Isle of Skye Quarry, Meltham

Friday 27^th May 2022

Leaders: Kay McDowell and Peter Burton

This was a joint meeting with the South Yorkshire Botany Group in memory of Geoffrey Wilmore whose recording square included adjacent parts of South Yorkshire.

An online search suggested that the quarry was named after the Isle of Skye Inn, which before Tan Hill was opened, was the highest pub in Yorkshire. It’s claimed that the pub was demolished by the Council after 1829 before the construction of Digley reservoir, because of its lack of sanitation.

The quarry can't be seen from the road and is accessed by an overgrown track from the small strip of parking alongside the road. The track is blocked off with heaps of old building material which provided the first finds of the day, along with a plastic plant pot, a well-established patch of a garden cultivar of St Dabeoc's Heath (Daboecia cantabrica), after its Irish name, fraoch Dabeoc and another garden Heather. Walking along the stony track between Downy Birch (Betula pubescens), Goat Willow (Salix caprea) and Grey Willow (S. cinerea) to the quarry, ferns included: Golden-scaled Male-fern (Dryopteris affinis ssp affinis), Common Male Fern (D. filix-mas) and a red stemmed Lady Fern (Athyrium filix-femina).

I couldn't find any reference to the dates during which this sandstone quarry was used, but the area of excavated rock is considerable. The growth of trees and other vegetation suggests it has been several decades since quarrying stopped. Once inside the quarry bowl we were protected from the cold wind and found a pleasant sunny spot for lunch later.

The quarry floor presented a range of habitats from bare rock, scree-like chippings, grass, scrub, wet woodland, small and large areas of water with boggy margins. The quarry sides were mainly too difficult to climb but a few plants were visible on ledges and in cracks. We decided to treat it as one site, only recording precise locations of special plants.

We found some Common Spotted-orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii) fairly quickly but there was much debate about whether other plants were Southern Marsh-orchid (Dactylorhiza praetermissa) or Northern Marsh-orchid (D. purpurella). Jesse later concluded that they were probably Southern Marsh-orchid but this would be easier to resolve by visiting in say 2 weeks time as many plants were still in bud. Two Common Twayblade (Neottia ovata) were found later.

We found large numbers of Yellow-rattle in flower which looked immediately different to the normal plants encountered due to the high degree of red blotching on the calyx. Consulting New Flora of the British Isles by Clive Stace when we returned home, it became apparent that this was Yellow-rattle (Rhinanthus minor), and not Greater Yellow-rattle, as some id books had suggested when we were in the field. However it was still useful to learn the id features. Some id books ask you to check whether the style projects from the end of the petals to check the id of Yellow-rattle, however, it would appear that this feature is unreliable. Most Yellow-rattle subspecies flower in the autumn, so this may be a form of the spring flowering subspecies. Another garden escape found was Lady's-mantle (Alchemilla spp.).

Plants growing in the damp and boggy areas included Marsh Foxtail (Alopecurus geniculatus), Common Spike-rush (Eleocharis palustris), Water Horsetail (Equisetum fluviatile) and Marsh Horsetail (Equisetum palustre).

Sedges included Common Yellow-Sedge (Carex demissa) and Common Sedge (Carex nigra). One particular sedge “didn't look right” to be Carnation Sedge and was later confirmed by Jesse to be an unusual looking Glaucous Sedge (Carex flacca). A large clump of Bottle Sedge (Carex rostrata) was growing at the edge of the deeper water. Pill Sedge (Carex pilulifera), Bladder-sedge (Carex vesicaria) and Lesser Pond-sedge (Carex acutiformis) were also found.

More ferns seen included Hart's-tongue (Asplenium scolopendrium) and Hard Fern (Blechnum spicant). In certain areas small numbers of Eared Willow (Salix aurita) and Creeping Willow (Salix repens) were growing. Small saplings were identified by Jesse as Aspen (Populus tremula).

It was too windy for many butterflies to be flying, but we spotted a Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas) at lunch time. We also found the large caterpillar of the northern form of the Oak Eggar (Lasiocampa quercus) known as the Dark Eggar and a Green Tiger Beetle (Cicindela campestris).

Text by Brigid

Photographs by Brigid, Susan and Helen