenage Starlings. Jude’s sharp eyes located the nemesis of some unfortunate caterpillar, covered in the eruptant pupae of a parasitic wasp, and in a final flourish, we found a Treble-bar moth, not surprisingly perhaps given the abundance of its St John’s-wort food plant on the peninsula.

And so it was back home once more on the ferry, and for most of us a very welcome drink in The Alma! This is likely to be our last WildEssex walk for a few months: thanks to those who have joined us today and earlier in the year. we went out on a high – and we WILL be back!

Way out West 3/4: St Davids & Solva…

Britain's Wildlife, Travel by Bus, Travel by Rail

Our day out from Haverfordwest by bus fortunately missed the rain bands that pushed through in the first part of the morning. First we were in our hotel, second we were on the bus and third we were in the St Davids Brunch House enjoying the very best meal of our whole break. This may have been open for only six months, but they certainly know what they are doing: worth heading way out west for!

Of course the main destination for our day was St Davids, and specifically the cathedral, although the Bishop’s Palace was also worth a peer from a distance.

The cathedral was lovely and welcoming, and told stories of the religious shaping of our islands. They are also trying to help shape the future, with Swift boxes and signage (and indeed we did see one), although the holy mowers out to strip the landscape of Daisies and Dandelions (noisily!) for the visiting hordes rather spoilt the message.

Inside, the ceilings were spectacular and the misericords entertaining…

… while the Welsh cake cream teas were simply delicious (I rarely photograph food, so these are the beautifully dappled surroundings!) and the secret garden a haven of quiet, light and colour.

We then took to the woods in search of bugs, and whenever we found a sunny corner sheltered from the cool breeze, there they were, all manner of flies, bugs, scorpion-flies, weevils and more…

 

Also fascinating was the fact that Navelwort was here growing on the woodland floor (not rocks and walls), and extending to 80cm in height, several times larger than the usual nutrient-starved examples elsewhere in full sunlight.

The local walls also of course also had a rich array of ferns, including Black Spleenwort, and lichens.

St Davids was lovely, if rather busy. Our next port of call, Solva, a small coastal village was similarly lovely to look at (although the sun had departed), and presumably similarly busy in the height of the season, to judge from the size of the car park. But not today: it was quiet and even the pub welcome was subdued. Or even absent. A typical ‘pub that doesn’t have to try’ because of its natural advantages in terms of location…

Still we had a (swift) drink and headed down the cove, among the rocks with maritime lichens and salt-spray-tolerant plants such as Thrift, English Stonecrop and Rock Sea-spurrey, with wind- and salt-sculpted scrub covering the slopes, lit up festooning Honeysuckle and spires of Foxglove.

And of course at least a few insects, including a Gelis ichneumon, with remarkably marked wings:

Then back to Haverfordwest on the last bus: every bus of the day was punctual, and with a day ticket for the T11 service between Haverfordwest and Fishguard, very good value allowing us to hop on and off at will. A great day out, with at least a hint of the westerly weather we had come prepared for!

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Other blogs of this holiday:

Way out West 1/4: Gloucester… | Chris Gibson Wildlife

Way out West 2/4: Haverfordwest… | Chris Gibson Wildlife

Way out West 4/4: Newport (Gwent)… | Chris Gibson Wildlife

Way out West 2/4: Haverfordwest…

Britain's Wildlife, Travel by Rail

And so we reached Haverfordwest, enticingly situated at the tidal limit of the Western Cleddau river, a point marked by a weir with associated fish-pass.

Bridges are naturally a feature of a town on the river, ranging from old stone ones (the historic lowest bridging points of the river) to more recent railway and pedestrian crossings.

Tidal waters mean both trade and power: trade in the form of former warehousing and wharfage, power in mills, or at least the mill races and leats that extend upstream. And it seems that the County Hall may have been built on or close to a former mill, to judge from various road names and the watercourse issuing from beneath the building.

Although completed  as recently as 1999, County Hall is really quite spectacular in its clean design of interconnected bastions.  What’s more, it is covered in Swift-boxes (with associated screamers). All credit to Pembrokeshire County Council, even though we didn’t actually see any Swifts in the airspace; however the meadow lawns around the building did have Southern Marsh Orchids!

Well provided with riverine walkways, we headed upstream where the still waters were producing squillions of mayflies, some of which were being snapped up by swooping Swallows and House Martins, or by fishes from below with an audible plop.

The dense vegetation harboured all sorts of interest, from beetles (Green Dock Beetles, both adults and larvae, were very numerous), to moths both large and small (Flame Shoulder and Woodland Sedge-moth, the latter according to the NBN found nowhere nearer than Llanelli) and galls (Dasineura ulmaria on Meadowsweet):

And then downstream, again very green, but interesting also where the river walls have ferns like Maidenhair Spleenwort, and an abundance of tenacious Alder and Buddleia saplings sprouting from the cracks. Even this far on the fringes of the nation, the leaves of the latter show signs of infection by the newly arrived Melon-Cotton Aphid, and they were also being eaten by Mullein Moth caterpillars. While this a known food plant for this moth, we have never seen it using it before. There were also lots of Two-spot Ladybirds and an Oncopsis planthopper, as well as an array of caddisflies, reflecting the high water quality: here are the Welshman’s Button and Black Silverhorn.

 

At the edge of town, we had a look round the tumbledown Haverfordwest Priory, dating back to around the start of the 13th Century, and featuring what is claimed to be the only surviving ecclesiastical medieval garden in Britain, replanted to resemble its look and fragrance in those times. Nearby wall-tops were covered in blankets of Mouse-eared Hawkweed, showing well the shagginess and stoloniferous habit.

Thence to the Priory Saltings nature reserve, the lower sections of which are tidal reedbeds. Along with masses of Hemlock Water-dropwort: we saw this plant everywhere we went during the holiday. But only here was it being demolished by the larvae of the micromoth Depressaria daucella (Water-dropwort Brown), and as-yet-unidentified spindle-shaped galls in the primary umbel spokes.

Other wetland plants in flower included Ragged Robin, Brooklime and Celery-leaved Buttercup.

The higher, drier areas had a mixture of scrub and species-rich grassland…

… which of course provided good insect habitat, including the micromoth Pammene aurana, not recorded on the NBN any nearer than Carmarthen.

The higher parts of the town have some lovely narrow, historic streets…

… along with several churches on some of the highest points. Best of all, now a private residence, was St Thomas A Becket, immersed in a churchyard of managed wilderness.

One final high point is the site of the ruined castle, with no public access apart from the southern slopes that bring wild flowers and insects into the heart of the town.

Haverfordwest was a great base for a couple of nights, in the comfortable, friendly County Hotel, very convenient for the station. And plenty of places to eat, best of which was the extremely welcoming Bristol Trader pub.

It is also, without any hint of a slight, a great place to get out of: the gateway to even more far-flung lands using the remarkably efficient bus service, as we will see in the next blog….

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Other blogs of this holiday:

Way out West 1/4: Gloucester… | Chris Gibson Wildlife

Way out West 3/4: St Davids & Solva… | Chris Gibson Wildlife

Way out West 4/4: Newport (Gwent)… | Chris Gibson Wildlife

Way out West 1/4: Gloucester…

Britain's Wildlife, Travel by Rail

For our June short break, it was off to South Wales by train. As we headed out we travelled through an intense band of rain, fortunately not a portent of the days to come, and we kept completely dry – the benefits of train travel!

On the way there, Gloucester proved an ideal stopping-off point. We visited Gloucester as recently as last April, but felt there was unfinished business for us, especially missing out on the chance to stay in the New Inn, a remarkably historic, galleried pilgrims inn, all timber and wonky floors. History permeates the building: it was here in 1553 that Lady Jane Grey received the news that she had been made Queen, and so was sealed her untimely fate. But we did wonder for how much longer it will be possible to feel that history. Under new management, it feels down at heel and in need of substantial investment, but it was worth spending a night there for the aura, even if Lady Jane failed to appear for us…!

While in Gloucester of course we didn’t neglect the rest of the city, and an afternoon potter around saw us lifting our eyes above the modern shopfronts, to see the remnant history that has survived the bombs and planners of the 20th century:

Pre-eminent amongst this is of course the Cathedral. No time in our schedule to go inside (we explored it fully last time), but the surrounding cathedral quarter was really doing its bit for wildlife, the plantings (including globe-thistles and scabious) attracting all manner of bumblebees, Honeybees and other pollinators, even in overcast conditions.

Last time we loved the docks, and this year was no exception. Redevelopment from their original use has retained many of the attractive dockside buildings, all with a liberal sprinkling of Herring and Lesser Back-backed Gulls. Indeed the entire city has become a very significant year-round breeding and feeding location for these birds which in the ‘wider countryside’ are rather struggling from habitat loss, disturbance and climate change affecting natural food supplies.

And around the docksides, a plant that was to become very familiar as our holiday continued, Hemlock Water-dropwort, seemingly to be found in every damp area of the region, especially in proximity to the coast.

Next morning though it was time to move on, into south Wales. What a lovely rail journey, first along the western shores of the Severn Estuary…

… thence through Newport, seeing the sights that would become very familiar to us in a few days’ time…

… and to the coastal landscapes of Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire, to Haverfordwest, almost as far as the train tracks run.

But this was merely a prelude to the main part of the trip, to be covered in three subsequent blogs…

Way out West 2/4: Haverfordwest… | Chris Gibson Wildlife

Way out West 3/4: St Davids & Solva… | Chris Gibson Wildlife

Way out West 4/4: Newport (Gwent)… | Chris Gibson Wildlife