A Walk Around Bavins...

Aerial view of the "Bavins Bank" area, overlaid with the 1869 OS map...

To the south of Bush Valley lies an area of woodland that is generally just called "Bavins". As can be seen from the above overlay, the ancient woodland of "Bavins Garden" was much further to the south of the Cuxton/Halling parish boundary than the wooded area is today. Either side of the narrow strip of woodland called Bavins Shaw were open fields that seemed to have been abandoned in the early 20th century and have been allowed to revert to scrubby forest. 

A "bavin" was an Old English term for a bundle of brushwood, such as was used for fencing or kindling. Much of the woodland to the east of Bavins Bank, at Home Bavins and Thistly Spring Wood, used to be coppiced to provide timber for hop poles and chestnut "stake and wire" fencing, a use which is undoubtedly the origin of the area's name...

Aerial view showing the current extent of Vineyard Farms' local land ownership...

The above image shows just how much of the parishes of Cuxton, Halling and Luddesdown are owned by Vineyard Farms/MDCV UK Ltd. Now unilaterally renamed by them as "the Silverhand Estate" (a name based on a misinterpretation of local history), their land holdings extend from Warren Road in the north down to Buckland Farm in the south-west, and appear to include Court Farm on Pilgrims Road in Halling in the south-east.

Vineyard Farms have felled a lot of the old coppices (and associated single specimen trees) in nearby Stonyfield Woods and also in Red Wood away to the north. Quite what the purpose of these drastic woodland clearance exercises were is unclear to me, although it is presumably part of their secret "estate-wide strategy". Sadly, it appears that they didn't use the timber for their vine supports, which was imported from Scandinavia so I have been told.

In Part 1 of their Design and Access Statement (submitted as part of their grandiose and repeatedly refused plans for a billionaire's vinicultural theme park), Vineyard Farms declare that:

"...The vision for the estate seeks to connect the disparate parts of the vineyard together creating an inclusive destination for everyone to enjoy, from local ramblers and dog walkers to international wine lovers..."

Unfortunately, the message about "inclusive" doesn't appear to have reached the attentions of the VF staff who zealously police their master's new fiefdom, as any local ramblers or dog walkers who dare to step off of the very few public footpaths that traverse the "Silverhand Estate" soon get to find out.

It was thus with some degree of trepidation that I set out for the old Bavins Gardens, as the network of old and now neglected farm tracks around that area are not strictly public footpaths...

Pylon clearance next to Wingate Wood...

North Downs Way through Wingate Wood...

Tree clearance by the path at Stonyfield...

Nettle-leaved Bellflower...

Common Spotted Orchid...

These orchids are particularly abundant on the farm track that leads through the ancient woodlands of Bavins Gardens, and part of my reason for going out that way was to look for them. Unfortunately, injury had prevented me from doing so until now and the orchids were past their best. A few weeks earlier and I have no doubt that they would have been quite spectacular...

Spear thistle...

Musk Mallow...

Wild Parsnip grove...

Another reason for coming to this area was to check out the butterflies. There is a stand of wild parsnips at the bottom of the track that leads uphill across Longbottom Bank to Gag Wood. I have already noticed that it seems to be a good year for butterflies and this area of Bavins did not disappoint. 

There were quite literally hundreds of Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers enjoying the parsley blooms, along with some Ringlets, a scattering of Common Blues, Red Admirals, Commas and Peacocks.

In the past I have observed a dozen or so Silver Washed Fritillaries patrolling these paths but they have been pretty much absent for the past couple of years, possibly because of the disturbance caused by the nearby VF forestry activities. Not this year - I counted at least a dozen of the large, bright orange males flying around...

Brimstone...

Somewhat frustratingly however, the hot noon-day sun had turbo-charged the local butterfly population and they simply would not stay still long enough for me to get even half-decent pictures of their various representatives. Only this solitary Brimstone (above, which I suspect was newly-emerged from its pupa and hence still dopey) remained still for long enough to be photographed... 

Common Centaury...

Clustered Bellflower...

Great Willowherb...

Exposed chalk, path to Court Farm...

Field to the west of Court Farm...

...and thence into Moot for a quick refresher or two. There, the talk was of plans for Moot (presumably with support from Court Farms' Andrew Lingham) to grow their own hops for their brews. If it comes off, a hop field back in the area after a 60 year absence would be a welcome sight to see, even if they are only the dwarf variety...