Wogden Foot Field Meeting (VC63)

Field Visit to Wogden Foot 13/6/15

                Wogden Foot Nature Reserve is a limestone oasis in the midst of heathlands near the pennine village of Dunford Bridge close to the Yorkshire Border with Derbyshire. The Limestone railway ballast, originally from Derbyshire, was dumped at Wogden Foot shortly after the line closure in 1981 when the Trans Pennine Trail was being developed.

              With overnight rain promising a soggy meeting, ten eager Botanists braved the morning showers to enjoy the wild wonder of the moors. The short walk along the trans pennine trail to the reserve revealed a good mix of plants with Alchemilla mollis (Garden Lady’s Mantle) and Crocosmia pottsii x aurea = C. xcrocosmiiflora (Crocosmia) confirming that garden escapes can turn up just about anywhere growing alongside Cirsium palustre (Marsh Thistle), Silene flos-cuculi (Ragged Robin), and Cardamine pratensis (Cuckooflower). Although Dactylorhiza fuchsii (Common Spotted Orchid), D. praetermissa (Southern Marsh Orchid) and their hybrid were found  D. purpurella (Northern Marsh Orchid), recorded on an earlier occasion, could not be located.
On the Reserve Galium saxatile (Heath Bedstraw), Origanum vulgare (Wild Marjoram), Viola hirta (Hairy Violet), Arenaria serpyllifolia (Thyme-leaved Sandwort) and Conopodium majus (Pignut) were found along with Dipsacus fullonum (Wild Teasel), Fragaria vesca (Wild Strawberry), Linum catharticum (Fairy Flax) and Malva moschata (Musk Mallow).
A good range of Sedges and Rushes were also found with Carex spicata (Spiked Sedge) prompting a later visit to check its seed for confirmation. Curiosity got the better of the sheep on the reserve as they approached the group wondering what they were up to, unless they were Botanists in disguise hoping to compare notes. The final tally of over 150 species and possibly another visit made this meeting most enjoyable and worthwhile. Thanks go to Peter &Annefie Roberts and Gordon Bristowe of Barnsley Naturalist and Scientific Society for hosting the day.
Mel Linney.

Images from Mel Linney's Collection.

Ryecroft Glen and Ladies Spring Wood Field Meeting (VC57)

Field meeting to Ryecroft Glen and Ladies Spring Wood (Sheffield), 24 May 2015

Anemone nemerosa

On a rather cold day a group of 10 met to record plants in two 1km squares on either side of the Sheaf Valley.  Before entering the wood we noted Common Whitlowgrass (Erophila verna) in a bare area, with Bulbous Buttercup (Ranunculus bulbosus), Bog Stitchwort (Stellaria alsine) and Water Avens (Geum rivale) nearby in damp grassland. The latter is sometimes grown in gardens but had the appearance of being native at this site.  The shady section of Ryecroft Glen held a good selection of woodland plants, including Wood Anemone (Anemone nemorosa), Red Campion (Silene dioica), Great Wood-rush (Luzula sylvatica), Moschatel (Adoxa moschatellina), Scaly Male-fern (Dryopteris affinis agg), Wood Meadow-grass (Poa nemorosa), Wood Millet (Milium effusum) and Wood Melick (Melica uniflora).  There were also some garden escapes, a few of which are long-established.  These included the silvery-leaved form of Yellow Archangel (Lamiastrum galeobdolon argentatum), Box-leaved Honeysuckle (Lonicera pileata), Creeping Comfrey (Symphytum grandiflorum) and Skimmia japonica.  The latter was probably bird-sown from a garden though it is not mentioned in Stace’s Flora and is rarely seen in the wild.

Silene dioica

Lamiastrum galeobdolon

 Lunch was taken at Dore Station where there was a convenient amount of seating but surprisingly few railway plants, though Sticky Groundsel (Senecio viscosus) was noted at the base of a wall.  In the car park we saw Eastern Rocket (Sisymbrium orientale) and Hairy Tare (Vicia hirsuta).
Another small area of railway land yielded Common Broom         (Cytisus scoparius), Tutsan (Hypericum androsaemum), Common Vetch (Vicia sativa segetalis) and Common Figwort (Scrophularia nodosa). 

Cytisus scoparius

Symphytum orientale

Melampyrum pratense

                                                   The steep slope in Ladies Spring Wood was quite testing for some of the party, but along the path Common Cow-wheat (Melampyrum pratense) was in flower, and when we reached level ground we were able to view a colony of White Comfrey (Symphytum orientale) which has been established here for at least 45 years.  Retracing our steps gave us Three-veined Sandwort (Moehringia trinervia) and a single specimen of Sweet Cicely (Myrrhis odorata) hiding amongst Cow Parsley.  118 species were recorded in SK3181 with a similar number in SK3182, and all records have been passed to the VC57 recorder.



Ken Balkow

Images Mel Linney

Sprotborough Field Meeting (VC63)

Sprotborough 14/6/2014

Six eager botanists met at the Boat Inn car park to explore the delights of the picturesque Don Gorge which lies on the Magnesian Limestone Belt to the West of  Doncaster.

The group proceeded up the footpath opposite the Boat Inn towards Cooke's Bower where Blackstonia perfoliata (Yellow Wort), Bryonia diocica (White Bryony) and Mahonia aquifolium (Oregon Grape) along with Campanula trachelium (Nettle-leaved Bellflower), Anacamptis pyramidalis (Pyramidal Orchid and White Form ) and a fine stand of ten Platanthera chlorantha (Greater Butterfly Orchid) were observed.

 After lunch the group crossed Nursery Lane  onto the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust reserve. The Orchid count was increased with Dactylorhiza fuchsii (Common Spotted Orchid), D. praetermissa (Southern Marsh Orchid), Neottia ovata (Common Twayblade), N. nidus-avis (Birds-nest Orchid) and Ophrys apifera (Bee Orchid) added to the list. The day finished early but not before ninety four species were recorded and quite possibly double that number if the weather hadn't turned bad.

                                                                             
                                                                 

Images Mel & Elaine Linney.

 FISHLAKE WASHLANDS 9^th AUGUST 2014

We had a very enjoyable day with 13 attendees.  The morning
was spent looking around the green lanes of Fishlake near
Stewards Ings Lane where we found the true fox sedge, fine leaved water
dropwort, stone parsley, great yellow-cress, spiked sedge, and a range
of wetland plants including marsh ragwort, trifid bur-marigold and pink
water speedwell.

After a pleasant lunchtime break at the Hare and Hounds, we
continued our day with a short wander along the washlands south of the
Church at Fishlake. Highlights of the afternoon were the greater
burdock, greater duckweed, flowering rush and profusion of golden dock.
Images by Louise Hill.

Louise Hill

WILTHORPE MARSH FIELD REPORT (VC63)

WILTHORPE MARSH 26th JULY 2014

 Wilthorpe Marsh is one of a number of flood plains along the River Dearne. There are signs of its industrial past with what was an area of opencast mining about thirty years ago, some stretches of the abandoned Barnsley Canal where Hydrocharis morus-ranae(Frogbit) was found and the now closed Redbrook Colliery nearby. Six botanists enjoyed the day with Jeff Lunn who shared his vast knowledge, not only of the ecology but the history of the area. Rather  than  ramble on I have copied a letter from our VC63 Recorder Geoffrey Wilmore who sums up the day quite eloquently.

" Dear All
     Please find attached the plant list for our visit to Wilthorpe Marsh last Saturday.   Many thanks to Jeff Lunn for leading the walk and showing us a very diverse and interesting area of wetlands, neutral and acidic grasslands, woodland and scrub, to Peter Middleton for co-ordinating the arrangements, and, of course, to Kay Mc Dowell, for shouldering the main burden of recording during the day.    It would be nice to do a full NVC evaluation of the area we covered.  Sadly, time on the day did not permit the level of detail required to complete such an exercise, but I made a mental note of at least 9 or 10 NVC communities, and there are probably more.  A truly rich area.
162 species recorded in the tetrad is a valuable total for the BSBI 2020 Atlas Project , and the Hydrocharis morsus-ranae  has been entered in the Red Data Plant Register for VC 63.
  Kind regards "
Anyone wanting a plant list please e-mail me.

Mel Linney

BEAUCHIEF ABBEY FIELD REPORT (VC57)

REPORT OF THE FIELD MEETING TO BEAUCHIEF ABBEY, 12 JULY 2014

On a hot day a group of 7 explored and recorded this area of green belt land on the SW side of Sheffield, all of which belongs to VC57 (Derbyshire). Behind the Abbey Bistort (Persicaria bistorta) is present on one of the graves but is usually mown soon after flowering. The Abbey ponds held a variety of aquatic and marginal species including the invasive New Zealand Pigmyweed (Crassula helmsii), Marsh Ragwort (Senecio aquaticus) and Various-leaved Water-starwort (Callitriche platycarpa). The latter was found and identified by Ambroise Baker. The colony of Wood Barley (Hordelymus europaeus) which used to occur behind the upper pond no longer seems to exist, but a few specimens were found a bit further on at the edge of Gulley's Wood. The old nursery is gradually being converted into allotment gardens but many interesting species remain, including Small Nettle (Urtica urens), Hoary Mustard (Hirschfeldia incana), Common Stork's-bill (Erodium cicutarium), Fern-grass (Catapodium rigidum), Rat's-tail Fescue (Vulpia myuros) and Great Brome (Anisantha diandra). A single Broad-leaved Helleborine (Epipactis helleborine) was seen in the woods below Bradway Road. Across that road on Dore and Totley golf course an area of disturbed soil held Fool's-parsley (Aethusa cynapium), Scarlet-pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis), Wall Speedwell (Veronica arvensis) and Field Pansy (Viola arvensis), whilst a wall on Bradway Road provided 4 Asplenium ferns, Hart's-tongue (A.scolopendrium), Wall-rue (A.ruta muraria), Black Spleenwort (A.adiantum- nigrum) and Maidenhair Spleenwort (A. trichomanes). Thanks especially to Oliver Pescott and Ambroise Baker for spotting plants that I might have missed and for helping with accurate identification.

Ken Balkow

Wombwell Wood Meeting 17th May 2014

Twenty four members and guests met at the Woodhead lane car park for our second meeting of the season. As is usual at a Botanical meeting the car park got a good looking over to start the day. One plant found with a rather small purple flower and struggling to exist in a ditch was something of an enigma, probably because of its weak stature and growing out of its usual habitat. After scrutinising the picture that was taken it is a good assumption that it was Lunaria annua (Honesty), a common plant in the hedgerows along the lanes that run through the wood. Your correspondent went back a week later hoping to find the plant in fruit but, alas, it must have given up the ghost.

We made our way along one of the paths through the newly opened Upper Woodhead area to enter the wood. The Upper Woodhead area was once a farmers field which was outcropped for coal before being handed over to the Forestry Commission and planted with a range of native trees. On entering the wood we took the path towards Sandy Lane, a road now closed because of persistant fly tipping, to find a number of plants new to the species list, particulary Arum maculatum (Lords and Ladies) which is quite common along this stretch of the path.

Proceeding along Sandy Lane Geranium robertianum (Herb Robert) and Geum urbanum (Wood Avens)  were found along with Lonicera periclymenum (Honeysuckle) and Vaccinium myrtillus (Bilberry). At the bottom of Sandy Lane we took a short break to re-group and enjoy the views across the Dove Valley towards Worsborough and look at the expanse of Hyacinthoides non-scripta (Bluebell) in the wooded area at the other side of Dovecliffe Road.

Because we had a sizeable party it was decided by the leaders to cut through the wood rather than take the road towards the reservoir. At the "Res" we took lunch but not before finding Barbarea vulgaris (Common Winter-cress) and Veronica officinalis (Heath Speedwell) amongst other species, some of which indicated its past use as an illegal dumping ground.

After the break we went further into the wood to an area cleared to accommodate overhead cables which revealed a good range of plants common to edge of woodland and open grassland. Before heading back to the Reservoir we visited a small disused quarry where we found some good specmens of Dryopteris dilatata (Broad Buckler Fern). At a small bridge crossing a stream flowing into the reservoir's header pond we found Veronica beccabunga (Brooklime) another species new to the list. It was a good day for adding species to the current list with, if my sums are correct, twenty three to the Hectad list and thirty five to the Wombwell Wood list, of which ten were AWI plants, and with no great surprises it is probably one of our less recorded areas.


Acknowledgements:-

A Report to the Woodland Trust
A Survey of the Coverage, Use and
Application of Ancient Woodland
Indicator Lists in the UK
Written and researched by:
Peter Glaves, Ian D. Rotherham, Barry Wright, Christine Handley,
& John Birbeck
By Hallam Environmental Consultants Ltd.,
Biodiversity and Landscape History Research Institute
and the Geography, Tourism and Environment Change Research Unit,
Sheffield Hallam University
October 2009.

Images by Mel Linney

Mel Linney