1996 Upper Teesdale 22nd to 23rd June Main Meeting
May blossom was out in jaunty profusion as we met at Bowlees on the Saturday morning. We had primed ourselves on Upper Teesdale's carboniferous limestone and its mineral wealth, the quartz dolerite of the Great Whin Sill and the special sugar limestone, baked and crystallised by magma, all factors in the botany to come. Now we joined our leader, Vincent Jones, a happy expert in imparting knowledge clearly. We would see an amazing range of plants, among them rare and disjunct species, arctic-alpines and survivors from the later glacial age. The openness, harsh upland conditions and short flowering period check competition from more vigorous, warmth-loving lowland vegetation.
The old limestone quarry at Bowlees was home to a variety of both wetland and limestone species. Here were Blysmus compressus (Flat-sedge) and Selaginella selaginoides (Lesser Clubmoss) in one of its most easterly British sites. Pinguicula vulgaris (Common Butterwort), Valeriana dioica (Marsh Valerian), Dactylorhiza purpurella (Northern Marsh Orchid) and Geum rivale (Water Avens) were seen. So were Arabis hirsuta (Hairy Rock-cress) and the under-recorded Poa humilis(Spreading Meadow-grass). The hawkweed Hieracium vulgatum led to a discussion of floccose, pilose and glandular hairs, continued over H. pellucidum and the uncommon H. cravoniense.
On rocks by Wynch Bridge Hieracium decolor, H. dicella and H. anglicum were examined on the Durham side of the Tees and H. auratiflorum, H. leyi and H. lissolepium on its further bank. (H. crebridentiforme was seen next day en route for Cronkley Fell.) Wynch Bridge is a pleasantly-situated pedestrian suspension bridge. Before crossing to the Yorkshire side we were shown dandelions suited to the wet rock, Taraxacum nordstedtii, T. unguilobum, T. naevosum, with red veins and spotted leaves, and T. faeroense. Festuca vivipara (Viviparous Sheep's-fescue) favoured the rockiness and Sesleria caerulea (Blue Moor-grass) the openness where it overhung the water's edge, not far from Melica nutans (Mountain Melick). Beside the water we had our first glimpse of Potentilla fruticosa (Shrubby Cinquefoil) in its native setting. Another Teesdale speciality, Sorbus rupicola (Rock Whitebeam), grew from the whinstone cliff nearby.
Over the river we walked upstream towards High Force, not quite reaching that towering whinstone bastion over which the Tees falls mightily. The route soon provided Rubus saxatilis (Stone Bramble), Serratula tinctoria (Saw-wort), a sterile monkey-flower, Mimulus x robertsii, spreading from root fragments, Trollius europaeus (Globe-flower) and Galium boreale (Northern Bedstraw). Rhinanthus minor ssp stenophyllus (Yellow-rattle) appeared more brown than yellow, and Cirsium heterophyllum (Melancholy Thistle) had yet to flower. Arctic-alpines included Antennaria dioica (Mountain Everlasting) and Persicaria vivipara (Alpine Bistort). We had Dr Alan Silverside with us to point out the large-flowered Euphrasia arctica ssp. borealis (Eyebright), the hybrid E. arctica x E. nemorosa, and the Mimulus. Rarest of all was the colony of delicate Equisetum pratense (Shady Horsetail). Along the way Betula pubescens ssp. tortuosa (Downy Birch), Salix phylicifolia (Tea-leaved Willow) and Salix cinerea x S. phylicifolia (S. x laurina) were of northern distribution. So was Salix caprea ssp. sphacelata, upstream at Cronkley Bridge.
With permission from the Raby Estate, Saturday's programme included the famous Cetry Bank, below Widdybank Farm, a morainic mound with a rich calcareous flush. Growing together were Carex ericetorum (Rare Spring-sedge), a southern species at its northern limit, and the nationally-rare Kobresia simpliciuscula (False Sedge), otherwise confined to the Central Highlands. These occurred beside Primula farinosa (Bird's-eye Primrose), Bartsia alpina (Alpine Bartsia) and Saxifraga aizoides (Yellow Mountain Saxifrage) in bud. Sesleria caerulea (Blue Moor Grass) and Gentiana verna (Spring Gentian) were over, while the noted Juncus alpinoarticulatus (Alpine Rush) showed last year's wizened stems. Here were the unusual cotton-grass species Eriophorum latifolium and a very rare, endemic dandelion Taraxacum pseudo-nordstedtii. The tiny, slow- growing Carex capillaris (Hair Sedge) and Tofieldia pusilla (Scottish Asphodel) held their own.
Not far from Cetry Bank, the verge at Peghorn Lodge provided the naturalised Peucedanum ostruthium (Masterwort). Langdon Beck gave us Alchemilla monticola and Folly Top A. acutiloba, Lady's-mantles largely restricted to Teesdale and Weardale, unlike A. glabra and A. xanthochlora seen earlier in the quarry. Geranium sylvaticum (Wood Crane's-bill) gave colour here and there. Thlaspi caeruleum (Alpine Penny Cress) had a site above Newbiggin and is an indicator of lead. So are Viola lutea (Mountain Pansy), Minuartia verna (Spring Sandwort) and Draba incana (Hoary Whitlow Grass), to be seen next day on Cronkley Fell.
On Sunday we left the cars at Hanging Shaw and made our way to Cronkley Bridge and on to Cronkley Fell. Noting Cochlearia pyrenaica (Upland Scurvy Grass) and an inconspicuous horsetail Equisetum variegatum, we crossed the bridge and started climbing towards the summit of the Fell at 1700 feet. Juniper straggled some of the way. Rock crevices sheltered Phegopteris connectilis and Gymnocarpium dryopteris (Beech Fern and Oak Fern), and Galium sterneri (Limestone Bedstraw) speckled the pasture.
At the top we saw the glitter of exposed sugar limestone and on it the deep yellow of the endemic Helianthemum canum ssp. levigatum (Hoary Rock-rose). The sugar limestone, open and continually eroding, suited a patch of Dryas octopetala (Mountain Avens), with Carex ericetorum surprisingly alongside. Botrychium lunaria(Moonwort) and Gentiana verna (Spring Gentian) also found it congenial, the latter, mostly over, showing two still-perfect flowers. A wet area nearby included the delicate, little plants of Juncus triglumis (Three-flowered Rush), Carex capillaris (Hair Sedge) and Thalictrum alpinum (Alpine Meadow-rue).
By now it was time to head back to the cars, tracking down to the river opposite Falcon Clints and following the bank to Cronkley Bridge. It had been a marvellous weekend. The sun shone, the traditional northern hay meadows glowed with warm colour and the Tees was silver-blue beneath a cloudless sky. We are grateful to the Raby Estate for the access granted. To Vincent Jones we give our unreserved and hearty thanks.
STELLA LUCE
P.S. John Hawksford writes that the two unnamed hawkweeds seen this weekend have now flowered. They are Hieracium diaphanoides seen on the v.c. 66 side of the Tees at Wynch Bridge, and H. iricum on the bankside near Cronkley Bridge.
EDITOR