The Brampton Hawk Moth Club.

A Memory of Bexleyheath.

Searching for wildlife to keep as pets was a major diversion for a small group of boys in my class at Brampton Road Primary School during the 1950's. Anything that moved on the ground or swam around in ponds and streams was fair game: frogs, toads, newts, grass snakes, stag-beetles, and of course, sticklebacks. Our hunting grounds were local gardens, the wild areas of Danson Park and Lesnes and Bostall Woods. But there was one group of creatures we prized above all others - the spectacular caterpillars of Britain's Hawk-moths. We risked life and limb climbing trees to capture Lime Hawk and Poplar Hawk moth caterpillars, like the mighty Poplar tree in a Brampton Road garden not far from our school. The greatest prize, however, were the huge lime-green Privet Hawk-moth caterpillars with their distinctive horned tails, born from Britain's largest moth who lived in and munched the leaves of unkempt, unpruned Privet hedges. We looked for the tell-tale sign of their droppings on the pavement below hedges and once captured,
lovingly placed them in a box or jar and transported to school to display to the class. Sadly, the girls were unimpressed by our results, apart from one enlightened pupil who loved picking them up to let them wander at will over her hands and arms.