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

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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..... I placed sticks round 146 (Mon-Sat) Bromley to Downe via Hayes and Keston B y e several plants, and vertically stretched strings close to others, and the 246 Bromley to Westerham via Hayes Station, Keston and Biggin Hill l m

320 Bromley to Biggin Hill Valley via Bromley Common, Keston & Leaves o strings alone were ascended by twining. The stem twines indifferently r B

Green ,

to the right or left..... We may suspect that .....[it has] as yet only e s

353 Orpington (Ramsden Estate) to Addington via Orpington Stn, o partially acquired the habit of twining.’ Continue along path, up l C

Locksbottom, Keston Mark & Hayes Station l l

6 shallow steps, cross driveway and walk to the seat e

Trains: Nearest Station: Hayes w near the site of the Wilberforce Oak overlooking the k c o t

Vale of Keston. S

Correct at time of going to press. For up-to-date information about train and , e r bus times phone Traveline on 020 7222 1234 or see t n An entry in William Wilberforce’s diary for 1787 states, ‘At http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk e 19 C c length, I well remember after a conversation with Mr. Pitt in i v For more information about Darwin’s life and work around Downe, including i the open air at the root of an old tree at Holwood, just above the C walks and events in the area and how you can become involved, see y e steep descent into the vale of Keston, I resolved to give notice on a l www.darwinswildlife.co.uk or www.darwinatdowne.co.uk. m o fit occasion in the House of Commons of my intention to bring r To read Darwin’s publications on line see, ‘The Writings of Charles Darwin B , o forward the abolition of the slave-trade.’ Continue up footpath on the Web’ at http://pages.britishlibrary.net/charles.darwin or i d u

to the Westerham Road http://darwinlibrary.amah.org. More information can also be found in the t s

World Heritage Site Nomination Document (2006) at your local library. n g i s

Cross road with care and turn R, following a footpath parallel e 20 EMERGENCY PHONE: 020 8464 4848 d e

to the road along a gulley made through gravel extraction. h t y

Look at the flint pebbles of the exposed Blackheath Beds here; 60 b d

million years ago they formed part of an offshore pebble bank under e c u

the sea, where they were worn down to their present rounded d o r

shapes. In places they are loosely cemented together by an iron P oxide cement. The path leads you back to the top pond car park.

Starting at Westerham Road car park, walk Alder leaves Ț Turn L. At T-junction turn R onto 3 Commons down 20 steps to ‘Caesar’s Well’ which marks Trail and walk through woodland. Pass concrete some of the springs which arise at the junction Look for alder post 11 & 12, then cross meadow towards In Darwin’s time this

of Blackheath Pebble Beds with orange, loamy 5 standing dead tree, an important habitat for 12 Ț

trees growing in the area was open and r e

Woolwich Beds. These feed Keston Ponds. invertebrates, fungi and birds. h t

wet soil. In early spring their grazed. Since grazing stopped a e

blue buds, new cones in the mid 20th century, trees H 1 According to the European Magazine of 1792 and catkins are very distinctive. The big 9 Look for nuthatch climbing down the have colonised; first birch, then oak, but beneath your there was a bath-house near Caesar’s Well.In house (on your right) was the tree, searching for insects. Darwin feet look out for patches of heather still remaining. Darwin’s time the well was well-known to Victorian home of the Bonham-Carter wrote of its remarkable climbing instinct. Using heather as an example, Darwin described how

microscopists as a very interesting site for freshwater Ț family from 1853-1862, after Turn L, following path, and pass 3 insects visit flowers of the same species e

algae including Closterium moniliferum, Micrasterias u which they moved to Nuthatch Ț as long as they can, which aids cross c tall, thin lombardy poplar trees on s e denticulata and Draparnaldia mutabilis (which used to be nearby Keston House. pollination. He also remarked how later F your left. Continue downhill, across dry s ’

called D. plumosa); all still found here today. p Ț Friends of the in the flowering season bees frequently e

meadow to bridlepath. e )

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l S a Darwins, sucked the nectar from these flowers d

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( e v s surviving letters after biting holes in them and so

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to them include avoided transfering pollen between e a bridlepath is a wet n

C i F r some from Elinor meadow, a severely threatened flowers.The grasses growing here on e

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A Bonham-Carter in habitat in the UK. Please do not the thin, poor soil are typical of acid grassland and include Closterium moniliferum Draparnaldia Micrasterias which she describes fine-leaved sheep’s fescue. mutabilis denticulata trample the meadow but look the expressions of Walk alongside the water runnel where left to see the bright yellow Turn R and walk in a southerly direction for her dog and newborn Marsh Marigold Ț brooklime grows in summer. flowers of marsh marigold in about 100m across clearing, turning L by forked niece/nephew, spring and the pink of ragged robin in pine tree onto a main path. Turn R. After 50m presumably associated summer. Also present is the Continue by the side of the top you reach an iron age earthwork, thought to 2 with the publication of, greater birdsfoot trefoil. pond. Excavated into Woolwich have been built slightly earlier than the main ‘The Expression of the Darwin remarked how in this Beds, or possibly clay-lined, it may fort at Holwood. Cross earthwork into open area Emotions in Man and Animals’ by species, like the wood sorrel, originally have been a source of sand of relict heathland, Darwin in 1872. the leaves move at night; in this but was later a reservoir for Holwood gorse and acid case the House. Look for broom on the right, grassland. Continue When you reach the small leaflets rise up flowering in May/June. Darwin 6 Ragged on pebbly path with Brooklime Ț Robin red-brick wall with the drain, turn R and press against the Ț Ț

investigated how pollen was gulley on your L. e s Broom flower and follow the river into stem. This is made r deposited by short stamens onto Ț o Padmall Wood, which has possible by the G the abdomen of visiting bees, Look for common been managed as sweet presence of small cells 13 then 1-2 days later, longer cow wheat, the food plant of chestnut coppice for many at the base of the leaflet stalks stamens deposited the rare heath fritillary butterfly years. Note the different which through the intake and pollen on their and the beautiful wavy ages of trees in different loss of water act backs. He also Ț hair grass. Also s blocks of sweet chestnut as a hinge. s a noted how the Greater Birdsfoot Trefoilr Ț growing here is r G woodland. Traditionally Sweet chestnut ir stigma changes position as the flower Ț gorse. Darwin a blocks of sweet chestnut woodland Turn R, cross bridlepath and another H vy ages so it receives pollen from different remarked how the Le a were cut on a 15-20 year cycle. The wood was used for meadow, passing into woodland via an pto n W parts of the bee helping to ensure cross very young leaves of gorse pterna dolabrata o fencing, panelling and sometimes furniture. old boundary bank marked by big Com pollination takes place. Look for water veteran trees. Turn L and after 50m turn R mon Cow Wheat Țare pinnate or divided like the ordinary leaves of betony next to the pond in summer. With After 90m there is a bridge on L, but continue many other plants in the legume family to which they Ț to walk through the remains of a Scots pine y

n its square stems Darwin observed that this for a further 150m before turning L belong, such as acacias and vetches.

o plantation. t

e was one of only 3 plant water mint B

r Where footpaths meet, continue south, parallel e

t species in Britain As you approach bridge look in a Ț 7 11 After 60m, to the road on your L until you reach the W pollinated by wasps. wetter areas for water mint, Keston Bog is on junction of Westerham and Heathfield Roads. flowering from July until October. your R. The bog is Cross Heathfield Road with care and walk south In On your right look for wild 3 here due to the down Westerham Road. On your spring angelica. This tall plant with its presence of right is the site of a Roman farmstead moorhens are very distinctive sheathing leaf impermeable Eocene and burial place overlooking the valley. among the bases also grows well in clays at a depth of 3 feet This was deserted in the 4th Century damp places. Darwin Bog Asphodel

water birds which Ț Sphagnum Țbelow the surface. One of (with Skipper butterfly Moorhen Ț AD and later occupied by AngloSaxons y

Ț v

noted how its stems I Chara Virgata nest on the pond, London’s few sphagnum bogs and home of Ț who named the area ‘Cystaninga’, d were hairy at the base n building elaborate island nests to some rare plants and animals, in Darwin’s u literally, ‘field of stone coffins,’ giving o r

help keep the eggs and young away from predators. As but in other areas G time it was much more extensive. Look R to Keston its name. you approach the dam between the top and middle were covered in a see the waving cottony heads of cotton ponds notice the smell of ironweed (Chara virgata) in bloom which sedge in June and July, the bright yellow After about 400m, take public summer. This large green alga has a whirled branching rubbed off. 14 flowers of bog asphodel in July and footpath on your R down 22 steps, pattern and is uncommon locally. August and cross-leaved heath passing scrub which provides food and Walk across the dam and turn right (R) which flowers into September. In the shelter for a variety of minibeasts and birds. following west bank of middle pond. wettest places different types of In spring look for white dead nettle, red Wild Angelica Ț sphagnum and other mosses grow. dead nettle and ground ivy at path and Wild Angelica Please help us look after this very Ț Daubenton 4 This pond supplied Cross bridge (leafstalk) Ț Cotton Sedge roadsides between here and Holwood. As bat Holwood House with special place by not walking on it and with heather, Darwin reported how individual keeping your dogs to heel or on a lead here. Work bees visiting these plants where they grew Ț fresh water by means of an on your left is 8 to restore the bog for the rare plants and together always visited the same species. White ‘hydraulic ram’ at the north-east a clump of wood sorrel. The photograph shows Dead animals that live here is being undertaken. Because the pollen of these 3 plants Nettle corner. The hydraulic ram forced water how its leaves fold at night or in strong sunshine. If you would like to help please contact the differs in colour the examination of Ț from the middle pond uphill to a new Experiments by Charles Darwin and his son, Francis, KEY Rangers at High Elms on 01689 862815. captured bees confirmed that each only had house designed by Decimus Burton and showed that if its leaves were prevented from pollen from one of the three species. built for John Ward, a wealthy London merchant who moving in this way they were more likely to be When you reach road, cross bought the Holwood Estate in 1823. On summer’s killed by frost. In, ‘The Power of Movement in with care and continue for When you reach the end of the path evenings look for Daubenton’s bats skimming over the Plants’ (1880) Darwin also reported that 30m, then turn R and walk turn L into Church Road. Take care water as they hunt for flies. experiments by Professor Batalin showed that Ț about 100m along a path to face the oncoming traffic. e e Red b through pine woodland. Cross Fishponds Road and continue past 3rd preventing them from folding also damaged Dead ith Pass Keston Church on the R which was w Turn L Nettle pond. Turn R over dam. Continue along path leaflets exposed to sunlight. Wood Sorrel Ț th Ț built about 1250 on the site of an earlier se Cros Hea lea age s-leaved into a clearing above the top pond. p e p with River Ravensbourne on your left (L) building. n th tur