Natural history heritage walk

17 August 2011
Leader − Mike Canaway
 JOURNAL 
 2012 
 North Craven 
 Heritage Trust 

We set off from the YDNP Visitor Centre in Malham alongside the stream and walked initially through the pastoral landscape, observing the common wild flowers such as the blue Meadow Cranesbill. After a time we reached a marshy area, where the gardeners in the group with my prompting were able to identify Angelica. Marsh Thistle, Greater Bird’s-foot Trefoil and a number of sedges and rushes were seen. Moving on, we approached a small grassy limestone outcrop where we started to see some of the more characteristic plants of limestone such as Salad Burnet, Limestone Bedstraw and Blue Moor Grass. Entering the National Trust property of Little Goredale, a limestone woodland gorge dominated by Ash, Sycamore and Hazel we saw some of the common woodland plants such as Dog’s Mercury, Herb Robert and Wood False-brome. The woodland also provided a good habitat for some of the ferns - Common Male-fern, Broad Buckler-fern, Hart’s Tongue and Hard Shield-fern. Reaching the waterfall of Janet’s Foss, across the stream on a large outcrop was a colony of the rare hybrid Polpody called Font-Quer’s Polypody. Leaving the woodland we headed up the path towards Goredale Scar. Now in classic limestone country with screes, scars and the rushing stream alongside we saw the pale blue flowers of Small Scabious on long stalks, Lesser Meadow-rue and the Brittle Bladder-fern as well as some colonies of Maidenhair Spleenwort clinging to the rock face. Turning back at the climbing section we returned to the village by the road, observing the well-defined lynchets in the fields to the right. Wayside plants included the Scentless Mayweed and the yellow spikes of Agrimony, which was spotted by one of the group. It was noted that this plant is characterised by having pairs of small leaflets alternating with larger ones. A larger relative of the Small Scabious, Field Scabious, was seen and I explained the differences between them. Nearby were the yellow flowers of Black Medick. On entering the village a nice colony of Yellow Corydalis was seen on a garden wall and then we looked at some of the trees nearby, including Wych Elm and Laburnum, before returning to the starting point.
             M. C.

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