1995 West Yorkshire 17th to 18th June Main Meeting
Twenty-one of us were welcomed by Mr Geoffrey Wilmore, recorder of v.c_ 63 in succession to Dr J. Hodgson. at the car park at Hardcastle Crags, Hebden Bridge. The morning was to be spent in the adjacent semi-natural woodland and the afternoon in visiting various types of aquatic site. all largely on millstone grit and thus on acid soil apart from local pockets of higher pH. The moist steep-sided valley above Hebden Water was ideal for ferns and we were quickly introduced to a sizeable suite of them including Cystopteris fragilis (Brittle Bladder-fern), Athyrum felix-femma(Lady-fern) and Blechnum spicant (Hard Fern), their characteristics being examined and contrasted. Our stroll along one side of the valley, past a ten-foot high ant-hill and a two-inch high woodcock chick, was further enlivened by choice woodland plants such as Lysimachia nemorum (Yellow Pimpernel), Hypericum pulchrum (Slender St John's-wort), Claytonia sibirica (Pink Purslane) and Ceratocapnos claviculata (Climbing Corydalis) and then by a successful hunt for Melica nutans (Mountain Melick). Crossing the brook at Gibson Mill our return was fuelled by a search for Beech Fern whose 'scientific' name on this occasion proved to be Ignis fatuus (but see later)....
After lunch we drove in convoy, first to the Rochdale Canal at nearby Brearley, home of the extremely rare Potamogeton epihydrus (American pondweed);.in flower and then to Colne Bridge, Mirfield, junction of the Calder and the Huddersfield Broad Canal. Here we had already savoured Acorus calamus (Sweet-Hag), Potamogeton berchtoldii (Small Pondweed) and other notable water species, before Our leader's search culminated in the small neat leaves and flowers of Luronium natans (Floating Water-plantain). Finally we aimed for Bingley South Bog via a single bush of Ledum groenlandicum (Labrador Tea) 2 metres wide x 0.5 m high. In a moss near Haworth. Sadly our convoy column had already been pruned into three by traffic lights. The leading section safely reached the venue with Geoffrey and were shown round a rich array of bog plants including six sedges and Potentilla palustris (Marsh Cinquefoil). The middle section finally found the bog half-an-hour late and the tail section arrived some twenty-four hours later, as Geoffrey insisted on providing a third tour of the site next day so that none need miss it.
The north-east environs of Ilkley Moor was the locale for our Sunday botanising. The morning was devoted to the scrub, short turf and ponds of Ben Rhydding gravel pit. Despite increased rabbit-pressure we were shown not only fine specimens of both Dactylorhiza fuchsii (Common Marsh-orchid) and D. praetermissa (Southern Marsh-orchid) but also hybrids with characteristics of both parents. Malva moschata(Musk Mallow), Euphorbia lathyrus (Caper Spurge), Eryngium giganteum (Tail Sea-holly) in bud, Scirpus maritimus (Sea Club-rush), Ranunculus lingua (Greater Spearwort) and Nymphoides peltata (Fringed Water-lily) provided surprises but all seemed well at home. However, our leader's abundant verve and humour deserted him momentarily when he fished up Lagarosiphon major (Curly Waterweed): ".... it spreads vegetatively ...". On that sombre note we set off to picnic at the Cow and Calf Rocks, Ilkley Moor, calling en route at Banks (Middleton) Wood to see Carex strigosa (Thin-spiked Wood-sedge) and to hear it compared with C. sylvatica (Wood- sedge), as an ideal aperitif.
After lunch we were marched straight to a crevice in the escarpment by the Cow to feed our eyes on Thelypteris phegopteris (Beech Fern) with the compliance of the local climbers who were "in residence'. Then along the moor edge, first to a flowering colony of Trientalis europaea (Chickweed Wintergreen), then a little up Coldstone Beck where Myosotis stolonifera (Pale Forget-me-not) shared the same rivulet as M. secunda (Creeping Forget-me-not), providing an ideal opportunity for careful comparison. Finally we braced ourselves for the botanical culture shock of a land refill site at Burley-in-Wharfedale which had everything it should not have had, e.g. Lychnis viscaria (Sticky Catchfly). So there was something for both tyro and knowledgeable as there had been throughout Geoffrey's presentation of the plants of some of his broad acres, with the coping stone of his appreciative comments on his (and our) late associate, Florence Houseman.
ALAN HALL