Kilnsey Park SSSI

Thursday 25th May 2023

Leaders: Nicky Vernon and Bruce Brown

Joint meeting with the Wharfedale Naturalists’ Society

Once parked & paid for entry to Kilnsey Park, 26 members of BBG & WNS were warmly welcomed by Ian Brand, a member of both. The staff member present then took Nicky by car to the top of the site to start working downwards, accompanied by several of the group & Bruce took the rest of us slowly upwards, past the fish processing unit & water tanks where they are reared and the water heat pump unit, which extracts heat from the spring water to help heat the site. We all knew what we had really come for – the Lady’s Slipper Orchid, but there was much to see as we held our anticipation in check and took up the usual botanist’s slow pace. We stopped first at a Winter Cress, by the stream, later confirmed by Jessie that this was Barbarea vulgaris, with only shallowly lobed upper leaves. Mixed with the wild flora were a number of naturalized garden plants including Aquilegia but on the way up to the Nature Reserve and wild flower trails, we noted the conspicuously hairy grass Bromopsis ramosa (Hairy-brome), the sedge Carex acutiformis (Lesser Pond Sedge) with its three stigmas, Equisetum palustre (Marsh Horsetail) with the stem sheath teeth with pale margins, the difficult-to spot Triglochin palustris (Marsh Arrowgrass), the only British genus of the Juncaginaceae family and Valeriana dioica (Marsh Valerian).

As we approached the roped-off Kilnsey Flush SSSI Nature Reserve area, a sloping wet flushed site, the orchids Dactylorhiza fuchsia (Common Spotted Orchid), D. incarnata (Early Marsh Orchid), D. purpurella (Northern Marsh Orchid), along with some Orchis mascula (Early Purple Orchid) still hanging on, were seen, though only in small numbers. Next to gain our attention was good numbers of Primula farinosa (Bird’s-eye Primrose). Pinguicula vulgaris (Common Butterwort) was also noted in the wetter areas.

Towards the top of the nature Reserve site were several thriving clumps of Cypripedium calceolus (Lady’s-slipper Orchid). While those near the path had wire mesh to protect them, some further away did not & provided truly grand specimens to admire, contemplate and, of course, to photograph.

I, for one, had never before seen Cypripedium growing in a wild area and, even though these plants were the fruits of a very long-term project to grow them from seed for release into the wild (English Nature’s Species Recovery Programme in association with Kew Gardens’s Sainsbury Orchid Project), some at least of the source plants’ genes were derived from the single remaining truly wild plant growing not so very far away in the Dales area. So, being in proximity to these healthy wild-growing and to some extent genetically locally-provenanced plants was quite a moving experience, given the history and folklore associated with the species and simply the grandeur of such huge & colourful orchid blossoms.

A gully running through the site had a considerable stand of Cochlearia pyrenaica (Pyrenean Scurvy-grass) which, despite its common name, is a British native.

A vivid yellow slime mould was spotted at the base of a tree-stump which Andy Woodall was able to name as Fuligo septica (Flowers of Tan). These organisms, in their own Taxonomic group and neither fungus nor plant, start out as individual cells which congregate into one body which moves across the substrate feeding before settling in one spot to produce spores for the next generation. Slime Mould biology is fascinating & has been the subject of much recent research to understand its means of communication when at the individual cell stage and ‘problem-solving’ strategies.

Some attendees left at lunch-time, but those remaining stopped for lunch at the top of the site near a dammed pool. This is fed from a spring just above, which is regarded as holy. The Park’s leaflet says: “Seven hundred years ago, the Kilnsey monks built a channel to carry water from the Holy Spring down to the village. Today this pristine water generates electricity for the Park’s buildings and keeps our wildflower meadows thriving”.

In the woods just above, Moehringia trinervia (Three-nerved Sandwort) was found, a ‘woodland and hedgerow species’ as described in Phyl Abbott’s VC64 Flora. Nearby was Dryopteris affinis ssp borreri (Golden-scaled Male-fern). We also spotted the bright orange rust Puccinia urticata on Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica), named by Andy Woodall. As with many Rust species, this one completes its life-cycle by infecting a totally unrelated plant species, in this case various species of sedge – sounds like a complicated way to make a living!

We then viewed the neighbouring meadow above the woodland, beyond the Park’s upper boundary which had a huge amount of Conopodium majus (Pignut) and Cruciata laevipes (Crosswort), which, it was noted, produces a honey-like aroma in the air, when en-masse.

The garden escapes Hesperis matronalis (Dame’s-violet) & the initially puzzling purplish Lysimachia ciliata cv ‘Firecracker’ (a cv of Fringed Loosestrife) and Matteucia struthiopteris (Ostrich or Shuttlecock Fern) were seen on the way back down. This latter species, although it forms the characteristic fern ‘shuttlecocks’, is unusual in also having runners, so it can spread & invade a large area, as it was doing here.

We finally paid a quick visit to the Alpacas, the Angora goats & the (unfortunately empty) Red Squirrel cage, and thence to the café for the few of us remaining to have good & welcome refreshments.

Thanks to Bruce & Nicky for leading & Bruce for recording.

Text and photographs by Graham Heffernan