West Tanfield

Saturday 13th April 2024

Leader: Bruce Brown

The first field meeting of the Summer 2024 programme took place in the village of West Tanfield, about 10 km to the northwest of Ripon. We spent the day exploring the footpaths along the River Ure, with a mixture of riparian, roadside, field margin and woodland habitats encountered along the route. Thanks to this variety, the number of plant species found was correspondingly high.

The foray began with a few botanical mysteries around the car park, as we puzzled over a sedum * growing on the surrounding walls and examined a deceptively grasslike sedge* at the foot of a veteran beech. However, as soon we headed towards and over the bridge, the plants looked familiar again, many of them collectively sporting a colourful array of early spring flowers.

The yellow star of Bethlehem Gagea lutea, the main species we were planning to see on this outing, was quickly spotted on the wooded riverbank near the bridge at the start of the footpath leading out of the village. This usually elusive, patchily distributed species lives up to its English name with its clusters of starlike golden flowers. It blooms very early in spring and even now was on the verge of going over, with some of the faded petals already in fragments.

The ground flora here largely comprised an abundance of the archetypal spring-flowering species wood anemone A. nemorosa, dog’s mercury Mercurialis perennis, and lesser celandine Ficaria verna. Growing below these were the low-lying kidney-shaped leaves of ground ivy Glechoma hederacea, not yet in flower, and the diminutive but charming five-faced flowerheads of townhall clock or moschatel Adoxa moschatellina.

We ambled along the south bank of the river for just under a kilometre, with species growing by the path including crosswort Cruciata laevipes and hairy St John’s wort Hypericum hirsutum. The hairiness on both the stem and leaves of this latter plant is uniquely diagnostic among our native hypericums that grow on dry ground.

Eventually we reached a track leading to a campsite, through which the route would continue. Here was the first opportunity for the mycologically inclined among us to get busy as we examined a morel Morchella esculenta agg. growing on a tree stump.

Continuing our way through the campsite, we did not see much of botanical interest apart from sweet violet Viola odoratum and three-nerved sandwort Moehringia trinervia in the wooded corner at the end.

The path continued along the edge of a brassica field, dotted with profusions of parsley piert Aphanes arvensis, to a small strip of woodland where we stopped for lunch. The ground vegetation here was dominated by a carpet of few-flowered garlic Allium paradoxum and the more familiar wild garlic or ramsons A. ursinum with its lush green leaves, delicate white flowers and fragrant aroma that permeates the woodland air in spring. Ever mindful of the BBG Code of Conduct, but unable to resist the culinary appeal of this latter plant, I surreptitiously picked a few leaves to garnish my cheese sandwich!

At this point, the attention of the mycologists was once again piqued by the presence of a fairy inkcap Coprinellus disseminatus.

Another species found at our woodland lunch stop and deserving a mention was stinking iris I. foetidissima, which lives up to the specific epithet of its binomial name. The dark green swordlike leaves emit a foetid odour when crushed, which I liken to the unappetising smell of ultra-processed beef from a cheap canteen! Incidentally, it is one of only two species of iris native to Britain, the other being yellow flag iris (not seen on this trip).

The narrow footpath took a sharp turn, leading us to the road leading back to West Tanfield. From here, we made our way along some country lanes for about another kilometre and a half. The roadside vegetation did not offer many new curiosities apart from Goldilocks buttercup Ranunculus auricomus with its characteristic broken petals. Eventually we left the road to walk along the edge of a wheatfield and down through Piccadilly Wood, part of which hugs the steep east bank of the River Ure further upstream from our starting point. The ground flora here comprised a carpet of native bluebells Hyacinthoides non-scripta in bloom, wood anemone and dog’s mercury, dotted with the small and modest flowers of sanicle Sanicula europaea with its palmate basal leaves. Once out of the woods, we covered the final kilometre of the route along a hawthorn-lined farm track leading back to West Tanfield.

Thank you to everyone for contributing their knowledge and observations to make this field meeting a success. As many of us are keen naturalists as well as botanists, it is refreshing to take our eyes off the ground from time to time to watch the wildlife and admire the views. Thanks especially to Bruce for leading the walk and taking the time to carefully recce the route for our benefit.

The weather was overcast and unseasonably cool for the time of year. Amazingly however, it did not rain on us once despite all the inclemency experienced so far this April.

*Bruce later confirmed the identities of this mystery species as thick-leaved stonecrop Sedum dasphyllum and the sedge as grey sedge Carex divulsa. Incidentally, two other stonecrop species, white stonecrop S. album and biting stonecrop S. acre, were identified on the walls of the bus stop in West Tanfield.

Text by Mark

Photographs by Susan and Andy