1994 Lancashire 9th and 10th July Main Meeting
The first day of this two-day meeting was spent in the Formby and other dune systems near Southport. The leader that day was Mrs Shirley Burton. Eighteen members joined her at the 'red squirrel end' of the large Formby Point National Trust reserve and spent the morning in dry areas of the dune system, some of which consists of pine woods. Epipactis leptochila var. dunensis and E. phyllanthes were soon spotted and the differences between them demonstrated; a plant of Rubus laciniatus broke the monotony of the dominant R. caesius which covered the ground in some parts for many acres. Most of the Oenothera seen was 0. glazioviana but Shirley also showed us some plants of 0. fallax so that we could see the distinction between them. A conspicuous plant at one end of the car park keyed out as Nepeta x faassenii — a garden throw-out, I suppose, but looking very happy. Near it were Hypochaeris glabra and lots of Erodium lebellii with its dense sticky hairs. We had lunch watching the squirrels which came down looking for titbits, their favourite food being apple.
After lunch we moved to the Ainsdale dunes where the ground is damp and wet. There we were joined by Miss Vera Gordon, v.c. recorder for South Lancashire, and made our way to a damp area where, coming through the Salix repens, were many spikes of Monotropa hypopitys ssp. hypophegea surrounded by hundreds of Epipactis palustris and, nearby, Dactylorhiza incarnata in various forms and colours. A shallow pool was home to baby natterjack toads, the notable plants nearby being Sagina nodosa with its white flowers looking up into the sun, and Anagallis tenella.
Ainsdale Sands Lake contained a number of treasures, including Parnassia and Centaurium littorale; Bromopsis inermis was across the road, and at Hillside pond we were shown Potamogeton gramineus and Juncus balticus x J. inflexus, both plants really worth the walk. However, to save our weary legs, we then moved all the cars to an easy point of entry to the Birkdale and Sand Hill Reserve where Vera unerringly guided us to the top of a tall sand dune to see Ambrosia psilostachya and, finally, Juncus balticus itself. Here we had to say goodbye with many thanks to Shirley as she could not join us on the next day.
Vera Gordon led us on the Sunday. The greater part of the day was to be spent on derelict sites such as old railway sidings, and canal banks. First we went fishing in the canal, and collected Potamogeton crispus and P. pectinatus, Lagarosiphon major, Elodea nuttallii and Myriophyllum alterniflorum. Nearly the whole surface of the water was covered with a sheet of Nymphoides peltata with lots of yellow flowers. Then Vera led us to a vast area of cinder near the railway where Illecebrum verticillatumwas the major attraction, but there were also many other established aliens, casuals and garden escapes to catch the eye. The whole area is going under housing, so Vera encouraged us to take seeds for our gardens.
The morning was completed with Typha x glauca and Sisymbrium volgense with its strong leathery leaves, both by the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, and Crambe cordifolia, Cotula squalida and Orobanche minor in parkland.
After lunch we moved on to our final destination - dunes again, this time at Hightown. There we eventually reached the sea, admiring Calystegia soldanella on the way and we struggled along the top of the sand among builders' rubble and high tide flotsam to end the day with a spectacular display of yellow poppy, seakale, sea holly and other well-known and much appreciated coastal plants, the last one of which, in a depression above the shoreline, was a fine group of Angelica archangelica.
So ended an excellent weekend blessed with perfect weather. We were all impressed by our leaders' ability to find plants for us amid great stretches of amorphous sand dunes. Our thanks go to Shirley Burton and Vera Gordon for all their hard work in making these two days of botanising so memorable.
Ann Whitwell