Darwins Footsteps – Keston and Holwood Trail

Diagram .About the trail of leaf The trail begins and ends at Westerham Road Car Park, only 2 miles Species Darwin Summer (3.5kms) from Down House where Charles Darwin lived and E Duckweed You can find this in E Saw or Studied ponds everywhere in summer. worked from 1842 till his death in 1882. It leads you through the A Round-leaved Sundew In 1881 Darwin experimented with the effect of immersing acid grassland and heath of Keston, past the valley mire of one of Darwin began his studies of this plant duckweed in various solutions, at different strengths, to see the London’s few sphagnum bogs, wet meadows, sweet chestnut when he noticed how many insects effect these had on cell contents. coppice and along a public footpath through the Holwood Estate. were caught on its leaves. This led him All these places were familiar and important to Darwin’s work and Azure damselflies (male F Dragonfly. Look for dragonflies and to investigate how it trapped and blue, female green) life, providing him with different plants and animals to study from digested insects, pioneering work which damselflies around the ponds. Darwin wrote how those of the chalk and clay-with flints closer to his home. Some are led to the publication of ‘Insectivorous in males ‘the appendages at the tip of the tail indicated as you follow the trail, others are more difficult to spot or Plants’ in 1875. His major source for are modified in an may be anywhere along the route and are shown in the pictures A sundew was Keston Bog where it was almost infinite variety opposite. Tick the circles and see how many you can find. Ț Leaf then common. He explained how insects of curious patterns to enable them to embrace F supplied the plants with nitrogen making it possible r e F for them to survive in poor soil, but the plants also w the neck of the female.’ Four spotted o l needed plenty of water because to digest the insects F Chaser Places you’ll pass it was necessary to secrete an acid fluid from, ‘glands, sometimes as dragonfly (male) many as 260, exposed during the whole day to a glaring sun.’ The Holwood House. An earlier house than the one you will see was Common Earthworm falling water table in Keston Bog together with increased shading Autumn the home of Prime Minister William Pitt between 1785 and 1802 but G Earthworms Like Darwin, look for worm G when Darwin and his family first moved to Downe, Holwood House and nutrient levels has caused its local extinction here, but work is casts (usually made by black-headed worms belonged to Lord Cranworth. A Whig politician and twice Lord underway to restore the habitat. here) and little heaps of stones (middens) Chancellor, he contributed to the Downe Friendly Society of which which show where the common earthworm Darwin was the Treasurer and which helped support local villagers. has been making deep burrows. In Darwin’s The house was later the home of Lord Derby who wrote of Darwin Spring book, ‘The Formation of Vegetable Mould B Meadow Saxifrage (Saxifraga Through the Action of Earthworms’ that he was “the greatest scientific discoverer of our age, [yet] free granulata) Now rare in Kent, Darwin described G from envy, jealousy or vanity in any form” and was one of the pall- published in 1881 he described the results of its glandular hairs, some of which appeared years of research including the examination bearers at his funeral. Charles and Emma regularly dined at similar to those of sundew, ‘Saxifraga granulata Holwood and visited the park. After Charles’ death Emma wrote to of slopes and bogs at Holwood, heath, acid B (Holwood Park) short pink Hairs mixed with their son, William, ‘Yesterday I drove to Keston to see Mrs Wright & grassland, pathsides and gulleys on Keston longer ones some with small Common, all of which he investigated as he walked back through Holwood Park – it was looking lovely – but Black-headed Earthworm, viscid Head & some without’. He went on to see if it was tried to find out which habitats were best for earthworms. seemed too full of memories, & I thought how you all used to race also able to absorb nitrogen (in the form of ammonium down the pretty green slope at the end – I was glad to think that I carbonate) but his results showed that it absorbed H Pigmy Shrew. Darwin observed, ‘both sexes possess walked thro’ it w. your father not so very long ago – we used little if any. He also looked at its flower structure, abdominal scent glands and there can be little doubt, from the generally to finish a drive with that charming bit of walking.’ reporting that the male and female part of a flower rejection of their bodies by birds and beasts of prey, that the odour Holwood is also the site of an iron age settlement thought to date matured at different times which increased is protective.’ back to about 200BC. Built on high ground, it consists of 3 rings of the chance of cross pollination. H ditches and banks enclosing an area of about 100 acres. C Nightingale Listen for these well-camouflaged Mallard Keston Bog was an important source of the insectivorous plant, Duck birds (easier to hear than see) which live in scrub (male) round-leaved sundew, which Darwin studied; he sampled mud from Winter feeding mainly on insects. Emma Darwin wrote I Ducks I Keston Ponds as part of his experiments on the geographical about going out in the evening to listen for On his voyage around the World in ‘The Beagle’ Darwin noticed the distribution of seeds and he investigated the distribution of nightingales, returning home to Down House for C similarity between species of freshwater plants and animals found in earthworms in the different heathland habitats. bread and cheese. Please let us know if you hear widely separated ponds. Observing how ducks may emerge from a one in the area. pond covered in duckweed and how newly hatched freshwater D Sticklebacks In the Descent of Man, Darwin snails could survive 12-20 hours in damp air and would cling to How to get around wrote how during the breeding season, male duck’s feet so tightly that they were difficult to remove, he wrote ‘in sticklebacks become brightly coloured which makes them more this length of time a duck or heron might fly at least six The complete trail is 31/4 miles (5 km) long, but the walk can easily successful in attracting females. or seven hundred miles, and would be sure to alight J be shortened in several ways (see map). There are 2 pubs at Keston on a pool or rivulet, if blown which serve refreshments. The trail involves a small amount of road across sea to an oceanic island walking, please take great care and face oncoming traffic. Paths may or to any other distant point.’ be muddy and slippery at times with steps as shown on the map and some gradients of >20%. Please follow the Country Code, keep to J Freshwater snails J the footpaths and remove your dog waste. Great Pond Snail RamshornSnail 16 Cross Westerham Road at traffic island Follow Downe Road, looking for herb How to Reach Darwin Trail 3 bennet on the left. Darwin wrote how it produced ten times more (Keston & Holwood) pollen than necessary. Its seed TO BROMLEY 1146,46, 353 heads with their hooked seeds 320 F A are beautifully adapted for He er Ț R rb w Hayes Common N Bennet: flo Keston B O dispersal by animals. Another 224646 335353 Mark R O CROYDON ROAD U weed species growing along GH 146 D 353353,, R2 C C O l the hedgeline is cleavers TO A M e O a M v WEST R O ers which Darwin found N : M flow es Ț WICKHAM er and leav produced just as many seeds A H R E covered or uncovered. He also observed how H T 320, R2 e S a E it climbed by means of hooks and showed ‘no th f W ie spontaneous revolving movement’. Turn L ld Rd R ds Ț d on onto Public Footpath H ad hp Start er he Fis b Bennet: seed Keston 146, Common KESTON On your R are several horse chestnut trees. J D 17 a 246 A c k O a R Darwin studied this species at Holwood, in particular ss L M a A examining their flower structure, noting that ‘many male flowers n H e R E open before females’, which aids cross-pollination. Walk up the T S E 320 footpath which crosses part of the Holwood Estate and W ne La was no doubt used by Darwin on e ir h some of his many visits here. S Ț e d a 146 In summer and h s 18 t autumn look for h 320, g i 2246,46, woody nightshade N R2 y d beside the path. Darwin o 5 o 0 Horse chestnut flower . Ț wrote that it, ‘is one of W The Trail starts at Westerham Road Car Park, Keston but can be begun and 4 2 the feeblest and poorest of twiners: it may often be ended at different points. Access to the trail is via the following bus routes:- 4 seen growing as an upright bush, and when growing H R2 (Mon-Sat) Petts Wood to Biggin Hill Valley via Orpington Stn & U 3 in the midst of a thicket merely scrambles up Keston 1 R between the branches without twining....

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