Arnside Foreshore and The Knott

Saturday 13^th April 2019

Leader: Julie Clarke

A few BBG members met in Gargrave in order to share a car to Arndale, but a larger number met us at the place itself. In fact, several people had stayed overnight in the area the previous night. There were 14 BBG members in total, but this was a joint trip with the Wildflower Society, so there were 15 of their members present, as well. At least 4 people were members of both organisations, including Julie herself.

This large group set off from the car park along the promenade on a sunny, dry, but somewhat cold day and the first plants of interest were soon found. The leaves of Sea Radish, Sea Wormwood and Sea Plantain were found on the sea wall just beyond the car park and Maidenhair Fern was seen on a small cliff shortly after that. Winter Heath, a common garden plant from southern Europe, was in flower above us, as was a Cherry Plum at the base of the cliff.

After we’d left the foreshore, to head inland towards the start of the ascent of The Knott, it was good to see the leaves of Green Hellebore and native Daffodils in flower. A very attractive area of grassland was then reached, which contained a large patch of White Butterbur leaves and Goldilocks Buttercup in flower. Further up the lane, ascending up towards The Knott, we passed by a beautiful large patch of Early Dog Violet by the side of a road.

It was interesting to see a extensive patch of Butterbur by the side of a lane which was composed entirely of female flowers. The female plant is not found as often as the male plant in northern England. The female flower-heads are shorter, with narrower flowers which are more tassel-like in appearance. The male flower-heads are taller, with bell-shaped flowers. Stinking Hellebore was also seen in this area.

When we eventually reached the lower flanks of The Knott itself, a patch of Blue Moor Grass was seen which contained white flowers among the usual purplish-blue ones. By now, the views were really starting to open up, with great views across to the hills of the southern Lakes. A Willow Warbler was seen and heard on the way up, the first of the year for me.

Upon reaching the top of The Knott, we had to endure a fairly strong, cold wind, but it was worth it for the magnificent views alone. In addition to this, though, we also saw what had arguably been the target plant of the day, Teesdale Violet. Unfortunately, however, it wasn’t in flower, but we did have a good look at it’s hairy leaves. The Teesdale Violet colony on Arnside Knott is distinctive in that the flowers are white, but we’ll have to go back another day to see that. The Teesdale Violets at Arnside also flower earlier in the year than the ones in Teesdale itself. We also saw Rare Spring Sedge – this species is only very local in the east and north of England on dry, short calcareous grassland. There was only one small plant to see, however. There was speculation that the recent weather may have been too dry for these two species in this location this year (especially with it being situated on an east-facing slope) or that they may have been nibbled by rabbits.

Upon reaching the bottom of The Knott, we walked through a field on the edge of Dobshall Wood, a Woodland Trust woodland. There was a beautiful display of Primroses here. One of these may have been False Oxlip (the hybrid between Primrose and Cowslip), or even the backcross between that and Primrose, as it definitely looked more like a Primrose than a Cowslip.

The white-flowered form of Ivy-leaved Toadflax was seen on a wall on the walk back to the cars and a few Toothwort plants were also seen further on.

This was a hugely enjoyable walk, which was very well led by Julie Clarke, who did a great job in making sure that we didn’t miss any interesting species.

Text by Tom

Photographs by Alan and Tom