DARTFORD ANIMAL RESCUE TRUST (DART)

By Ciara O’Hare

A new regular monthly feature from DART!

Dartford Animal Rescue Team, founded in 2021 by Ciara O’Hare, is a team of wildlife rehabilitators, veterinary professionals, transport volunteers and trained rescuers and fosterers. We also run a wonderful Microsanctuary called The DART House which is home to multiple disabled birds and other domestic animals. We predominantly rehabilitate and rescue wildlife but also have experience helping many domestic and farm species and if we can’t help, we’ll know another experienced team or individual to refer you to.

We are a queer, disabled, and woman run family rescue that’s proud to support and advocate for the rights of other species on this beautiful planet we share.

So what’s been happening at DART this month?

We receive multiple calls and messages a day - especially at this time of year - but here’s a highlight and overview of June 2023:

As some of you will have seen online, Ciara was (in their own words) “absolutely battered by some good swan parents” while rescuing two injured cygnets. The very not ugly ducklings were tied to each other by their legs with fishing line, with one also having a fishing hook through their foot. On top of this, they were both tied by the fishing line to the tall reeds around their nest and had clearly been struggling for some time. Exhausted and at risk of drowning, the little ones cried out for help to their worried parents.

Dad swan we believe is someone we have had to rescue before approximately a year ago: Sidney. Upon seeing Ciara arrive you could almost hear his thoughts. “The swan kidnapper has arrived again!”. If only wildlife knew we were just trying to help them! He raced over and began frantically wing-slapping Ciara in an effort to save his babies from the same fate he’d endured a year earlier... being rescued. This made it extremely difficult to safely use the appropriate equipment to cut through fishing line as there was a risk of Sidney hitting the small sharp edges in to the babies. The risk of babies drowning also increased due to the chaos, especially when Mum swan joined in the defence efforts and wing-slapping.

After a few tense minutes, the babies were carefully cut free and the tight fishing line and painful hook were removed and wounds were cleaned on site. Neither could stand or walk and they were very very tired. After a vet check confirmed the cygnets had no broken bones, they were checked in for a few days at The DART House to recover until they were standing and walking again. At the time of writing, it has been 1 day since this rescue and the little ones have massively improved. They will be heading home to their family shortly so keep an eye on our Facebook and Instagram for updates on the release.

The rest of the month has been filled with hedgehogs, garden birds, pigeons, foxes, more water birds and… litterpicks! We were joined by a lovely team of volunteers who twice helped us filling bags with rubbish at Brooklands lakes in Princes ward. We also picked up lots of fishing line and hooks, hopefully reducing the number of casualties caused by them, such as Chaos and Mischief the cygnets from Crossways, Dartford. Message us on social media if you’d like to join us at our next litterpick and to donate please go to paypal.me/dartfordanimalrescue. Thank you!

TALES FROM THE RIVERBANK: WALK THROUGH HISTORY ALONG THE DARENT VALLEY (PART TWO)

By Clair Humphries

So, with sunny weekends and school holidays looming, let’s continue our walk through the Darent Valley’s history. Since last month’s feature I’ve been stalking (sorry, following) a wonderful account on Instagram called @darent_valley, run by the Darent Valley Landscape Partnership. Their website www.darent-valley.org.uk is a great starting point for anyone interested in walking the trail, with maps and rail guides included – do take a look and give them a follow if you can. On that note, it’s time to set off and head onwards, as the industrial revolution makes its mark on our chosen route…

You don’t need to be a local to know Dartford and the surrounding area was once famed for its mills. Powder Mill Lane in Hawley is a bit of a giveaway (!) and the banks of the River Darent were lined with mills from the 18th century, employing huge numbers of workers in all sorts of jobs. 1732 saw the opening of the gunpowder mill at Hawley, with nearby paper mills, corn and flour mills and cotton mills drawing on its resources. The river was used as a way of transporting goods and its waters powered the pumps of numerous watermills. It was also vital to the flourishing local silk industry’s dyeing process.

Did You Know?

The grade two listed brick chimney at Horton Kirby paper mill is seventy metres high? Built in 1820, the mill once employed four hundred people.

The industrial revolution brought prosperity and opportunity to the area, with towns like Dartford and Sevenoaks expanding rapidly. Rural life, however, was still tough, as highlighted by the artist Samuel Palmer, who lived in Shoreham during this period. Palmer moved out of London due to ill-health and embraced the rustic idyll he discovered in the Darent Valley. Two of his paintings – ‘The Sleeping Shepherd’ and ‘The Shearers’ – feature local farm labourers and you can follow the Samuel Palmer trail around Shoreham by visiting www.kentdowns.org.uk. Not just a romantic, Palmer’s work was realistic in its depiction of harsh working conditions in the constantly changing landscape.

Another significant development was rail travel, as the Victoria-Sevenoaks line opened in 1862, running right through the valley. This created two local landmarks, with one striking viaduct constructed in Horton Kirby in 1858 and another in Eynsford in 1859. The Darent itself changed physically, as flooding measures were taken to alter its course and shore up the banks. As a chalk stream, the river teemed with wildlife (including otters and water voles) as well as being home to many rare aquatic plants.

Quick Quiz: a) Charles Dickens b) Thomas Hardy c) George Eliot

Which 19th century novelist fished for trout in the River Darent?

The twentieth century had its own challenges which impacted the valley – not least two world wars. Prior to that, in 1903, Joyce Green hospital was built on the Dartford marshes, primarily to care for victims of smallpox. Ambulance ships were soon put to use, ferrying patients to the hospital from London. Post-World War One, the hospital also played a crucial role in caring for those affected by the flu pandemic. Villages along the river endured numerous air raids in the Second World War, due to their proximity to London and Shoreham has gone down in history as the most bombed rural parish in the UK! For more information on wartime in the Darent Valley I recommend a trip to the Shoreham Aircraft Museum (you can see a white war memorial cross on the hillside if your route takes you there from Eynsford).

Another stunning sight – at its peak in July – are the lavender fields surrounding Castle Farm, a family-run business since 1892. Although the farm has produced a wide variety of crops over the years, it is best known for being the largest lavender farm in the UK, at over 130 acres! Hop pickers were also a regular sight in the fields until the 1960s, with Londoners travelling down to stay in ‘hopper huts’ while working and enjoying some fresh Kentish air each summer.

With this being a coronation year, why not visit Lullingstone Castle, one of the Darent Valley’s most historic homes? Once famed for its silk farm, it provided the silk for Queen Elizabeth the Second’s coronation robes and also for parachutes during World War Two. You may be more familiar with the modern day World Garden, created by Tom Hart Dyke and open to the public on Thursdays and bank holidays (check the website www.lullingstonecastle.co.uk for details). This is another great example of how heritage in the valley has been brought up to date in an innovative, quirky way, with its showcase of rare plant species and exotica.

So, there we have it – a whistlestop tour of the Darent Valley’s heritage. There’s plenty more to explore over the summer, so I encourage you to get out and pick a trail to follow, whether on foot, by rail or car. You’ll be walking in the footsteps of writers, artists and explorers of days gone by, against a backdrop of purple lavender and Kent’s green and pleasant land. You might even spot an otter or two… www.clairhumphries.com

Clair Humphries is a Script Consultant for ATS Heritage.

Twitter: @clairhumphries

Instagram: clair_humphries

The answer is a) Charles Dickens, who is rumoured to have stayed at The Lion pub in Farningham when fishing nearby.