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Chittleburn Hill Cyclepath - Brixton (image)
Grid Ref: SX 541 522 - SX 541 525
This site was discovered by accident whilst on my way to visit a friend in the area. It's one of those places you drive past and think I'll have to have a look at that one day, of course now I keep on going back. I've placed two grid references for this site at the top of the page, the first one is the location of the entrance, and the second denoted how far I actually walk, and that's not very far for most of the wildflowers you'll see will be in the first few hundred yards.
This place is easy to get to and more importantly wheelchair friendly, having a tarmaced path of gentle gradient. From Plymouth, turn off the A379 following the sign for Otter Nurseries, the
cycyclepath is past Otter Nurseries on the left just beyond the first bed, sadly there is only limited parking, in a bay surrounded by two limestone walls.
On discovering this place a couple years ago, it was obvious it had just been revamped, as there was quite a bit of open ground, which had to left for flowers to grow on. I found it just as a
multitude of annuals and perennial wildflowers were all in bloom together and the whole stretch of the path, part of an old railway system, between the entrance and the A379 road bridge was in full bloom, with literally hundreds of species of wildflowers present. If there was ever a candidate for another Nature Reserve in the South Hams this has to be top of the list.
Over the past couple years perennial weeds have tended to encroach and have ousted some of the smaller annuals in some areas but the site is still very worthy of a look and especially if you've a few minutes to spend after going to the garden centre.
At the entrance you are first welcomed by the small flowers of Shining Crane's-bill
(Geranium lucidum) moving up the slope the variety of flowers increase and around this area, in summer, the following plants can usually be seen, Ox-eye Daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare),
Slender Mullein (Verbascum virgatum), Babington's Poppy (Papaver dubium ssp. lecoqii),
Smooth Tare (Vicia tetrasperma), Scarlet Pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis) and also sometimes its
lilac and pink forms, Figwort (Scrophularia nodosa), Water Figwort (Scrophularia auriculata),
Aaron's Rod (Verbascum thapsus), Wild Strawberry (Fragaria vesca) and sometimes
Greater Burdock (Arctium lappa) can also be found.
Over the bridge and further up the path there is a hedgerow on the southern side and about a
meter of verge at the foot of a fence to the north. In the hedge, one can find three types of Woundwort, Hedge Woundwort (Stachys sylvatica), Marsh Woundwort (Stachys palustris) and the hybrid between them, Hybrid Woundwort (Stachys x ambigua); Common Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis), an alien species; Red Campion (Silene dioica), White Campion (Silene latifolia ssp. alba) and the hybrid between them Hybrid Campion (Silene x hampeana),
Lesser Burdock (Arctium minus) and in early May, Early Purple Orchid (Orchis mascula).
That list might sound good but my favourite spot for looking is along the fence on the north side, and the plants here include Wild Mignonette (Reseda lutea), Hawkweed Ox-tongue (Picris hieracioides), Hedgerow Crane's-bill (Geranium pyrenaicum), Hedge Bindweed (Calystegia sepium) and the tiny, Small Toadflax (Chaenorhinum minus) amongst many others.
It's a site where there's nothing rare, and nothing endangered, but the shear number of species that can be seen in a 300 yard walk in late July / early August is absolutely amazing; and remember to keep your eyes open when walking back to the car you'll probably see as many different things, as you did on the first half of the walk.
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