The paved areas on Davidstow Moor that the road runs alongside and form an intriguing pattern on satellite maps are the remains of RAF Davidstow Moor, and the main control tower is still clearly visible. Constructed during World War 2, RAF Davidstow Moor was used as an airbase from late 1942 until December 1945. The air base was used mainly by the Americans and Canadians for training in the run up to D-Day and were visited by General Eisenhower during 1944. However, the frequent moorland mist rendered the base unusable for much of the time which is why it was closed after the war.
After the airfield closed, it became a motor racing circuit, known as Davidstow Circuit. In the early 1950s, three Formula One races were held there (the "Cornwall MRC Formula 1 Races"), including the first success for the Lotus marque.
Today, part of the airfield is still used by the Davidstow Flying Club (on the less misty days), and the Davidstow Airfield and Cornwall At War Museum has been set up to commemorate the work and people of RAF Davidstow Moor.
The smaller of the two teaching buildings was used for training bomber pilots. The building is fairly tall as the upper floor contained a projector which displayed moving aerial images on the white painted floor of the lower floor. The flight simulator included navigation equipment, bomb sights and rudders which controlled the projector. A throttle control altered the simulated airspeed and the simulation even included wind drift and turbulence. Once the bomb release switch was pressed, the equipment could calculate the accuracy of the mission. All this was achieved entirely mechanically without any form of digital computer.
The larger of the two training buildings was for air gunners. In the centre of the room, the trainee sat in a gun turret and a simulation of attacking aircraft was projected onto the walls and ceiling with a surround-sound system providing engine noise and gunfire sound effects. When the gunner fired, a powerful light representing the burst of bullets was displayed on the target and an instructor would assess this.
Some mosses are able to absorb 20-30 times their own weight in liquid. Moss was used in several ancient cultures as nappies: babies were carried in a moss-lined bag to prevent leaks. Moss has also traditionally been used to line hanging baskets which are very prone to drying-out. Areas of moss help to protect soil from erosion by runoff and rivers from sediment and flooding by capturing rainfall and giving it chance to soak slowly into the soil.
The house at Treworra has 17th Century features including mullioned windows but the settlement itself dates from mediaeval times. If was first documented in 1302 and is thought to date from the Dark Ages.
If the paths here are getting badly overgrown, let the Cornwall Council Countryside Team know so they can arrange cutting.
To report an overgrown path, on the directions screen in the app tap on the ☰ menu next to the direction number for the problematic path (or tap on the direction number on the map screen to get the ☰ menu) and select Report Footpath Issue. The app will use the direction number to work out the parish and path number at that location and then create an email to Cornwall Council’s Countryside Team so they can contact the relevant Parish Council. If possible, take photos and attach them to the email as that will help the countryside team to see how bad it is and prioritise it.
Footpaths in Cornwall are graded "gold", "silver" and "bronze" (bronze paths are normally dead-ends that don't link up with other paths).
For parishes that take part in the Local Maintenance Partnership, gold paths are normally cut routinely once or twice each year. Routine cuts on gold paths are typically done in May/June, and any second cuts are usually in July - September.
Paths graded as silver are cut at the discretion of the Parish, so these in particular need to be reported to the Parish Council (via the Countryside Access Team - countryside@cormacltd.co.uk - who have the contact details for each parish council) if they start to become overgrown. Also gold paths which happen to be in parishes who don't participate in the scheme are less likely to get a routine cut, but the Countryside Team can cut these themselves if they get badly overgrown.
Beechwood ageing is used in the production of Budweiser beer but beech is not the source of flavour. In fact beechwood has a fairly neutral flavour and in the brewing process it is pretreated with baking soda to remove even this. The relatively inert strips of wood are then added to the fermentation vessel where they increase the surface area available for yeast. It is the contact with yeast that produces the flavour in the beer, not the beech itself.
Despite their native habitat being woodland, wood pigeons are able to thrive wherever there is food. They have fared better than most birds with intensively-farmed crops and are particularly fond of oil seed rape. They are able to hoover up food quickly (up to 100 pecks per minute) and stuff large amounts into their crop (e.g. around 150 acorns!). They then digest this overnight.
The small stream is one of a few that drain from the marshes of Davidstow Moor. On this side of the road that runs alongside the airfield, the streams drain into the River Inny. On the other side of the road from the airfield, the catchment area of the River Camel begins.
The second part of the Latin name of red campion - dioica ("two houses") - refers to the plants' gender. Some plants are male and others are female. The male plants' flowers can be recognised from five yellow stamens sticking out from a protruding ring in the centre of the petals. The female plants' flowers have no protruding ring and instead have 5 curly white stigmas. These produce a white froth to trap pollen.
The first record of the settlement of Trewassa is from 1284. The "tre" implies it is a farmstead dating from early mediaeval times (before the Norman Conquest). The rest is thought to be based on the name of the person who lived there, along the lines of "Wassa's farm".
The "herringbone" style of walling built with tightly packed alternating diagonal slate courses, is unique to Cornwall's heritage.
It is known locally as "Curzy Way" or "Kersey Wave", based on the Cornish word kersy which means "reeds", perhaps referring to a square weave pattern. It is also sometimes known as "Jack and Jill" which is likely to be based on the falling down part of the nursery rhyme.
The hawthorn tree is most often found in hedgerows where it was used to create a barrier for livestock, and in fact haw was the Old English word for "hedge".
The marshy fields here provide a good habitat for insects with aquatic lifecycles such as dragonflies.
Dragonflies were some of the first winged insects to evolve, around 300 million years ago in the "age of amphibians" before the dinosaurs. Fossils of early dragonflies have been found with wingspans of up to two feet across.
During Victorian times and earlier, small amounts of land in Cornwall were measured by the goad - a unit of nine feet in length, derived from the name of the staff used to drive oxen.
An English acre was less generous (at 43,560 square feet) than a Cornish acre (51,840 square feet). Although both were defined as 160 smaller land units, the English equivalent to the Cornish goad was a perch but this was 5.5 yards (16.5 ft) rather than the two-goad length used in Cornwall of 6 yards (18 ft). It is thought that the reason the perch ended up as a non-round number of feet is that it was originally measured from 20 averaged-sized human feet in Saxon times when nutrition wasn't great.
Meat sold as lamb comes from sheep of around 1 year of age. Mutton is from a sheep typically of around 2-3 years of age and is much darker red in colour. Due to more muscle and fat, the flavour of mutton is stronger and the meat is tougher so it typically slow-cooked.
The small stream is technically the River Inny, although only about a quarter of a mile downstream of its source.
The River Inny is a tributary of the Tamar and is approximately 20 miles long, supporting populations of trout, salmon and sea trout as well as otters and kingfishers. The name of the river was recorded in the 1600s as Heanye and may be from the Cornish word enys - for island. Penpont Water is its main tributary and has a status of Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Area of Great Scientific Value and Area of Great Historical Value. The source of the Inny is very close to the Davidstow Cheese factory, from a spring in the field opposite Pendragon House.
The route between Launceston and Truro on the A30, A395 (through Davidstow), A39 (through Camelford and Wadebridge) and A30 again (through St Columb and Mitchell) is the remains of a mediaeval cart track known as the Royal Cornish Way. It entered Cornwall via Polston Bridge which is thought to have been built soon after the Norman conquerors had built a castle at Launceston.
Despite its grand title, the Royal Cornish Way was a notoriously bad road not only for its still-famous potholes but in some places no road surface at all (just mud). Provided the sea was calm, it was generally thought preferable to transport cargo by boat.
The name "Davidstow" (Cornish: Lanndhewi) means "David's Church". The Church is said to have been founded by St. David in the 6th century during a visit to his mother (St. Non or Nonna) in nearby Altarnun. St. Non left her native Wales in about AD 527, one of many Celtic missionaries who came to Cornwall about that time.
The church dates from the 13th century. A major restoration was carried out in 15th century; the nave, aisles and tower date from that time. Another major restoration was carried out in 19th century after almost 200 years of dilapidation of the church.
Charlotte Dymond's grave is located in the churchyard. Her murder in 1844 became perhaps the most infamous historical occurrence on Bodmin Moor. Her lover Matthew Weeks was hung for her murder, but the evidence was sketchy and circumstantial, and many believed the true identity of her killer was never revealed.
An optional diversion can be made from here to visit Davidstow Holy Well: after going through the churchyard gates, turn left and follow the signed path for about 100 metres. Return by the same route to continue the walk.
Davidstow Holy Well lies in a field behind the church and is reached by a permissive footpath. As with the parish church, the Holy Well is dedicated to St David - patron saint of Wales. The well has been restored twice, once in 1871 and once in 1996. The original granite structure is thought to date from the early Mediaeval period. Water from the holy well is pumped away to Davidstow Creamery where it is used to make the "Davidstow" and "Cathedral City" brands of cheese.
"Holy wells" were created because the Christian church was unhappy with the people continuing their old Pagan ways and worshipping sacred springs. In the 10th Century, the church issued a cannon (law) to outlaw such practices. This didn't work, so they issued another one in the 11th Century, and again in the 12th Century. Even despite the church going to the lengths of building a chapel over the top of some springs to obliterate them, the people still hung onto their sacred springs. The church finally settled on a compromise and rebranded the springs as (Christian) Holy Wells, so the old practices could continue behind a Christian façade.
Horses were first domesticated around 6,000 years ago on the plains north of the Black Sea between Ukraine and Kazakhstan. Genetic studies have revealed that there were several independent domestication events from different herds of wild horses and then the domesticated horses were widely interbred.
Horses are related to tapirs and rhinoceroses. Unlike cows and sheep which have an area before their stomach (rumen) to process cellulose, horses and rhinos have a large pouch at the start of their large intestine where bacteria break down cellulose into digestible sugars.
Moles are solitary except when breeding so a network of tunnels is occupied by a single mole. Moles typically live for around 3 years and when a mole dies, its tunnel network is often inherited by one of its offspring. Thus the expanding estate can be passed down through several generations. In wetland areas where there is no gradient available to retreat uphill from rising water, moles construct a large mound protruding around half a metre above the ground to act as an emergency flood shelter.
The standing stone in the field is more likely to be a cattle rubbing stone than anything prehistoric.
In pre-industrial times, cattle were allowed to roam over quite large areas and could therefore find a suitable tree to relieve an itch. In the Victorian period, farming became more intensive and cattle were moved into enclosed fields. It was quickly discovered that an itchy cow could wreak havoc with walls and fences so dedicated rubbing stones were positioned in the centre of some fields to minimise cow damage. In some cases, new stones were quarried specifically for the purpose and others, existing prehistoric standing stones or even Celtic crosses were unceremoniously re-used.
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.
The manor of Tremail was first documented in the Domesday Survey of 1086 when it was held by the Count of Mortain. Before the Norman Conquest it was owned by Aiulf.
The large square building used to be the control tower.
Before the airfield was built, there was nothing here but moorland.
Davidstow Moor is the northernmost part of Bodmin Moor, close to Crowdy Reservoir and Roughtor. It is one of the flattest areas on the moor which is why it was chosen as the site for a Second World War airfield and 20th Century forestry. During Victorian times, the area occupied by the woods was a network of fields with settlements of Casparpool, Goosehill and Larkabarrow which have now all been lost. Goosehill is thought to have been demolished for the airfield. Casparpool also seems to be have been demolished. Some remains of Larkabarrow may possibly still lie in the woods.
The large industrial building in the distance is Davidstow Creamery.
The large building with the tall chimney close to the A39 at Davidstow is the cheese factory, more formally known as Davidstow Creamery. Davidstow Creamery is famous for producing both Davidstow Cheddar (using water from Davidstow holy well) and the ironically named Cathedral City cheeses (Davidstow Moor having neither a cathedral nor anything resembling a city).
Before Christianity, the Pagan Celtic people of Cornwall worshipped wonders of the natural world. Where clean, drinkable water welled up from the ground in a spring, this was seen as pretty awesome. The sites were seen as portals to another world, and is why fairies are often associated with springs. Where the springwater dissolved minerals, for specific conditions (e.g. deficiency in a mineral) or where the minerals present had antibacterial/fungal properties, the water appeared to have healing powers.
The name "buttercup" is thought to have come from a mediaeval belief that cows eating the flowers gave butter its yellow colour. In fact this couldn't be further from the truth as the plant contains toxins which make it taste acrid and is therefore avoided by grazing animals.
The Latin name of the buttercup, Ranunculus, means "little frog" and said to be because the plants like wet conditions. It is thought it may have come via a derogatory name for people who lived near marshes!
There are a few different species of buttercup. One of most common is meadow buttercup (unsurprisingly found in meadows!) which is the tallest member of the family. Another common one is creeping buttercup which as the name suggests spreads through rhizomes so is more likely to be found in dense clumps in damp places. Its leaves are also more golden and glossy.
Meadow buttercups spread across a field relatively slowly as most seeds fall quite close to the parent and although it has a creeping root system capable of propagating new plants, this only extends a fairly short distance from each plant (unlike creeping buttercup which has a much more extensive root system). Because grazing animals avoid buttercups due to their acrid taste, this allows them to accumulate over time. The combination of these factors allows the number of meadow buttercups in a field to be used as an indicator of how long it's been used for grazing.
Buttercups produce a toxin called protoanemonin, which is at its highest concentration when flowering. It is thought that buttercups may be partly responsible for Equine Grass Sickness. Fortunately the toxin is quite unstable and drying of the plant in haymaking leads to polymerisation into non-toxic anemonin. Buttercups are also toxic to dogs, cats and humans. They have a bitter taste which puts dogs off eating the plants but pollen can collect on fur and be ingested, particularly by cats when they clean themselves. A man in France who drank a glass of juice made from buttercups suffered severe colic after four hours and was dead the next day!
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.
Damselflies are predators similar to dragonflies but are easily distinguishable by the way their wings fold back parallel to the body when at rest whereas the dragonflies' wings are fixed at a right angle to the body. The Damselfly has a much smaller body than a dragonfly which means it has less stamina for flight. Nevertheless, it can hover, in a stationary position, long enough to pluck spiders from their webs.
Male damselflies have two sets of genitalia. At the start of mating a packet of sperm (spermatophore) is transferred outside of the male's body between the two and then passed on to the female who uses it to fertilise her eggs as she lays them. Female damselflies lay their eggs inside vegetation. For some species this is in water plants and the female can swim underwater for half an hour before returning to the surface to breathe. Males often guard the egg laying female to prevent a rival male from sneaking in and replacing the spermatophore with his own.
Damselfly eggs hatch not into damselflies but water-living nymphs which look a bit like a dull-coloured damselfly with a 3-forked tail instead of wings. The tail is actually a set of gills used to breath underwater. When the larva is fully developed, it climbs out of the water on a stem or rock. Its skin then splits open and a damselfly emerges with wings which need to be inflated and dry before it can fly.
About half the starlings in the UK are year-round residents. From October until spring, these are joined by a migrant population from Eastern Europe where the winter temperatures are much colder.
A flock of starlings and also the spectacular flight formations of the flock are both known as a "murmuration". The flocks may include other species of starling and sometimes species from other bird families. As with fish shoaling, flying in unison creates safety in numbers. The whirling, almost hypnotic display makes it hard for predators to focus to target one bird. Grouping together also offers a number of other advantages such as keeping warm at night and sharing information e.g. good sources of food.
In spring and summer, starling feathers change from brown in winter to a glossy black with iridescent pinks and greens. The males are particularly glossy compared to the females and have fewer white spots. Starlings' beaks also change colour to bright yellow as part of their breeding plumage, which again is more vivid on the males.
Female starlings seem to prefer mates with more complex songs - the thinking is that this correlates with greater longevity and experience. Consequently male starlings spice up their songs with imitations of about 20 other bird species, other natural sounds such as a frog "ribbit" and even man-made sounds such as a car horn or squealing toddler having a tantrum.
Nearly three-quarters of the UK starling population has been wiped out in recent times, and starlings are now on the IUCN Red List of threatened species. The cause of this decline is a combination of changes to farming practices and grassland management (such as use of pesticides reducing the insect population), and a lack of nesting sites in urban areas.
Swallows are known by the name "barn swallow" due to their preference for nesting in man-made structures open to the elements such as stables or under bridges. Before these were available, swallows used to nest in caves and on cliff faces but they now nest almost exclusively on man-made structures. In the case of barns, these are conveniently located near insects associated with livestock. They may also be using presence of humans to help keep predators away.
Windsocks are used as a visual guide to wind speed as well as wind direction. Some windsocks are marked with alternating orange and white bands. Each band represents 3 knots of wind speed so the speed can be estimated from the number of bands that are held out horizontally by the wind.
Whilst windsocks were used decoratively by the Japanese and later by the Romans, their functional use is thought to have arisen from 19th Century windsails - a ventilation mechanism for the lower decks of ships consisting of a tube of canvas.
In July 1847 a large waterspout came in off the Atlantic and collapsed over Davidstow Moor where the sources of both the River Camel and River Inny rise. A wall of water 12-18 feet high swept down the Camel Valley demolishing all but two of the bridges. The solidly-built mediaeval Helland Bridge survived despite tree trunks piling against it. Wadebridge survived by being secured with ropes and chains by (brave) men in boats. Many years after the flood, pieces of hay and straw could still be seen in the trees 20 feet above the river at Dunmere.
In case you're wondering why it's often misty on Bodmin Moor, it's due to what meteorologists call orographic rainfall. As moisture-laden wind blows off the sea towards the moors, it is forced upwards by the hills, into the cooler air a little higher up in the atmosphere. This causes the water vapour gas in the air to condense into tiny droplets of liquid and the result is fog and drizzle.
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.
Water pepper, as the name implies, grows on wet ground such as on the margins of lakes (it's also known as marsh pepper). It's relatively late to appear, not really getting going until June.
Another of water pepper's common names is "smartarse". As Emma Gunn points out in her foraging book "Never Mind the Burdocks", this is nothing to do with being clever: in the past, the dried leaves were added to bedding to drive away fleas etc. and the name comes from rolling over on a leaf in the wrong way.
Water pepper leaves can be used as a herb and has a lemony flavour similar to sorrel followed by heat which is a little like chilli. Its used in Japanese cuisine, particularly with fish. The young shoots are used to garnish sushi or sashimi.
The plant is unpalatable to livestock but is eaten by some insects which has given rise to a Japanese saying which transliterates to "Some insects eat water pepper and like it" but is used more like "There's no accounting for taste".
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