Wiggle Cliff lives up to its name by providing food plants for a diverse variety of caterpillars which can be seen here as butterflies in the summer. As well as the usual suspects, some more unusual species such as the Marbled White can sometimes be seen here.
Over 160,000 species of butterfly and moth have been described and nearly 19,000 of these have been found in the UK. Butterflies are effectively a sub-group of moths that fly during the day. They have adaptations for this such as wings that fold flat against each other with a camouflaged underside to help them hide from predators when landed but a patterned upper surface to attract mates during flight. Whilst moths' feathery antennae are highly optimised for an incredibly sensitive sense of smell, butterflies can make use of vision so their antennae are more streamlined and are also used to measure air temperature.
Many flowers have patterns not visible to the human eye because they require ultraviolet wavelengths to distinguish them. Humans only have 3 colour receptors (red, green and blue) whereas many pollinating insects such as bees and butterflies have more receptors that span into the ultraviolet. They perceive colour quite differently from us and the ultraviolet patterns often point to the location of the nectar within the flower, much like a coloured arrow used to indicate where to open a food package.
The building, now known as Captain Blake's Retreat, was formerly Wiggle Hut and owned by the YMCA. The organisation was founded in 1844 in London "to provide low-cost housing in a safe Christian environment for rural young men and women journeying to the cities" during the Industrial Revolution and to "preserve youth from the temptations of alcohol, gambling, and prostitution". In more recent times the YMCA has dedicated itself to promoting a healthy lifestyle including exercise and the outdoors, hence the hut on a cliff, in case you were wondering if this was the minimum distance necessary to escape the vices of Plymouth docks.
The path has a good range of wildflowers including some later-flowering species such as thistles and ragwort.
Ragwort is fairly easy to recognise as a relatively tall plant with yellow flowers standing above surrounding grass.
Ragwort was rated in the top 10 nectar-producing plants in a survey for pollinating insects on UK agricultural land. The plant has also become known as "Benyon's Delight" following Facebook comments describing it as a "vile poisonous weed" by Richard Benyon, the then government minister responsible for biodiversity.
Stonechats are robin-sized birds with a black head and orange breast that are common along the Cornish coast all year round.
During the summer months, stonechats eat invertebrates. As temperatures drop and there are not so many of these about, they make do with seeds and fruit such as blackberries. Quite a few die in cold winters but this is offset by their fast breeding rate during the warmer months.
The gate part-way along on the right leads down the beach.
Flint tools found in the vicinity of Rame Head indicate that the area has been occupied from as far back as the Mesolithic period following the last Ice Age, when East Anglia was connected to continental Europe via a land bridge which now lies beneath the North Sea.
Polhawn Fort faces out over the beach and was built in the early 1860s to defend the eastern approach to Whitsand Bay. It was armed with a battery of seven 68-pounder guns. A design flaw was that its exposed left side could be attacked from the sea and this was not as heavily fortified as the front which faces onto the beach. Rather than improving it, its role was taken over by the batteries at Tregantle and Raleigh and Polhawn was abandoned by the MOD in 1928. The building survives in good condition as a hotel.
Just before the wooden gate on the right, the stone inscribed with WD and a date is a boundary marker from the War Department and the metal post alongside was part of a military fence. The War Department began as an unofficial name for the government department created in 1794 with the appointment of a Secretary of State for War and eventually became the Ministry of Defence. The upward-pointing "broad arrow" symbol above WD began as a 16th Century mark for the government's property that later appeared on prison uniforms and military equipment. Although it is no longer used by the Ministry of Defence, it is still a criminal offence to reproduce the symbol on goods without authority.
Along the coast, from June onwards but particularly in the late summer and autumn, parasol mushrooms are common. They are one of the easier mushrooms to recognise due to their huge size (and umbrella shape when fully open). The brown flecks on their otherwise white flesh are caused by the rapidly expanding young mushroom bursting through a brown outer coating as it grows (a bit like "sugar puffs" breakfast cereal!). Other characteristic features include a snakeskin-like brown pattern on the stem and there's often a ring around the stem which is detached (can be carefully slid upwards to verify).
Despite their large size, parasol mushrooms are quite delicate and cook quickly. Any heavy-handed cooking (e.g. frying) causes them to shrivel away to nothing. We've had good results by gently folding slices of the parasol into a sauce just a couple of minutes before serving so it gets lightly cooked but the texture is preserved.
The huts on the cliff at Tregonhawke arose from a farmer allowing local families to pitch tents on the cliff and then tea huts for a nominal rent. No planning regulations existed at this time, so huts sprang up wherever someone could dig a small terrace into the cliff slope. Water was initially obtained from a spring but the landowner soon provided a water supply with stand pipes at intervals along the path. During the Second World War, people from Plymouth bought huts here to escape the bombing.
In 1979, a policy was drawn up by the council limiting the changes made to chalets in order to avoid the cliff degenerating into a modern housing estate and much of this was incorporated into conditions of the leases. In 2003, the land was put up for sale and a management company formed by the leaseholders bought the land with the objective to keep the landscape as natural as possible.
A small path leads out onto the rock outcrop and there a views across Whitsand Bay from here. On the opposite side of the bay is Looe and Looe Island is visible on a clear day. The large sandy beach half-way around the bay is known as Long Sands or Tregantle Beach. This is in the line of fire of several MOD firing ranges situated below Tregantle Fort and is therefore sometimes closed to the public.
The lookout on Rame Head was originally one of the Lloyds Signal Stations, similar to the one on The Lizard. This was used to send messages to passing ships using flags during the day and, often less successfully, lights at night. By 1905 radio signalling had rendered visual forms of communication obsolete and the building was converted into a radio station. Some time around 1925 it was converted into a Coastguard lookout and is now run by the National Coastwatch Institution.
The National Coastwatch Institution was set up to restore visual watches along the UK coastline after two Cornish fishermen lost their lives within sight of an empty Coastguard lookout in 1994. The first station - at Bass Point on The Lizard, where the fishermen had died - opened in December 1994. The organisation, staffed by volunteers, now runs 50 lookout stations around England and Wales.
The chapel, now just a shell, is dedicated to St Michael in common with many other mediaeval chapels in high, rocky places. The chapel was first licensed for Mass in 1397 and is thought to be on the site of a Celtic hermitage as the manor of Rame was owned by Tavistock Abbey in the 10th Century. The chapel is constructed of local slate and has a vaulted stone roof which has allowed it to survive so long, although it was restored in 1882. Remaining traces of mortar indicate that originally it would have been rendered and whitewashed both inside and out.
The concrete platform on the seaward side of the chapel is the remains of a World War 2 gun platform. A mobile radar installation was also sited here. The headland was also used during World War 1 for an anti-submarine gun for which hydrophones were used to detect any enemy submarines approaching Plymouth Sound.
The walk continues to the left on the path above the 3 benches.
First you may want to climb to the chapel.
Once back on the route, follow the path to reach a bench where a path joins from the left.
During the Iron Age, the headland was protected with ramparts to create a promontory fort. The ditch and a small part of one of the ramparts can still be seen. In a hollow beyond the ramparts, there are traces of what might be houses. Although at the time of writing the site has not been excavated, this would be consistent with excavations of other cliff castles which have often revealed remains of round houses and other buildings within the ramparts.
Wild thyme grows alongside the path in the open, grazed area.
Wild thyme grows along the coast and flowers from June to September with tiny pink flowers. During mediaeval times, the plant was a symbol of bravery, possibly due to derivation from the Greek word thumos, meaning anger or spiritedness. An embroidered motif of a bee on a sprig of thyme is said to have been given by mediaeval ladies to their favoured knight.
Coastal land management including removal of excess gorse and grazing to keep taller plants in trim has allowed wild thyme to become more widespread as well as the Cornish chough. Wild thyme is a nectar source for many bees and butterflies and the food plant for young caterpillars of the large blue butterfly.
The end of the headland is grazed by moorland ponies.
Dartmoor ponies, bred for hauling goods, have been recorded living on the wild and inhospitable moors since the Middle Ages. They are unsurprisingly a very hardy breed and have a lifespan of around 25 years. Over the 20th Century, their numbers declined from just over 25,000 in the 1930s to about 5,000 by the start of the 21st century when only around 800 ponies were known to be grazing the moor. Dartmoor ponies have recently found a new niche as conservation grazers. As well as on moorland, they are used by the Wildlife Trusts to graze the coast to prevent bracken and gorse taking hold.
17 acres of woodland and grassland on Penlee Point are now a nature reserve, managed by the Cornwall Wildlife Trust. Britain's first Green Darner dragonfly was found here in 1998.
The Coronation was a 90 gun man-of-war ship built towards the end of the Stuart period. In 1691, she was sheltering from a gale behind Rame Head and it is thought that her anchor cables broke. She capsized and was driven aground and only around 20 of her 500 crew survived. The wreck lay undiscovered until 1967 when a large number of cannons were found scattered over the seabed close to the shore. However, after careful surveying, only 50 cannons were accounted for. It was not until 10 years later after a systematic search that another area of wreckage was discovered further offshore. As well as 15 more cannons, a pewter plate was discovered which was inscribed with the coat of arms of the ship's captain, confirming the suspected identity of the wreck. The split wreck site is still a mystery, as are the missing cannons. It's possible that the hull may have broken in half where she was anchored and the smaller bow section sank close to the anchor site whilst the remainder washed ashore. There is a protection order limiting access to the wreck and new finds are still being made.
A gun battery was constructed on Penlee Point in the late 1880s and used throughout both World Wars. It was initially armed with two 6 inch guns and a massive 13.5 inch gun which weighed 67 tons and took eighty horses two weeks to haul it up a specially constructed flight of steps. On its first firing, the recoil from the gun split its concrete bed. The battery was decommissioned in the 1950s and the buildings associated with it were demolished but there are still enough remains to appreciate the scale of the defences.
The stone structure that the path leads to at the bottom of the steps is known as Queen Adelaide's Chapel or Grotto. The three-chambered Gothic grotto, entered via a tunnel, was built in 1827 to commemorate a visit from Prince William (before he became King William IV in 1830) and his wife Princess Adelaide. When they married in 1818, Adelaide was nearly half his age and William was deeply in debt with nine illegitimate children. Nevertheless the marriage was a happy one and Adelaide enthusiastically adopted the children and quickly sorted out the Prince's finances.
In the English Channel, nine miles to the south of Rame Head, is an extensive reef just breaking the surface, known as the Eddystone Rocks.
The Eddystone Rocks, known locally as the "stone", were a major hazard for shipping along the South Cornish coast, particularly when headed for Plymouth. As well as wrecks on the reef itself, many wrecks occurred because mariners, fearing the Eddystone Rocks, steered wide to hug the French coast and then hit reefs off France or the Channel Islands. Before the first lighthouse was built here in 1698, over 50 ships a year were wrecked on the reef, with most lives lost. After only 5 years, the lighthouse was washed away together with 5 men including its designer in the great storm of 1703. The second lighthouse, also built from timber, lasted nearly 50 years but burnt down when a spark from the candle ignited the lantern. The three lighthouse keepers were rescued from the rock but one, aged 94, later died of lead poisoning from ingesting molten lead from the lantern roof when attempting to fight the fire.
After the Eddystone Lighthouse burnt down, the engineer John Smeaton designed its replacement - this time in stone - consisting of granite blocks held together with a quick-drying lime mortar of his own invention and modelled on the shape of an oak tree. The lighthouse took 3 years to build and was finally lit in 1759. The design was so effective that the lighthouse outlasted the rock on which is was built, and became the standard method of construction for lighthouses worldwide. After 127 years, the rock began to crack from the action of the waves and the lighthouse would sway when hit by large waves. After a new lighthouse was constructed on a different rock, the people of Plymouth raised money to have Smeaton's lighthouse dismantled and reassembled on the Hoe, where it still stands today. However the lighthouse base was so sturdy that it could not be dismantled and still stands on Eddystone Reef next to the new lighthouse.
The current Eddystone lighthouse was designed by Trinity House civil engineer James Douglass, using the design principles that John Smeaton had pioneered on the previous lighthouse. The granite was quarried from the De Lank quarries on Bodmin Moor, transported down the railway which is now the Camel Trail, and carved in Wadebridge, along the road that became known as Eddystone Road. As each layer was completed, it was checked for its fit with the layer above and then sent out to the Eddystone rocks by sea. Douglass designed a special ship, called the "Hercules", to transport and lift the three ton blocks of granite into position. The lighthouse was completed in 1882 and is 95ft tall.
In 2003, a Royal Navy training vessel from Dartmouth hit the Eddystone Rock, resulting in one man being injured. The cause was reported as GPS error, and whilst the presence of trees or tall buildings can reduce the precision of a GPS signal, it's unlikely that in the open ocean this would have been much of a problem. It was also pointed out that, given it was a calm day with good visibility, the 100ft high granite tower visible 12 miles away should have also provided an indication of the vessel's position.
From the village square, the way to the beach is along "The Bound" past the gig racing club.
Cawsand Bay faces east into Plymouth Sound, away from the prevailing winds and so is quite sheltered with little surf. This makes it a popular place to launch boats and kayaks. The surface of the beach is mostly coarse sand with a light scattering of shingle.
The six-oared elm boats known as Pilot Gigs were general-purpose work boats, but one of their uses was to transport the pilot to and from a ship, which resulted in the name. The first boat to meet a ship gained the business of transporting the captain (and thus being paid) and thus a "race" came into being, with different boats competing for business. Today, Gig Racing is of a recreational nature, but the boats are still built to the exact well-documented specification of the originals. Elm wood is highly resistant to water, so much so, that town water mains were made of elm before the widespread availability of iron.
Until 1844, the border between Celtic Cornwall and Saxon Devon lay between Cawsand and Kingsand, defined by a small stream. On Garrett Street, just before you reach the Halfway House Inn, there is a house with a marker indicating where the border used to be.
From the gun emplacement with the two cannons on the bend in the road, there is a good view across Plymouth Sound to the breakwater.
Constructed in 1812, the stone breakwater stretches for very close to a mile across the centre of Plymouth Sound and was described by Napoleon as "a grand thing" as he passed it on his way to exile on St Helena in 1815. The sea wall is constructed from granite quarried from the Luxulyan Valley near St Austell and is infilled with limestone from the Plymouth area. In total, nearly four million tonnes of rock were used in its construction. The lighthouse was added in 1844, and the fort during the 1860s when France was expanding its navy and the resulting nervousness lead to intensification of defences around major British sea ports.
The fort overlooking Cawsand was built in the 1860s on the site of a gun battery from 1779, covering the western entrance to Plymouth Sound. At the time, the expanding French Navy prompted a Royal Commission instigated by Lord Palmerston to improve Britain's coastal defences in case France attempted an invasion. However, by the time the forts were complete it had become clear that France had no intention of invading and the forts became known as Palmerston's Follies. The site was released by the Ministry of Defence after the First World War and was derelict for a number of decades until it was eventually converted into residential accommodation.
Due to their proximity to Plymouth, Cawsand and Kingsand were the centre for the largest smuggling trade in Cornwall which lasted from Tudor times until the 19th Century. The huge navy presence in Plymouth made it too dangerous for smugglers to land goods directly in the port, but ironically the sailors from those vessels provided the largest market known for smuggled spirits. In the 18th and 19th Centuries, it was estimated that 17,000 casks of brandy were being smuggled into Cawsand Bay each year by a fleet of over 50 smuggling vessels.
An account from the end of the 19th Century describes how smuggled goods were transported into Plymouth:
We descended a very steep hill, amidst the most fetid and disagreeable odour of stinking pilchards and train oil, into the town...we met several females, whose appearance was so grotesque and extraordinary, that I could not imagine in what manner they had contrived to alter their natural shapes so completely; till, upon enquiry, we found that they were smugglers of spiritous liquors; which they were at that time conveying from cutters at Plymouth, by means of bladders fastened under their petticoats; and, indeed, they were so heavily laden, that it was with great apparent difficulty that they waddled along.
The main hazard on the journey to Plymouth was apparently not from customs officials but from drunken sailors puncturing the bladders.
It's tempting to think that with modern technology such as GPS, shipwrecks on the Cornish Coast are a thing of the past. An incident in Cawsand Bay in 2002 showed, even with modern technology, how vulnerable ships still are to bad weather.
In December 2002, the tanker "Willy" had unloaded its cargo of oil in Plymouth and was anchored in Cawsand Bay awaiting further orders. A strong southeasterly wind blew up on New Year's Day; the ship's anchor cable was too short for the conditions and the anchor began to drag. The crew had set a "guard zone" on their GPS but this was relatively wide so when the alarm triggered, the ship was already half-way towards the shore. By the time the main engine was started, there was insufficient time to manoeuvre the ship out of danger and it ran aground. Rescue was impeded by the danger of explosive gas within the empty oil tanks, so the crew were evacuated using cliff lines. The ship was vented over the next three days before being re-floated and taken to a dry dock in Falmouth. The hull was found to be extensively damaged and the ship was declared a total loss.
Wringford dates from the mediaeval period and the first record of the name is from 1324. The name of the farm is thought to be based on a Cheesewring - the stack of weights used in mediaeval times for making cheese. A similar arrangement for squeezing the juice from apple pulp to make cider was known by the same name.
During the Second World War, about 28,000 concrete fortifications were built across England and around 6,500 of these still survive. The hexagonal blockhouses known as "pillboxes" are assumed by many to have been named after similarly-shaped containers for medical pills. However, commentary on early models during the First World War suggests the origin of the name is actually from "pillar box", based on the slots for machine guns resembling a postbox.
The tall trees provide perches for crows to survey the landscape.
In the 3rd Century BC, the Romans named their ill-fated gangplank for boarding other ships "corvus" (Latin for crow) because its end contained a large metal spike which was thought to resemble a crow's beak. The end of the gangplank was dropped from a height onto the captured ship and the spike acted as a nail, attaching the gangplank to the deck of the ship being boarded. The design was short-lived because the 36ft gangplank sticking up from the front mast of the ship did nothing for its stability and consequently resulted in almost two entire fleets being lost in rough seas.
Wiggle farm dates from the 18th century but the settlement of Wiggle is mediaeval, first recorded in 1324. Given the historical period, it is thought that the quirky name might be a corruption of a Cornish place name but the original words and meaning have been lost.
The SS James Eagan Layne was a US cargo ship built during World War 2 and named after an engineer who was killed when his ship was torpedoed by a German U-Boat. Ironically the ship named after him was itself torpedoed on a voyage to carry US Army Engineers' equipment from Wales to Belgium. Although badly damaged, the ship remained afloat and was run aground at Whitsand Bay where it sank after the crew had safely departed. Much of the cargo and some of the ship itself was salvaged. The remainder lies in relatively shallow water, making it a popular wreck dive.
The name Kingsand was first used in the mid-16th Century when it was part of Devon and this is reflected in the English rather than Cornish name. The name denotes that the shoreline belonged to the King of England. Also dating from the 16th Century are the remains of the pilchard cellars on the shoreline just beyond Kingsand.
The exposed area of red rock beside Kingsand is the result of a volcanic lava flow around 290 million years ago which formed rocks known as rhyolites. When sea levels were higher, a wave-cut platform was created which was exposed when sea levels fell. This is the largest continuous piece of exposed rhyolite in the UK. The red rock has been used to construct a number of the buildings in Kingsand.
Blackthorn is a spiny type of plum which is more broadly a member of the rose family. It is native to the UK and common on old farmland where blackthorn trees were planted as hedges to keep out cattle. It is still common in Cornish hedgerows today and also common on the coast as it's tolerant to salt.
Given the right conditions, a blackthorn tree can live 100 years and grow to about 20ft in height. In harsher environments such as by the coast the bushes may be as little as 2ft tall.
The name "blackthorn" is just a general reference to the dark colour of the bark, rather than anything specific to do with the thorns which are not any darker than the rest of the wood. It's primarily a comparison with hawthorn where the bark is lighter (in fact hawthorn is also known as "white thorn" despite not having white thorns). Just to confuse things further, the flowers of blackthorn are whiter than hawthorn!
In mediaeval times, blackthorn was associated with evil. This may also tie in with the English word "strife" which has Celtic origins. Straif was the name of a letter used in Celtic Ogham script and was originally the word for "sulphur". Some of the other letters in the script corresponded to tree names. In late mediaeval times, a retrospective assignment of trees to the letters in the alphabet used for Ogham that weren't already tree names became popular (sometimes known as the "tree alphabet") and blackthorn was chosen for Straif.
The expression "Blackthorn Winter" is a rural expression for a final cold snap in late March or early April when the blackthorn is in flower. It was generally used in the context of not getting too carried away (e.g. planting crops) if there was a warm week in early March as more frosts may still be yet to come.
Blackthorn wood is very tough and hard-wearing. In order to form its thorns, the tree allows the tips of the tiny stems that make up the thorns to die. The dead wood in the thorn tip is harder and therefore sharper than the living wood.
Blackthorn stems are often covered in fungi or bacteria and if a thorn punctures skin, these can sometimes cause infection. Any splinters left in the skin can also disintegrate over time and result in an immune response. If a puncture wound becomes infected, it's a good idea to get it checked-out in a minor injuries unit in case antibacterial or anti-fungal treatment is needed to prevent it escalating.
Due to blackthorn wood's toughness, it was used to make tool handles, walking sticks and as a traditional Celtic weapon for clubbing people to death! It is still regarded as the ultimate wood for making walking sticks. Once cut and trimmed, the wood needs to be dried for at least a year (often several) which allows moisture to escape and the wood to shrink and harden.
A cordial can be made from blackthorn blossom by dissolving 100g of sugar in 1 litre of warm water mixing one large handful of blossom, scaled up to produce the quantity you require.
The fulmar is a grey and white bird related to an Albatross although it can be mistaken at a distance for a gull. Close up, the beak is the giveaway: the fulmar has a tube on its beak which is visible as a black bar across the beak at a distance. The tube is a gland for excreting salt from the seawater that they drink. As a defence mechanism, the fulmar regurgitates foul smelling oil from its stomach - the name comes from the Old Norse for "foul" (full) and "gull" (mar). The oil disrupts the waterproofing of predatory birds' feathers in a similar way to a crude-oil spill, so they avoid preying on fulmars.
Gannets are the largest sea birds in the North Atlantic with a wingspan of up to 2 metres and are easily recognisable by their long white wings with black tips. Gannets can dive from up to 30 metres, achieving speeds of up to 100kph as they strike the water, enabling them to catch fish much deeper than most seabirds. To achieve this they have air sacs in their face and chest, which act as cushioning when they hit the water. Also they have no external nostrils, instead they are situated inside the mouth.
During hot weather, weever fish migrate to Britain from the Mediterranean. They bury themselves in the sand where they are camouflaged, and ambush small fish in shallow water. To protect against predators, they have spines that inject a nerve toxin; if trodden on, this can be very painful. It's therefore a good idea either to wear some form of footwear in the sea or to shuffle your feet through the sand which is more likely to scare away any fish. If you are unlucky enough to tread on a weever, get your foot into hot water as soon as possible as this denatures the venom. Most lifeguards have a kettle on standby (and although its primary purpose might be cups of tea rather than weever stings, they will forego a cuppa in the interests of pain relief).
Ocean sunfish can sometimes be seen on hot summer days basking on the surface, with their fin flapping out of the water as they lie on their side sunbathing. They are extremely weird-looking fish, resembling a large round dinner plate with no real tail, just two large fins at the top and bottom and two smaller ones on the sides (doing the flapping). The average weight of a full grown adult sunfish is a tonne - the largest known bony fish, which is particularly impressive on a diet principally of jellyfish.
The buzzard family is quite closely related to hawks and consists of a number of different species which occupy different habitat niches (e.g. colder countries further north). The buzzard species we see in the UK is the common buzzard. This is one of the largest birds of prey in Britain with a wingspan of over 4 feet.
The name buzzard is from mediaeval English buisart which itself came from the Old French word buson. It is based on the Latin word for hawk or falcon buteo hence its scientific name is Buteo buteo.
Buzzards are not quiet birds! Their long, loud "pieeuuu" call can be often be the first thing to give away their presence and is one of the easiest bird calls to remember. It is thought that the original Latin word for buzzard was probably an onomatopoeia (i.e. an imitation of the bird's call) within the constraints of what was deemed an acceptable Latin word (suggesting "pieeuuu" would probably have resulted in being fed to the lions!).
Buzzards were once thought to be a threat to game birds and were actively shot. During the 1950s-60s, the combination of myxomatosis nearly wiping out one of their main food sources and use of pesticides such as DDT caused further decline in the buzzard population. Since then the population has gradually recovered and buzzards are now the commonest and most widespread bird of prey in the UK.
A large proportion of buzzards diet is earthworms and carrion and consequently they have a reputation for being lazy and scavengers. However, when they need to be, buzzards are formidable predators. Diving on rabbits and small mammals from a slow or hovering flight, or from a perch, they nearly always make the kill on the ground.
In a natural habitat, buzzards perch at the top of trees to survey the surrounding fields. Their brown-and-white pattern camouflages them quite well so it's quite common for walkers to inadvertently disturb what turns out to be a huge flapping monster just feet away. Telegraph poles provide a perfect alternative to trees without any cluttering branches so buzzards can often be seen perched on the top, unfazed by cars passing beneath.
Buzzards breed once they reach 2-3 years old. During their breeding season in spring, male buzzards create spectacular aerial displays to impress females by soaring high into the air and dropping suddenly towards the ground. The birds then pair for life.
A pair of buzzards have a territory which includes a number of possible nesting sites which can be as many as 20. They move nesting site each year which prevents a buildup of nest parasites such as bird fleas. The new nest is decorated with fresh green foliage.
The word "battery" was originally used for coordinated artillery (from old French meaning "to beat"). Later this became used more widely for any group of similar things (e.g. a battery of tests). This general use was applied to a series of electrochemical cells and so something for dealing with pirate ships has ended up in smartphones.
In the 18th Century, a track for a horse and carriage was constructed from Mount Edgcumbe House around the coast to Maker Church. This was completed by 1788 and known originally as "The Terrace". In the 19th Century it was extended to Kingsand and Cawsand and by 1823 it reached to Penlee Point. It became known as the Earl's Drive.
Foxgloves have a life cycle which spans two years. The seeds germinate in spring and during their first year they produce a "rosette" of large, velvety green leaves with toothed edges. These are particularly noticeable from October onwards once other vegetation has died back. The leafy foxglove plants remain dormant throughout the winter, ready for a quick start in the spring.
In spring, whilst foxgloves seeds are germinating, the established foxglove plants from the previous year start producing their characteristic flower spike. Once these have been fertilised and the seeds have been produced then the plant dies. One foxglove plant can produce over 2 million seeds.
Foxgloves are reliant on bumblebees for pollination and bumblebees are much more active when the weather is good. Partly, as an insurance policy against bad weather, foxgloves have evolved to stagger their flowering over several weeks, starting with the flowers at the base of the stalk and working up to the top, where the higher flowers protrude over other vegetation that has grown up in that time.
The male and female parts of a foxglove flower mature at different times to help avoid self-fertilisation. This also ties in with the flowers maturing at the bottom of the spike first as pollinators often start at the lowest flower and then work upwards. They land on the mature female flowers first with a cargo of pollen from another plant, and then leave via the mature male flowers with a new load of pollen.
Although nearly all foxgloves are purple, a fairly rare white form does occur and an even more rare pink form sometimes occurs along with this.
As well as attracting insects, the brightly coloured foxglove flowers serve as a warning for animals that the plants contain toxins. All parts of the plant can cause a range of ill-effects in humans from nausea to heart and kidney problems which can be fatal.
The common name "foxglove" dates back many hundreds of years but the origin is unknown. The "gloves" almost certainly refers to the shape of the flowers, and the Latin name Digitalis (finger-like) is along similar lines. The curious part is the "fox" and many different suggestions have been made as to where it came from. It is possible that it is a corruption of another word. One suggestion is "folks" which was once used to mean "fairies".
Bracken is a type of fern. Perhaps the easiest way to spot mature bracken plants is by their sturdy stem which acts a bit like the trunk of a tree with leaves going out horizontally from this. Other ferns leaves tend to grow directly out of the ground. Earlier in the year, bracken is recognisable by the fronds emerging from the ground singly rather than grouped in tufts.
Although the fronds of bracken die back each year, the black underground roots are perennial and spread extensively, sending up fronds at intervals. The root system of one bracken plant can stretch up to a quarter of a mile across making bracken one of the largest plants in the world.
Fossil records indicate that bracken dates back at least 55 million years. By 24 million years ago it had a worldwide distribution and it is now thought to be the most common plant in the world.
Bracken is both poisonous and carcinogenic to many grazing animals which will avoid it if at all possible. Eating bracken is not recommended as it is thought that the carcinogenic properties may also apply to humans based on the circumstantial evidence that Japan, where young bracken fronds are a delicacy, has the highest levels of stomach cancer in the world.
Bracken releases toxins into the soil which inhibit the growth of other plants, and the shade created by its large leaves and its thick leaf litter also makes it hard for other plants to compete. This and avoidance by grazing animals makes it quite difficult to control, particularly in steep areas where mechanised cutting or ploughing is difficult. Treading by livestock can reduce bracken's competitive advantage, particularly during winter when frost can attack the roots.
In woodland, the Victorians used a horse-drawn roller to control bracken. The hollow roller was made from a frame of iron bars which crush bracken stems but allow springy tree saplings to ping back. This horse-drawn method still survives in Cornwall and is sometimes hired by the National Trust for their woodlands.
Bracken has been used as a fuel for centuries but is of interest as a modern biofuel due to its very high calorific value. Normal firewood produces around 15-19 gigajoules of heat per tonne of material (depending on moisture content - drier is more efficient hence kiln-dried logs). Elephant grass can produce around 18 GJ/t and bracken can deliver 21 GJ/t. At least one company has piloted creating compressed fuel briquettes from bracken in a similar way to elephant grass.
The term "thistle" is not biologically precise and covers quite a broad range of different plant species from the daisy family. The common thistle (also known as bull thistle or spear thistle) is appropriately the commonest in the UK. The flowers open as a green spiny ball with a purple tuft (often depicted within Scottish emblems). The creeping thistle is also common in agricultural fields and has lighter pink flowers.
Whereas many plants rely mainly on bitter chemicals to avoid being eaten by herbivores, thistles have gone one step further and evolved spikes. Grazing livestock will understandably avoid them which allows them to accumulate in pastureland and become a nuisance. One thistle plant produces thousands of seeds dispersed by the wind which can remain viable in the soil for up to 10 years.
One of the reasons that thistles go to all the effort to defend themselves is that they are rich in nutrients. The non-spiky areas of thistle plants such as the stem and leaf ribs have even been used as a food by humans. The ribs from the middle of the leaves are still harvested and sold in markets in some parts of the world. Preparation needs extreme care as the spines are very harmful if ingested so thistles are definitely not recommended for foraging!
Thistle flowers are rich in nectar and provide an important food source for bees and butterflies. The common thistle was ranked in the top 10 nectar producing plants in two different UK plant surveys. The seeds also provide an important food source for small birds such as goldfinches. The plants themselves are eaten by the caterpillars of the Painted Lady butterfly.
The thistle is oldest recorded National Flower. The association with Scotland dates back to the 13th century. The origin is said to be from when barefooted Vikings attempted to creep up on a party of sleeping Scottish warriors, only to indicate their presence in a stream of Nordic expletives!
In August and September, thistles produce their seeds attached to white fluffy plumes, known as thistledown which disperse in the wind like dandelion seeds. Wet weather makes their parachutes collapse so the dispersal success varies a lot with the weather. Around 90% of seeds fall within a metre of the plant so thistles are often found growing in patches. The remaining 10% disperse more widely and can travel as far as 30 metres even in light wind.
Thistle seeds are a favourite food of goldfinches and the down is used by birds as an insulating lining for their nests.
Ferns evolved a long time before flowering plants and dominated the planet during the Carboniferous period. The bark from tree ferns during this period is thought to have been the main source of the planet's coal reserves.
Fern fronds form in a coil (known as a crozier or fiddlehead) with the delicate tip protected in the centre. As the outer parts begin to photosynthesise, the sugars they produce cause more water to be drawn into the leaf, causing it to expand and gradually unfurl.
Ferns produce 2 different types of leaf (although they often look quite similar). The normal leaves are used for photosynthesis of sugars just like in other plants. Ferns also produce a special kind of spore-bearing leaf which can often be identified from the dots on the underside. In hart's tongue ferns, these are really obvious.
Ferns produce neither flowers nor seeds and rely on the tiny spores for their reproduction which are most commonly distributed by the wind. This allows them to colonise some quite random places such as rocky ledges that heavier seeds might not reach. Since the spores come from just one parent fern, the offspring is a genetic clone.
The spore from a fern doesn't grow into a fern. Instead it grows into an organism resembling a liverwort (i.e. a small green blob). Instead of producing spores, these produce eggs and also sperm which they interchange with neighbouring blobs to get a new mix of genes. The fertilised egg grows into a new fern and so this alternating process of ferns and blobs repeats.
Rosebay willowherb is a tall plant with a spike of pink flowers in late summer which can often be seen beside paths and tracks. Their long leaves have a distinctive thin, white vein along the centre.
The name "rosebay" dates from at least Tudor times and is thought to be based on loose resemblances of the leaves to bay leaves and the flowers to wild roses. The overall family are also known as "willowherbs" due to the resemblance of the leaves to willow leaves. The two names have since been brought together resulting in the slightly confusing duplicate description of the leaf shape.
Rosebay willowherb is known as fireweed in USA as it's found on burnt sites after forest fires. For similar reasons it was known as London's Ruin after the Great Fire. In the Second World War it was also known as bombweed due to its rapid colonisation of bomb craters.
It is a pioneer species which is good at colonising disturbed ground as its seeds travel long distances in the wind and remain viable in the soil for many years. It was considered a rare species in Britain in the 18th century but spread along the corridors cleared for railways in Victorian times.
If you come across a gorse bush covered in red threads, this is dodder - a parasitic plant. The red colour is because the dodder contains no chlorophyll. Instead of manufacturing its own food by photosynthesis, it pierces another plant (often gorse) and siphons nutrients from this. Its leaves have shrunk to tiny proportions for the same reason - they aren't needed to catch any sunlight.
Once a dodder seed sprouts, the dodder seedling only has 5-10 days of energy reserves to reach a host plant before it dies. It uses chemo-sensors (equivalent to taste and smell) to locate and home in on a green plant.
The name comes directly from mediaeval English and is thought to be unrelated to the verb "to dodder". It also has a range of folk names - some refer to the colour (e.g. fireweed and devil's guts), some refer to its parasitic nature (strangleweed and beggarweed) and others refer to its structure (wizard's net and witch's hair).
Large daisy-like flowers on the coast are likely to be oxeye daisies, also known as the dog daisy or moon daisy - the latter is said to be because they are so bright that they appear to glow in the evening. The flowers of oxeye daisies are edible and can be used in salads or deserts. The flower buds can also be pickled in vinegar and spices and used like capers.
Common knapweed (also known as black knapweed) is most easily recognised by its bright purple thistle-like flowers but without spiky leaves. It's actually a member of the daisy family and is often seen along paths and roadside verges. Other names for the plant include "hardhead" (used in Cornwall in Victorian times) and "loggerhead" due to the sturdy flower heads. "knap" is from the Middle English word for "knob" and consequently another name for the plant is "knobweed".
It is an important plant for pollinating insects and was rated in the top 5 for most nectar production in a UK plants survey. In terms of plants that produce both nectar and pollen, it is rated as the top producer overall, producing a good amount of each.
Due to the steep slopes in the Rame area, the land was ploughed with horse-drawn ploughs with just a single furrow that could be reversed. The models of plough used were presumably named from a slightly bawdy folk interpretation of the word "ploughing" as they included "Cock Up" and "Climax".
There are two very similar looking members of the daisy family that are both known as "chamomile". English chamomile (also known as Roman chamomile) has hairy stems and is the one used for chamomile tea. German chamomile has smooth stems and higher levels of essential oils so this one is used for chamomile-scented pharmaceuticals (shampoos etc). Pineapple weed is related and is sometimes known as "false chamomile" or more confusingly as "wild chamomile" (even though it isn't chamomile and normal chamomile is also wild!).
English chamomile was once common in Britain but it has declined (due to land clearance and changes to farming practices) to now being classified as Vulnerable. The Southwest is now one if its last strongholds.
Rame Head is part of a small Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty known as the "Rame Head Heritage Coast" that also includes Cawsand Bay and the Mount Edgcumbe Country Park.
There are 33 designated National Landscape regions in England many of which were created at the same time as the National Parks. In fact the AONB status is very similar to that of National Parks.
A single Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) was established in 1959 and is itself subdivided into 12 sections. 11 of these are stretches of the coastline and the 12th is Bodmin Moor. In 2023, the AONBs in England and Wales were renamed National Landscapes to better reflect the similarity in their status to National Parks.
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