A shepherd's tale

In the spring of 1999 I was walking westwards along the North Downs Way at the base of the scarp slope, just past Juniper Hill. In the distance I could see a patch of vivid inky-blue which I assumed would be a grounded helium balloon or, less exotically, a plastic bag. As I got closer this colouration revealed itself to be a small group of large gentian flowers. They did not match anything in my botanical field guide so I took some photos and carried on walking, perplexed as to what these gentians could be. Later in the day I was able to refer to some literature - and it was Stace's second edition of his 'New Flora of the British Isles' that solved the puzzle - they were revealed as being Gentiana clusii (Trumpet Gentian)*, planted and naturalised along that very same section of the Surrey North Downs since 1960.

Since then I have, on a number of occasions, revisited this clump of gentians, plus another patch (some half-a-mile further west and higher up the scarp slope) - each year the number of flowers varies but I feel as if the patches get smaller rather than larger. Today I was back in the general area and happened to bump into an elderly couple out on their dog walk. After exchanging pleasantries they spied my binoculars and started to talk about the wonder that the Merlin app has delivered to them via their mobile phones. After swapping bird news we then started to discuss the flora of the area and I asked them if they knew about 'the gentians'...

It was a fortuitous question. The man had worked at a large and well-known pharmaceutical company, situated not three miles away at the top of the downs. He had been told that, in the 1950s, a Swiss ex-shepherd had been employed (as what I did not ask), who had spent part of his leisure time walking the short distance across to the hills for some quiet and contemplative time, maybe to give thought to his distant homeland. It was obviously much missed, the Surrey hills being no substitute for his alpine meadows. So he came up with a plan. If he couldn't go to the alpine meadows he could bring a bit of the Alps to Surrey! How he obtained the plants we don't know, whether he had them sent from Switzerland or managed to procure them from a nursery here in England. Whatever way he obtained them he had at some point walked out with a bag of plants and a trowel, found a place on the downs that he found amenable, and planted them in the chalky soil. To remind him of his beloved Switzerland he had chosen Edelweiss and the gentians (of that much we do know). Maybe there were others. My source suggested that this took place in the 1950s.

The Edelweiss did not survive. The gentians did. I like to think of our shepherd returning to the scene of his illicit planting each year and sitting on the downs to appreciate the flowering, sharing the chalk grassland with Milkwort, Salad Burnet, Dingy and Grizzled Skippers. Today I found ten flowers at the base of the scarp slope and gave thanks that they survive for another year - it is such a stunning show that I'm surprised that they haven't been dug up. On the slopes this morning were 25+ Dingy Skippers, 4 Green Hairstreaks (below) and a single Grizzled Skipper - plus the spirit of one Swiss shepherd, sitting on the grass and looking over his gift to Surrey. I for one am pleased that he acted as he did some 65 years ago, to bring a touch of exotica to the downland, his act of remembrance to his much missed homeland.

* In recent years these plants have been re-identified as Gentiana acaulis (Koch's Gentian) - the confusion coming about as this species is not normally a lover of chalk soils.

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