Looking towards Ascog Bay

This walk covers the section of the A844 from the Millburn Bridge in Montford to the Ascog Hall Fernery, a distance of ¾ mile.  The start is about 2 miles south of Rothesay, a very pleasant walk in itself, or you can use the (normally) frequent bus service.  There’s a pavement on the landward side of the road throughout, and also for much of the seaward side.  Botanically the two sides of the road are very different, so that, even though the walk is not circular, it can feel that way by concentrating on the flora of one side on the outward journey and of the other side on the return.

Fairy FoxgloveLet’s start on the landward side, where well-built stone walls, many of them over a hundred years old, are the main feature.  Together with the pavement edge at their base, they provide the habitat for a wide range of flowers, a vertical garden.  Two species dominate the most colourful sections, Fairy Foxglove (pink/purple) and Ivy-leaved Toadflax (mauve with white/yellow central lobes).  Both are non-native but they are very well-established here and throughout much of the country.

Ivy-leaved Toadflax and Escallonia

 One of the most species rich is the wall in front of Chandler’s Hotel.  This year it has suffered a little from nearly two months of drought but it still provides a fine display.

Chandler's Hotel

As well as the two species mentioned above, it hosts the delicate white flowers of Wild Strawberry.  Unlike its close relative the Barren Strawberry, its sepals (tiny green leaf-like parts of the flowerhead) do not extend beyond the petals.

Wild Strawberry

Fairy Foxglove, Wild Strawberry and Maidenhair Spleenwort

Herb Robert in drought conditions

On reaching the Ascog Hall Fernery, it’s time to turn round and pay more attention to the flora on the seaward side of the road (unless you prefer to extend your walk along the coastline, or turn inland to follow the Ascog Triangle (see Walk 09)).  Immediately you will notice the dense patches of Scurvygrass and the occasional yellow flowers of Silverweed. 

Giant Butterbur

Opposite the former Railway Convalescent Home,, there is a large area densely filled with large rhubarb-like leaves.  This is Giant Butterbur, a long-established garden ‘escape’;  like Colt’s-foot, it is a plant that produces its flower before the leaves appear. 

 A related species, with smaller but densely-spreading kidney-shaped leaves that you may have noticed earlier opposite Chandler’s Hotel, is Winter Heliotrope; this species, again non-native, flowers as early as January or February.

Star of Bethlehem

The unexpected is always fun to encounter!  Near the Giant Butterbur patch, I came across this Star of Bethlehem.  There are several locations on the island where you can find colonies of the species (the Kilchattan raised beach site is one example) but this one has clearly arrived as part of a garden dump.  Each petal has a green stripe on the back - see the unopened bud in the photo.

Below are some of the species in flower (and ferns) as at today’s date, shown as separate lists for the outbound and the return walk.  In general, species on the return list are unlikely to be encountered on the landward side, whereas some landward list species do also occur on the seaward side.  These lists, of course, can also give a flavour of the flowers be seen at this time of year on many other stretches of the island’s urban coastal strip.