2003 Maltby South Yorkshire 24 April One Day Meeting
Magnesian limestone cliffs gleamed in the morning sunshine as 15 keen botanists met leader Everald Ellis by the ruins at Roche Abbey on 24th April. A foray around the perimeter of the Abbey yielded a good range of plants, including Melica uniflora (wood melick), a pale stand of Lathraea squamaria (toothwort) and, by the lake, Cardamine amara (large bittercress). Two plants that were possibly introduced by previous occupants of the Abbey, Helleborus viridis (green hellebore) and Ribes alpinum (mountain currant) were also noted. I have to confess I haven't the slightest idea what the mountain currant would have been used for - medicinal potions or medieval bubble bath?
Moving on into the Norwoods area of the valley we were treated to a range of interesting plants including Carex digitata (fingered sedge), perched above the road on a rocky ledge. Daphne laureola (spurge laurel) on wooded slopes, and Gagea lutea (yellow star-of-Bethlehem) by the river. Lunch was taken at the Abbey amidst the usual WFS discussions about the plants seen in the morning.
The afternoon saw the party drive the short distance to the private Sandbeck Park Estate (by kind permission of the Earl and Countess of Scarborough) where Everald, aided by Derek Bailey, Secretary ofRotherham Naturalists and a WFS member showed us further splendid plants. In abandoned gardens and lakeside parkland we were to see many special plants including Fritillaria meleagris (fritillary), Ornithogalum nutans (drooping star-of-Bethlehem) and, high up in the trees, Viscum album (mistletoe). Everald continued to point out more treasures including my plant of the day Mentha requienii (Corsican mint). It is not often you can put down the location of a plant as 'on path leading to mansion'.
A rewarding day was had by all and this was clearly the result of excellent organisation and botanical know-how.
PETER LUKEY