Things to do
This dates right back to the time of Henry VIII. Local monasteries used to keep up the roads, but after they were dissolved, county authorities agreed to maintain the roads for 100 yards either side of bridges. The ‘C’ stone marks the spot where their work stopped. At the top of the town of Dartmouth you pass by the Church of St Clement. This is the oldest church in Dartmouth, and may even have been founded by the Vikings, who revered St Clement. It remained the ‘mother church’ which Dartmouth people had to attend until the 14th Century. Your walk back down into Dartmouth is a historical one down old medieval streets. The stepped lane of Brown’s Hill was once the only route into Dartmouth. Known in past times as ‘Slippery Causeway’, it was usable only by packhorses which meant that carriages could not enter the town at all.
Landscape
‘Dart’ is an old English word for ‘oak’. You can see where the name came from on this walk, as the river is fringed with oak trees for much of its length. Oaks support more other organisms – birds, animals, plants, ferns, mosses, lichens, and especially insects – than any other kind of tree in this country. Until around a hundred years ago, the oaks in Long Wood were harvested by cutting them periodically and then allowing them to re- grow – a practise known as coppicing. This produced bark for use in tanning leather, and wood for charcoal making. Old charcoal burning sites can still be found in the wood. The National Trust now manages Long
Wood for conservation, access and landscape. For more information on the National Trust visit
www.nationaltrust.org.uk The wooded National Trust gardens at Greenway are plant- ed with many native wildflowers, and have ‘an atmosphere of wildness and timelessness’. Originally landscaped using prisoners from the Spanish Armada, the gardens also contain rare trees, shrubs – particularly magnolias and rhododendrons – and many exotic southern hemisphere plants. They are open to the pub- lic from the end of February to October.
60 Wildlife
Seals follow the salty waters of the river upstream and are not an uncommon sight. Look out for their long- muzzled, whiskered heads bobbing just above the surface as they ‘hang’ in the water between dives. The river is rich in birdlife. Herons nest in the riverside trees on the Greenway Estate. Wading birds feed on the shore, following the tide out. You may see small flocks of white-breasted, brownish-backed dunlin, along with orange-billed oystercatcher. Turn- stones have short bills, short orange legs, black breasts and white undersides. Flocks of them ferret around in the seaweed and debris on the shore. Curlews – whose name comes from the sound of their piping call – can also be seen here, as can ringed plovers, with their orange bills, black and white heads and a distinctive black ring around the neck. Woodland birds include buzzard,
sparrowhawk, and the bounding flight of the red, black and white great spotted woodpecker. The National Trust estate at Greenway is managed particularly for farmland birds. These include yellowhammers, with their unmistakable brilliant yellow heads, and the rare cirl bunting, a small green and brown bird with a black and yellow striped face. You may also hear the airborne skylark’s liquid song from high above these fields. Long Wood is home to the silver-washed fritillary butterfly. This large and handsome fritillary has deep orange wings with black markings. Roe deer also find shelter in Long Wood. The roe is a fairly small and delicate deer, with short antlers. It is a rich brown in colour, with a white patch at the rump, and a large black nose. As you walk up the hill from the Greenway Estate information panel, butcher’s broom can be seen growing in the woodland edge to the right. This spiky, spiny little shrub has small oval leaves clustered up its stems, and bright red berries. Bundles of it were once used to scour butchers’ blocks, and were made into prickly ‘tents’ around meat to keep the mice off.
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