1997 Derbyshire Cheshire 28 - 29 June Main Meeting
Fourteen people attended this two-day meeting including a large contingent from the south. The leader was Mrs Julie Clarke.
We were not blessed with the best of weather on the Saturday in the Derbyshire Dales. Rain started soon after we set off in Wyedale and steadily worsened as the morning progressed. However, it did not prevent us being shown the choice plants of the area and I did manage to video most of these, although they did look a bit wet and forlorn, especially the Jacob's Ladder! The most difficult task was filming the rare Hawkweed Hieracium subplanifolium growing high up on a shady rock in pouring rain - getting to it, plus camcorder, was no mean feat either! No wonder my camcorder packed in at Southport on the following weekend.
In spite of the weather we did see some wonderful plants which the area has to offer. We started off with a bonus, Saxifraga x polita growing on the roadside cliffs of the A6, a recent discovery apparently. Wyedale gave us two Hieracia - H. cymbifolium and H. pellucidum. In the woods we saw Cardamine impatiens (Narrow-leaved Bittercress), Draba incana (Hoary Whitlow-grass) and Arabis hirsuta (Hairy Rockcress) growing on rocks close to each other and giving us a chance to compare the two similar plants. Cheedale proved to be a botanical 'Mecca'. Apart from Polemonium caeruleum (Jacob's Ladder) we saw some fine displays of lime- loving species such as Geranium sanguineum (Bloody Crane's-bill), and G. columbinum (Long-stalked Crane's-bill) was quite plentiful. I have never seen so much Silene nutans (Nottingham Catchfly), still in full flower no doubt because of the dull light. We just managed to catch the odd flower on Homungia petraea(Hutchinsia). Some of us walked a little further to see Campanula trachelium (Nettle- leaved Bell-flower), a rarity in the north. We had a good list of ferns including Gymnocarpium robertianum (Limestone Polypody) and Asplenium viride (Green Spleenwort).
We were then taken to Millers Dale to be shown Carex ornithopoda in fruit. Dryopteris submontana (Rigid Buckler-fem) was growing on cliffs nearby. From there we were led into Tideswelldale to inspect Hieracium prenanthoides which was not quite in flower, but we were able to examine its 'prenanth' leaves. From there we made towards Buxton stopping on the way to see the hybrid Rest-harrow Ononis spinosa x repens and Galium mollugo ssp. erectum (Erect Bedstraw). On an old wall at Fairfield Church, Buxton, we saw Saxifraga cuneifolia (Lesser London Pride). By now the rain had ceased and the sun was shining as we rounded off the day with a visit to Whaley Bridge where we saw Valeriana pyrenaica (Pyrenean Valerian), Tellima grandiflora (Fringe-cups) and Persicaria campanulata (Lesser Knotweed); and finally a quick visit to the centre of Macclesfield where we were shown Trifolium aureum (Golden Trefoil) and Filago vulgaris (Common Cudweed).
The following day was fine, which was just as well as we were promised a hectic day. All due credit must go to our leader, Julie, for organising us all with our cars on a whistle-stop tour of interesting sites in an area between Macclesfield, Stockport and the Trafford area of Manchester taking in Manchester airport and ending at Carrington Moss west of Sale, all keeping in the typical WFS convoy!
On route we saw a handsome bramble, Rubus tricolor, growing by a disused railway and a number of aliens on a piece of waste-ground at Hazel Grove including Herniaria glabra (Smooth Rupture-wort), hybrid docks and willowherbs and a wide range of garden escapes all included in Kent!
At Poynton Pool we saw Acorus calamus in flower! Thence on to another lake at Capesthome where we were just able to see two virtually inaccessible plants - Cicuta virosa (Cowbane) and Calamagrostis canescens (Purple Small-reed). We were then taken to an old sand quarry where Scleranthus annuus (Annual Knawel) and Ornithopus perpusillus (Bird's-foot) were flourishing. This was at Alderley Edge. We were now poised towards suburban Manchester calling on the fringes of Manchester Airport to see the now increasing alien grass Agrostis castellana with the intriguing name of Highland Bent (ref. C. Stace). We picked up a few established garden aliens by the side of the very busy A6144 (all in one particular layby) as we were heading towards Sale and on to Carrington Moss, an open area of a very rich, dark sandy soil, the bumpy tracks across it causing a cloud of dust as we made our hazardous way (everyone piled in to the strongest cars of the party) to the far end. We were rewarded by unusual aliens in the form of Rorippa x armoracioides (R. sylvestris x austriaca) and Sisymbrium volgense (Russian Mustard). This end of the site consisted of dumped mounds of this rich soil which gave rise to the most luxuriant and oversized specimens of Chenopodium species, possibly not all C. album, with similar outsized Persicaria plants (mostly P. lapathifolium), Fumaria muralis ssp. boraei, growing really rampant as its English name implies, and some fine specimens of Galeopsis speciosa (Large flowered Hemp-nettle).
It was here in this botanical wonderland that most of us called it a day, being suitably poised to join our various motorways to take us home. One or two intrepid members followed Julie back to Macclesfield to stop off at yet three more sites in the Stockport area for three further exotics. As for myself and the others we found Carrington Moss a suitable finale to a weekend feast of flowers.
I must congratulate Julie for her tireless energy in ensuring that we would have loads of plants to see in her area. She even gave up her time on the Friday evening and offered more on the following Monday morning if we missed anything, but we were all completely happy with what we did see. We were also provided with a comprehensive list of the plants we had expected with locations. Many thanks, Julie. My camcorder worked overtime; no wonder it went on strike for the following weekend at Southport. It seems to have now recovered!
IAN C. LAWRENCE