On Friday 5th August I took my children on a walk to Leith Hill.
We left the car in the car park on the southwest side of the hill and followed the tower waymarkers.
Not far from the car park there was a fallen beech tree which was very attractive to climb. I suggested they save their energy for the way back which was accepted without much fuss!
Further along the path we came across some plants with berries which I thought were bilberries (Vaccinium myrtillus) but they didn’t seem quite right. I did what you should never do when children are around state categorically that they were OK even though my identification was questionable! I didn’t think at that point to take a picture of them. I even tried one to show they were OK. Then I spotted the real bilberries which had much smaller leaves and weren’t growing so high as these other ones! I hoped to goodness the others weren’t poisonous – with an arrow prayer for protection too!
We continued on our way and started to come out into the open where we were greeted with a beautiful scene and some National Trust people at work with children making bug hotels!
The children had a scout around and some balancing fun! We decided to go into the tower which is on Surrey’s highest hill at 283m. There were 75 steps spiralling up – or was that 77 I overheard someone say! The tower is just a bit higher than The Shard which is London’s highest building, visible from the top with other key buildings!
The view was fantastic from the top as the air was clear even though a little cloudy! You could see all the way to London, Gatwick airport and the South Downs aided by two telescopes. There were plates attached to the turrets which assisted the viewer to know where they were looking, stating different features. Thankfully it wasn’t too busy!
We then thought we’d try and find the source of the Tillingbourne River which wasn’t so straightforward! I pointed out to the children some plants on the hillside which could have hidden a spring as they were water loving plants.
Heading back we went a different way which nearly got us lost as we traversed mountain bike trails.
In the back of my mind the plant written about earlier was bothering me! I had a gap in my knowledge. We found some more and I took two photos, both of leaf and berry.
I told the kids we needed to keep going left and down to meet the path we came up by. Suddenly we came upon the beech tree from above, the one they wanted to climb! Phew that was fortunate! Were we being guided? I like to think so!
As for the plant, well after reaching home I tried my identification books without success so posted a request via www.Ispotnature.org and today had a positive identification of Salal or Shallon (Gaultheria shallon). With a little bit of research it turns out that it’s a Canadian Ericacae. The berries used to be dried by native American Indians and put in cakes. They are sweet berries and hang in an attractive raceme. Not much is mentioned in Miles Irving’s book about foraging about the berries, more about the leaves which can be toxic to children! I need to do further research! Do the National Trust know about this? Is it an escape? Now I’m curious!
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| Bilberry left, small leaf; Salal, big leaf |
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