1993 Shropshire 26th to 27th June Main Meeting
On a sunny June morning, 23 people met their leader Dr Kate Thorne, looking forward to a weekend of botany in the Shropshire countryside. Kate had planned a programme to include some good walks and a strenuous climb of Corndon Hill, the Hill being strictly speaking in Montgomeryshire, but amicably shared with Shropshire botanists.
The party's first stop was at the bog below the Stiperstones, a nationally important nature reserve with an impressive ridge of quartzite rocks. From there, we walked the 2 km to Shelve pool to explore the surrounding marshy area. During the walk Mimulus moschatus was seen by a small stream, and time was spent discussing a Rose thought to be Rosa caesia ssp. glauca. The marsh below the pool yielded ten Carex species, Genista anglica and G. tinctoria and a well-known assemblage of marsh plants in good fettle, including Menyanthes trifoliata and Potentilla palustris. There was also a fine stand of the moss Sphagnum squarrosum.
After a picnic lunch, we were taken to a steep rocky slope where Dianthus deltoides was seen at its best with its lovely small pink flowers well open in the June sunshine. A mass of showy summer flowers was also flourishing on the grassy bank - Galium verum, Jasione montana, Thymus polytrichus etc. - and in the hedgerow protecting the site, Rosa arvensis. A superb bank of summer flowers and a gentle interlude before attempting Corndon Hill.
Seven of the party decided to stop at a boggy area below the summit where Dactylorhiza purpurella might be found. The rocks at the top of Corndon yielded a number of ferns, including Phegopteris connectilis and Cryptogramma crispa. Led by Kate, the more agile members scrambled down the rocks to see Gymnocarpium dryopteris, leaving the rest of us to enjoy a skylark singing overhead and to consider the extensive colonies of the lichen Umbilicaria pustulata covering the rocks, while gradually becoming enveloped in a mist drifting over the hill.
Safely back at the cars, we then moved on to Snailbeach, our last visit of the day. The white spoil-heaps, relics of lead and barytes mining, dominate the place, and virtually nothing grows in the toxic heaps; but in the surrounding waste ground, Kate was able to show us four species of Hieracium - acuminatum, cinderella, sabaudum and salticola. A few of the party made a quick visit to the Pennerly hay meadows to see Euphrasia arctica ssp. borealis.
On Sunday morning we again met outside Kate's house, and drove to Earl's Hill which is famous for its dolerite rocks. The aim was to investigate the stable scree where Hieracium lasiophyllum was known to grow. Not everyone was able to tackle the steep scree, and in the end only one tired piece of the Hieracium was found in flower. However, Tilia platyphyllos could be seen growing in the dolerite crags, and Circaea x intermedia was found at its known site in a wooded stream bank. On our way back to lunch, Kate showed us where she had discovered Carex laevigatagrowing in an area which was once part of ancient woodland.
Our next visit was to Berrington and Top pools. Berrington pool gave us Ceratophyllum demersum, among other interesting species, and Top pool had Lysimachia vulgaris and Carex rostrata.
Still in the same area, we were then led to a steepish dry bank involving a climb over uneven ground and through tall herbage. It was well worth the effort to see Anchusa arvensis, Marrubium vulgare and some Mullein Moth caterpillars. Several more attractive plants were to be seen in the field below the slope.
Finally we reached the banks of the River Severn and, before the dispersal of satisfied botanists homeward, we added Carex acuta and Brassica nigra to our lists.
Thanks, Kate, for an excellent botanical weekend. It is not always appreciated how much work is involved in organising field trips. Thanks also to the landowners who gave us permission to see the plants growing on their land. Our apologies go to the Red-legged Partridge and her large family whose peace was disturbed when we chose to park our cars on their roadside verge.
SYLVIA KINGSBURY