Elsecar

Saturday 6^th July 2019

Leader: Louise Hill

This circular walk encompassed varied habitats and resulted in a species list of about two hundred and forty plants, including some unusual finds. A few members, including myself, parked at the side of a road a short distance away from the official meeting place at Elsecar Heritage Centre and we saw a few interesting species at the side of the pavement on the walk to join the rest of the group. These included Pale Willowherb, Rat’s-tail Fescue and Annual Beard-grass.

In all, 15 people met in the Heritage Centre car park, including 4 people who were either in the Doncaster Naturalists’ Society or the South Yorkshire Botany Group. We walked from there to Elsecar Park, where we started seeing interesting species straight away, such as Bearded Couch and Wood Melick. A little further on, Galingale was seen next to Elsecar Reservoir, on the verge of flowering. Branched Bur-reed and Common Spike-rush were also seen, along with Greater Spearwort and some unusually tall orchids. These may have been the hybrid between Southern Marsh Orchid and Common Spotted Orchid.

The hybrid between Marsh Thistle and Creeping Thistle was seen a short while later and we also came across a beautiful patch of Sneezewort. When a good stand of Bulrush was encountered, it was noted how the male and female parts of the spike are contiguous, unlike Lesser Bulrush, in which the two parts are separated by stem.

On a brief foray down the side of Elsecar Steam Railway, we were able to compare the fruits of Common Poppy and Long-headed Poppy and also saw Great Mullein, Lucerne and Large-flowered Evening Primrose.

We headed uphill from the railway, to a small grassy area, where there were some attractive Common-spotted Orchids. In the adjacent wood, there were Yellow Pimpernel, Hoary Ragwort and Heath Speedwell.

Upon coming down from the wood to the railway again, we saw a lovely display of Hop Trefoil, Hare’s-foot Clover and Bladder Campion. We continued walking along the path between the railway line and the canal. Creeping Jenny and Dotted Loosestrife were seen, along with the leaves of Soapwort. Common and Least Duckweed were seen side by side in the canal, allowing us to see the difference in size (small and tiny).

As we made our way back towards the Heritage Centre, we explored the flora along the edge of the car park next to the heritage train line, with the accompaniment of some rather loud whistles from the steam train on the heritage railway. Here we saw Small Toadflax, Thyme-leaved Sandwort, Fern Grass and Annual Pearlwort.

We ended this superb walk in a very civilized manner, with a drink at the café.

Text by Tom

Photographs by Susan