Beginners Botany in Sussex (Writing Competition: second place)

Jane Lawson wins second place in our 2022 Writing Competition as she recounts joining our 'Beginners Botany in Sussex' holiday in July 2022.

 

‘So, are we going to spend all day on our knees with a magnifying glass?’ asked my sceptical husband. 

No, we didn’t. We stayed at the beautiful 16th century Dean’s Place Hotel in the Cuckmere Valley with a small group of like-minded enthusiasts whose pleasure in a glass of wine, good food and conversation and, most importantly, the joys of the surrounding countryside gave us some of the best five days ever.  

Beginner’s Botany is perhaps accurate but gives little idea of just how truly mind and spirit enhancing was the opportunity to explore this most lovely part of southern England and its very diverse habitats. Bruce, our guide, is an extraordinary polymath who can effortlessly identify every bird, flower, grass, tree, and insect that we found. He drove the minibus impressively too.  

Our first day was spent on heathland – aha, I thought, I know my heathland plants, living as I do on former heathland in London and walking on my local common with a similar habitat. Indeed, I did know a fair few, but I had no idea that wet heathland existed – unsurprisingly as there’s not much left, but what a revelation it was. The stunningly lovely Cross-leaved Heath and Bell Heather were a joy, but the Round-leaved Sundew, which I’d only seen at Down House, caused huge excitement as we watched a tiny insect delicately explore the red tendrils on each leaf and then become trapped in the sticky dew, thus providing the nutrients needed by the plant. Another extraordinary plant was the parasitic Common Dodder which has no roots but sniffs out its hosts by recognising their chemical signature. The Gatekeeper butterflies it attracts were another huge pleasure.

One walk took us to Rock Wood where a small stream ran red over the sandstone and formed deep gullies with a waterfall tumbling into one of them. Here too, mosses and liverworts flourished. Hornbeams, the hardest wood of all, which was used to make ox-yokes, were growing on the eastern bank with oak and birch beyond. 

Then to the seaside as all good holidays should; Rye Harbour Nature Reserve is a gem of the south coast with over 300 rare plants. Some well-known, others the sea version of some of the inland plants we had seen previously, and others with wondrous names like Fiddle Dock or Common Restharrow giving us an insight into the farming lives of our forebears. And with Bruce’s keen eye, we saw pretty much all of them as we walked along the path which snakes past grazing marsh, with reedbeds at the edge of the salt marsh on the way to the shingle and the shore. The big skies were dense with birds – terns, Curlews and Redshanks amongst the hundreds of gulls and the tiny Linnet and Meadow Pipit.  

At Beachy Head we spotted Robin’s Pin-cushion on wild roses and many orchids scattered among the grasses. The delightful Squinancywort, named for quinsey an old name for a sore throat, dotted the grass too, well hidden, and we finally located the county flower of Sussex, the Round-headed Rampion. The Seven Sisters, white against an intense blue sky, with the sea surging below, was the perfect sight to end the day.

Finally, to Polegate for a day of mostly trees and butterflies. We meandered along paths and through bushes and briars to effortlessly learn the characteristics of poplars, spindles and hazel while spotting the Purple Hairstreaks high up in the oak trees.

At our last most excellent dinner, we reflected on the absolute joy of exploring this small patch of English countryside and absorbing, effortlessly, so much knowledge with an expert and hugely entertaining guide, and no need to get on our knees unless we chose. My husband was totally converted, all scepticism banished. We have our record sheets and photographs to relive the trip and a head full of the wonders of the natural world.