Wrose Quarry

Tuesday 8th July 2025

Leader: Col Powell

A small group gathered on a sunny, breezy evening on top of Wrose Hill. The aim of the meeting was to look at the site with the aim of possibly creating an LNR (Local Nature Reserve) on the former quarry and brick factory site.

After admiring the fine views over Bradford, we walked down the hill to the quarry which was now a fairly flat area after being infilled in the past. Work on creating the wetlands had finished in 2023. This had included moving soil to create scrapes and a couple of deeper pond areas. After the very dry spring and summer the ponds were now dried up, but damper areas were populated mainly with Soft-rush (Juncus effusus) and drier areas with Mat-grass (Nardus stricta), Common bird’s-foot-trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) and Sheep’s Sorrel (Rumex acetosella).

Highlights included Creeping-Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia), Marsh Willowherb (Epilobium palustre), Small Sweet-grass (Glyceria declinata) and one of the few Bradford sites for Polypody (Polypodium agg.).

We admired a number of swifts flying overhead and then headed back up the hill to the cars.

Text by Kay

Photos by Kay and Tom