Wrose Hill, Bradford

Wednesday 21st August 2019

Leader: Brian Byrne

BBG members arrived by bus, car and maybe on foot for a visit to a site unfamiliar to most, Wrose Hill, Shipley. Access is easy, from the point where Hollin Lane meets Carr Lane. Situated half way up the hill, the site looks over the Aire Valley, with Shipley below and Saltaire slightly further to the northwest.

The site consists of a former quarry of Upper Carboniferous silt and mudstones used by the Wrose Hill Brickworks for the production of firebricks and sanitary tubes from the pipe clay and ganister mined there. The deep quarry works became an early waste site for Bradford Council, in part due to the danger they presented. The fill was then levelled and covered with topsoil and three spinneys were planted in 2007, leaving grassy areas, maintained by Bradford Council, and one planted somewhat overgrown wild flower meadow, in between.

The spinneys were planted with trees, some imported, from nurseries. We looked mainly at the densely planted trees, walking round several times, starting with the maples. First we looked at an Acer velutinum var. vanvolxemi, with leaves similar to a sycamore including tar spot. Brian described how the flowers would stand upright like a horsechestnut candle, but the chunky seeds were now horizontal. Next we came to the Norway Maple, Acer platanoides, which has sharp teeth on its 5-7 lobes. A. platanoides is self-sown and widespread in lowland Britain.

We walked by Aspen, Populus tremula var. villosum and Sorbus x thuringiaca, the German Service- tree, which is native despite its name. In a grassy area grew a Hieracium sabaudum, with leaves of a similar size up the hairy main stem, giving it a columnar appearance. It's usually seen further south.

The next Acer was A. miyabei, from Japan, the seeds of which were taken to N Yorkshire, then Kew and then to Europe. It was only grown in arboretums for many years as in some years the seeds are parthenocarpic, i.e. they produce no fertile seed (like bananas). Brian raised the question about what such a rare specimen was doing here- or is it a hybrid? This led to a discussion about the problem of identifying hybrids (let alone complex hybrids) on a site like this where the plants have been brought in from nurseries, hence the two parents are not necessarily present.

Moving on, a cut-leaved alder, Alnus glutinosa 'incisa', described by Brian as an arboretum specimen, was struggling for light in the middle of the thicket and some short Horse-chestnut trees, Aesculus hippocastanum, appeared much younger than the surrounding trees. Fully grown specimens of Horse-chestnut were visible several hundred yards below us. We also saw Hornbeam, Carpinus, and Silver Birch, Betula pendula, hybrids and Hazel hybrids, similar to Kentish Cob, Corylus avellana x C. maxima, with very large fruit.

We then walked on to the old quarry face, under which most of the Willows were growing. These proved even more difficult than the Acers to identify in the field, as many were considered by some to be hybrids, principally of Salix x caprea/ mysinifolia/ latifolia/ viminalis. Lively discussion ensued but since we'd been out for nearly 3 hours, we decided to call it a day. Thanks were given to Brian for his knowledge and experience and introducing us to such an interesting and complex site.

Text by Brigid Kelsey

Photographs by Susan