tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66089495649056899332024-03-13T15:44:02.047+00:00Friends of Chorlton MeadowsFriends of Chorlton Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14447128364092047150noreply@blogger.comBlogger260125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608949564905689933.post-46741532533861623262014-09-28T15:48:00.001+01:002014-09-28T15:48:45.735+01:00Discover Where You Live by Cath Dyson<br />
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Using a map and compass…</div>
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To put together the walks and
cycles in ‘Discover where you live’ in the Community Index over the last few
months I have used maps, both paper and online. </div>
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Ordnance Survey produces the best
maps in the world. Fact! For the rural explorer in particular the 1:25,000
really are the best with 4cm to 1 kilometre. To explore Chorlton, the Transpennine
Trail to Stockport, Fallowfield Loop and much more get ‘OS Explorer 277
Manchester & Salford’. However when researching the walks for Community Index I also used
Open Source mapping ‘Open Street Map’ which for the densely packed urban and
suburban environments can be (though I hate to say it) more useful than the OS map.
It is available on desktop, see <a href="https://www.openstreetmap.org/">https://www.openstreetmap.org</a> and on the iPhone / iPad, download the app Go
Map!! And of course the wonderful Google Maps, Street view and Google Earth are
fantastic free digital mapping tools as well as the OS <a href="http://www.getamap.ordnancesurveyleisure.co.uk/">Get a Map</a> Digital
Services.</div>
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People may think that using a map and
compass and navigating in general is only for when you are in remote locations.
However maps can really help you get to know your local area much more
intimately. </div>
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Many of us stick to the same familiar routes whether
driving, walking or cycling, and feel we know Chorlton, the Meadows, and the
area around us well enough. Maps, even of a place as familiar to us as Chorlton
Meadows can reveal nooks, crannies, short cuts and paths which can easily be missed
if you aren’t looking for them. When researching the event ‘Map reading on the
Meadows’ I ran as part of Chorlton Arts Festival earlier this year I
‘discovered’ a pond I hadn’t known was there, and I have lived, walked, run and
cycled on the Meadows for many years. </div>
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Just from looking at the map square containing Chorlton Ees
I know it is flat rough grassland and deciduous woodland dotted by five ponds.
You can cycle through this nature reserve on a route which is part of the
National Cycle Network. It includes part of a long distance walking route and has
a stream with steep sides. There are lots of tracks criss-crossing the Ees but
very few rights of way except for on the river bank. </div>
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Maps embody so much information about the world around us.
From maps you can understand the history of a landscape, its current uses,
facilities and features. Engaging with a map, reading its symbols and
interpreting the information crammed into every kilometre square gives us a
greater appreciation of the world around us and it can pique a curiosity to find out more. </div>
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So what does the map tell us about Chorlton Ees? I have
already said there are few rights of way. Rights of way are green lines on the
map and are key to any walker. They tell you where you can walk. Rights of way
are enshrined in law and in many cases reflect historic and sometimes ancient
routes. Short green dashed lines are footpaths, boots only; long green dashed
lines are bridleways for boots, hooves and wheels. </div>
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On the Meadows instead of footpaths there are tracks (black
dashed lines) which indicate there is a track on the ground but not necessarily
a legal right of way for the public. There are also routes suitable for
cyclists marked by a string of orange circles, this tells me this is not a
historic route, otherwise it would be a bridleway. </div>
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The lack of footpaths and bridleways tells me that this land
hasn’t historically been accessed by people on foot, by cart or more recently
by bike. Why would this be? David Bishop of Friends of Chorlton Meadows (<a href="http://friendsofchorltonmeadows.blogspot.co.uk/">http://friendsofchorltonmeadows.blogspot.co.uk/</a>)
gives us a very big clue, ‘From the late 19th century until the late 1970s
agriculture was gradually displaced from the Mersey Valley and what was
deposited on the ees was not “rich mud” but the growing city’s effluent in the
form of sewage works and rubbish dumps.’ Who would need or want to walk through
that?! Knowing this it makes much more sense why there is a dearth of historic
routes across the Ees.</div>
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Using a map and compass gives you the tools to be your own
(urban) adventurer and explorer, to know where you are and get you where you
want to be. It is like learning a new
language, allowing you to create your own routes and giving you the key to a new way of understanding and
interacting with your environment, local or not. I find it fun to walk paths
some created recently, many created by centuries of use and it is empowering to
get around under your own steam, using your own two legs and some basic map and
compass skills to get from A to B whether you are in town or country. </div>
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So get yourself a map and explore the wonderful suburban
countryside on our doorstep. If you would like to join me at the next free
navigation walk ‘Map Reading on the Meadows’ Sunday 12<sup>th</sup> October
2014<a href="" name="_GoBack"></a> 11am book a place on <a href="http://mapandcompass.wix.com/mapandcompassm">http://mapandcompass.wix.com/mapandcompassm</a>
or email me <a href="mailto:mapandcompassOL21@gmail.com">mapandcompassOL21@gmail.com</a>
or text me on 07411 165058. </div>
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Cath Dyson, September 2014</div>
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Cath Dyson co-organises navigation
walks and training, see <a href="http://mapandcompass.wix.com/mapandcompass">http://mapandcompass.wix.com/mapandcompass</a>.
She is writing a book to be published by Sigma Press, ‘Navigate your Way
Around… the South Pennines’ </div>
Friends of Chorlton Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14447128364092047150noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608949564905689933.post-85950718400346067252014-08-01T09:55:00.002+01:002014-08-01T09:55:26.439+01:00A New Plan to Restore the 'Jewels in the Mersey Valley's Crown'<br />
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When
I first moved to South Manchester, in the early 1970s, I soon discovered the
Mersey Valley – particularly the Chorlton Ees and Ivy Green areas on either
side of Chorlton Brook, and Hardy Farm (collectively referred to locally as
‘Chorlton Meadows’). At that time I was developing an interest in botany and
was amazed at the richness of this area’s flora. It soon became a favourite
Sunday afternoon occupation of mine to take a field guide down to the Meadows
and try to identify as many plants as possible. I soon realised that many of
the plants that I was finding were of the ‘semi-natural grassland’ type, and I
was aware, even then, that semi-natural grasslands are the richest habitats
for wildlife in England, supporting more priority species than any other; a
fifth of all priority species are associated with grasslands. I was also aware
that grasslands are now among our most endangered habitats – mainly due, in the
wider countryside, to agricultural intensification. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Since 1940 we have lost 97% of our English meadows and pastures and
there are only 8000 ha left <sup>1</sup>.<o:p></o:p></div>
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There were once extensive ‘water meadows’ in the Mersey Valley. Local
Farmers deliberately flooded these meadows in the winter months in order to
deposit a layer of rich silt which, in turn, produced abundant grasses which
were cut for hay in late summer. Such a system would have a required an
elaborate and sophisticated system of sluices and drains in order to get the
water first on to and then off of the meadows. This system has been almost entirely
lost. The local name for a water meadow was ‘ees’. Chorlton’s historian, John
Lloyd, wrote that:<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Those who tilled the fields in those past ages were well aware of the
need to control the flood waters in the ees and of the benefit of the layer of
rich silt left by the receding water. Within the memory of people still alive
[in the late 1960s?] the farmer who last tenanted Barlow Hall Farm commented
that the sluice gates in the banks were never opened for the first flood of the
year for this brought down the rubbish, but the second flood brought down the
rich mud <sup>2</sup>.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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A more recent local historian, Andrew Simpson, has added more detail on
the operation of water meadows:<o:p></o:p></div>
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“[Meadows consist of] grassland that is kept damp by the use of ditches
(called carriers) that are worked by sluice gates fed by a river. The land is
fed with water up to an inch in depth from October to January for about fifteen
to twenty days at a time, before water is run off into the drainage ditches.
The land is then left to dry out for five or six days, so the air can get to
the grass. The early watering took advantage of the autumnal floods, which
brought with them a mix of nutrients and silt which enriched the land <sup>3</sup>.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Andrew also tells us that this was a very skilled job, which the owner
of the land, the farmer, tended to undertake himself rather than delegate it to
some employee. It required constant vigilance to ensure that, “the water was
evenly distributed and that there was no accumulation of weeds.” The farmer
also had to beware of hard frosts which “could turn the meadow into ‘one sheet
of ice which will draw the grass into heaps which is very injurious to
meadows’”. Nevertheless, an early 20<sup>th</sup> century farmer, Alfred
Higginbotham, annually flooded one of his meadows so that the people of the
local community could skate on it (there are still local ancestral memories of
skating on the Meadows in the winter).<o:p></o:p></div>
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The next important task was haymaking during the summer. The grass was
first cut and then left for a few days to partly dry. It was then turned and
left for a few more days to complete the drying process. Finally, it was loaded
into carts, taken off to be stored in barns and then used, during the winter
months, to feed farm animals with. Haymaking was also a highly skilled job and
was very labour intensive. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In the course of the research for his book, Andrew came across a mid-19<sup>th</sup>
century haymaker named John Gresty. John lived in a cottage on The Row (now
Beech Road) and probably hired himself out to local farmers at the appropriate
time of year. John’s most precious possession was almost certainly the key tool
of his trade – his scythe. This consisted of an artfully crooked pole, about 5
½ feet long, with two projecting side handles and a 3 foot long, curved steel
blade at the ‘business end’; one of John’s essential skills would have been
knowing how to use a whetstone to keep this blade razor sharp. He, and any
fellow haymakers, would have swept their scythes through the grass in long arcs,
keeping the blades parallel to and close to the ground. The blades were swept
from right to left depositing the cut grass on the left.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As a result of this annual management regime, probably acting over
several centuries, a distinctive type of meadow evolved (hence the term
‘semi-natural’). According to the National Vegetation Classification scheme <sup>4</sup>
our meadows were of the ‘Alopecurus-Sanguisorba’ type (code MG4). This means
that they were distinguished by the presence of the grass Meadow Foxtail (<i>Alopecurus pratensis</i>) and the tall herb
Great Burnet (<i>Sanguisorba officinalis</i>).
The following ‘constant’ species were also present in such meadows (I have
indicated the grasses with a ‘g’) <sup>5</sup>:<o:p></o:p></div>
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Common Mouse-ear (<i>Cerastium
fontanum</i>)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Crested Dog-tail (<i>Cynosurus
cristatus</i>) g<o:p></o:p></div>
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Red Fescue (<i>Festuca rubra</i>) g<o:p></o:p></div>
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Meadowsweet (<i>Filipendula ulmaria</i>)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Yorkshire Fog (<i>Holcus lanatus</i>)
g<o:p></o:p></div>
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Meadow Vetchling (<i>Lathyrus
pratensis</i>)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Autumn Hawkbit (<i>Leontodon
autumnalis</i>)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Perennial Rye-grass (<i>Lolium
perenne</i>) g<o:p></o:p></div>
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Meadow Buttercup (<i>Ranunculus acris</i>)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Common Sorrel (<i>Rumex acetosa</i>)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Dandelion (<i>Taraxacum officinale</i>
agg.)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Red Clover (<i>Trifolium pratense</i>)<o:p></o:p></div>
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White Clover (<i>Trifolium repens</i>)
<o:p></o:p></div>
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It’s interesting to note that all of the species on this list are still locally
common. In individual meadows, other grasses and grassland species, not on the
core list, could often be found.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It’s important to note that MG4 grasslands are now quite rare and tend
to be confined to certain river valleys in central England. <sup><o:p></o:p></sup></div>
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From the late 19<sup>th</sup> century until the late 1970s agriculture
was gradually displaced from the Mersey Valley and what was deposited on the
ees was not “rich mud” but the growing city’s effluent in the form of sewage
works and rubbish dumps. Nevertheless,
when the Mersey Valley Countryside Warden Service was established in 1978 there
were still some reasonably good examples of semi-natural grassland left on both
the Chorlton and Sale sides of the river (although, alas, these were no longer
subjected to winter flooding). Sale Ees was particularly interesting because it
was still visibly a reasonably good example of an MG4 meadow. On Chorlton Ees
there is still a colony of Adderstongue Fern – a curious, and increasingly
scarce little plant generally considered to be an indicator species of
unimproved grassland (and probably corresponding to the colony recorded from
the area by the Manchester botanist, Richard Buxton in his Flora of 1849 <sup>6</sup>).
<o:p></o:p></div>
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After 1978 the management and conservation of these meadows (together
with a few more, further west and east) should have been, in my opinion, an
absolute priority – but tree planting and the encouragement of ‘informal
recreation’ took precedence. At the very
least these areas needed to be cut in late summer and the hay crop taken off,
and indeed this happened for a few years. The hay crop was sold to local
livestock owners but eventually, for reasons which are obscure, this form of
management ceased. Soon the meadows began to deteriorate. Although some Great
Burnet still grows on Sale Ees the area is dominated by coarse grasses and is
succumbing to natural succession and trees and shrubs are taking over. Chorlton
Ees has begun to go the same way but it has been further damaged by a
pyromaniac who for a number of years has set fire to it every spring; now it is
dominated by Rosebay Willowherb – a plant which readily colonises burned
ground. These precious few acres of
historic, local semi-natural grassland are now very severely degraded and could
be lost in a few years. I must give credit, though, to the Environment Agency
who cleared rank vegetation from two key areas earlier this year.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In 2013 Natural England gave the
Greater Manchester Ecology Unit £8820 for a 2 year project to investigate the
decline of Mersey Valley grasslands. Now GMEU has a plan to restore many of these
grasslands. The plan has been written by GMEU ecologist, David Dutton <sup>7</sup>.
David’s plan is meticulously detailed and fully costed and is presently the
subject of a Manchester Clean City grant application. Nevertheless, if this
application is unsuccessful other sources of funding will need to be sought and
additional funding could be necessary at some future date. <o:p></o:p></div>
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David’s discussions with Wythenshawe
Farm Centre have revealed that they are currently short of hay to feed their
livestock in winter and would be interested in taking hay from our grasslands
once they have been brought into a mowable condition. Initial costs include
establishing this mowable condition, purchase of agricultural machinery and the
provision of additional livestock and barn space.<o:p></o:p></div>
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If successful, this project should
radically improve the biodiversity of our area, enhance its attractiveness,
re-introduce active management and generate income and jobs for the locality
through the production of local food.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The project will also provide baseline
information on the feasibility of the re-introduction of controlled winter
flooding, increase the financial viability of Wythenshawe Farm Centre and act
as a template for the sustainable management of similar sites across
Manchester.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Forty years ago I was afforded just a
glimpse of an ancient landscape; a landscape dominated by flowery grasslands.
The green shades of the tall grasses were augmented by the yellows of
Buttercups, Dandelions and Common Catsear and the reddish haze of Sorrel.
Around the margins of these meadows and on the river banks were great patches
of pink Bistort, the creamy, frothy flowers of Sweet Cicely and Meadowsweet and
the huge leaves of Butterbur. These precious, beautiful remnants of a, once
more extensive, landscape were a tribute to the skill, knowledge and dedication
of local farming dynasties such as the Baileys and the Higginbothams and the
back-breaking toil of men like John Gresty and his nameless workmates. Then,
for decades, I had to watch them degrade and occasionally to watch them being
destroyed by people who didn’t understand their significance (and probably
didn’t even care). These ‘jewels in the Mersey Valley’s crown’ are presently
very faded - but now there’s hope that they can be restored.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal">The
Grasslands Trust Website <a href="https://www.blogger.com/(http://grasslands-trust.org/current-situation)">(http://grasslands-trust.org/current-situation)</a><o:p></o:p></li>
</ol>
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<ol start="2" style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal">Lloyd, J.M., ‘The Township
of Chorlton cum Hardy’, E.J. Morten, 1972</li>
</ol>
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<br /></div>
<ol start="3" style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal">Simpson, A., ‘The Story of
Chorlton-cum-Hardy’, The History Press, 2012</li>
</ol>
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<br /></div>
<ol start="4" style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal">Joint Nature Conservation
Committee (JNCC), Habitat Account – Natural and semi-natural grassland
formations, 6510 Lowland hay meadows (<i>Alopecurus
pratensis</i>, <i>Sanguisorba
officinalis</i>) (http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/protectedsites/sacselection/habitat.asp?FeatureIntCode=H6510)
</li>
</ol>
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<br /></div>
<ol start="5" style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal">Wikipedia article on
British NVC Community MG4</li>
</ol>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_NVC_community_MG4)">(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_NVC_community_MG4)</a></div>
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</div>
<ol start="6" style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal">Buxton, R., ‘A Botanical
Guide to the Flowering Plants, Ferns, Mosses and Algae, Found Indigenous
Within Sixteen Miles of Manchester’, Longman And Co., 1849</li>
</ol>
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<br /></div>
<ol start="7" style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal">Dutton, D., ‘Chorlton
Meadows’, ‘Clean City Grant Application’, Greater Manchester Ecology Unit,
June 2014</li>
</ol>
<div>
Postscript: Sadly, this blog thingy appears to have been "improved" in such a way that I can no longer add photos. Anyone know how to do this?</div>
Friends of Chorlton Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14447128364092047150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608949564905689933.post-58229875672303370182014-06-16T17:09:00.000+01:002014-06-16T17:09:39.333+01:00My Speech to the Recorders' ConferenceBack in April of this year, the Greater Manchester Local Records Centre organised a Wildlife Recorders' Conference at Manchester Museum. I was asked to give a speech and you can read it below (well it took me long enough to write it!):<br />
<br />
"I want to start by introducing you to a great Mancunian – a
person who some of you may, possibly, have never heard of.<br />
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His name was James Crowther and he was born in 1768, in the
cellar of a slum property near Deansgate. Most of his working life was spent as
a porter on the canal at Knott Mill. His life seems to have been an
extraordinary mixture of hardship and joy. He was an exuberant free spirit and
his great passion in life was botany. It was said of him that: “[H]e was
characterised by a cheerful, joyous disposition; was the life and soul of any
botanical party, and pursued both botany and entomology with the greatest
ardour.” He thought nothing of walking 15 or 20 miles, after work, in search of
plants. He always received a week’s holiday at Whitsun and used to walk to the
Yorkshire Dales. On one of these trips he discovered the Lady’s Slipper orchid.
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Another of his finds was the Mudwort – which he found
growing on the (appropriately enough) mud by the side of a mere near Knutsford.
He told his friend Edward Hobson about this find and Hobson insisted that James
take him to see it. In the interim it rained heavily and when they reached the
mere the Mudwort was under water. Hobson went off to look for something else but
when he came back there was no sign of James. Suddenly the surface of the mere
erupted and up came James triumphantly clutching a specimen of the Mudwort!</div>
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Another lake which featured in James’s life was the one in
Tatton Park. One day he arrived in the park with a home-made contraption – a
long wooden pole with brass fittings. He was almost immediately grabbed by two
gamekeepers who accused him of poaching fish and dragged him before the owner
of the park, Mr Egerton. James explained to Egerton that the contraption was
for retrieving water weeds – not fish. Such were his powers of persuasion, and
so impressed was Egerton by his knowledge and enthusiasm, that he told his
keepers that James was not be molested again and was allowed to enter the park
any time he chose. </div>
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Gamekeepers were an occupational hazard for James and they
invariably accused him of poaching. Once he was chased across 3 or 4 miles of
open country and only just managed to escape. On another occasion he, and his
friend Richard Buxton, were searching for Cloudberries on the moors above
Stalybridge; they strayed onto a grouse moor and were apprehended by an irate
gamekeeper who refused to believe that they weren’t poachers. They knew that
the rich guarded their land zealously and that the penalties for poaching were
severe. On this occasion they finally managed to talk themselves out of a
dangerous situation.</div>
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James had many friends who shared his enthusiasm for plants
and natural history. Two of these friends were John Bland Wood, a medical doctor
from Salford and the aforementioned Richard Buxton, who was a poor shoe-maker
from Ancoats. Both of these men published floras of the Manchester region and
James contributed records to both publications.
Both of these books give us a tantalising glimpse of this part of the
country before industrialisation and urbanisation wiped out many of its natural
riches. </div>
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The confrontations that James and his friends had with
gamekeepers reminds us that, from the middle of the 18<sup>th</sup> century to
the middle of the 19<sup>th</sup> century, the rich and the nobility contrived
to have acts of Parliament passed which allowed them to enclose lands which had
formerly been held in common. These enclosures too often had a devastating
effect on wildlife and natural habitats. We don’t know what James and Richard
and their associates thought about this, but one of their contemporaries did
make his views known. This was John Clare, a farm labourer and poet from the
village of Helpston - which lies to the north of my home town of Peterborough. John
kept a nature diary for a few years and his poetry reveals an intimate and
detailed knowledge of his local wildlife – particularly of birds. One of his
greatest poems, entitled ‘Remembrances’, describes the catastrophic effect that
the Enclosure Movement had upon his beloved local countryside:</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Inclosure like a
Buonaparte let not a thing remain<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i> It levelled every bush and tree and levelled
every hill <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>And hung the moles for
traitors – though the brook is running still <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>It runs a naked stream
cold and chill.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And since Clare’s day, losses of wildlife have
accelerated, especially since the Second World War when so-called ‘agricultural
improvement’, and latterly rampant development, have become the norm. Recently,
a wide-ranging alliance of wildlife conservation groups published a report
entitled ‘The State of Nature’ - a comprehensive audit of what has happened to
the natural world in Britain over the last half century. The report was
co-ordinated and produced by the RSPB but 24 other bodies took part, ranging
from the Bat Conservation Trust to the British Lichen Society.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The report is, essentially, a catalogue of loss. It examines
the fates of 3,148 species of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians,
invertebrates and plants in the British countryside since 1962. It concludes
that 60% of these species have declined in numbers, 30% have declined by more
than half and 10% are threatened with extinction. Populations of many species –
like the House Sparrow or the Garden Tiger Moth - which were common only a couple
of decades ago are now in steep decline. I note, in passing, that such a report
would not have been possible without the work of thousands of wildlife
recorders, working over decades, to accumulate the necessary records.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised by these grim
statistics. It’s sad to relate that our species has been wiping out other
species for a very long time. It is now, more or less, agreed that when humans
migrated out of Africa, between 100 and 200 thousand years ago, they
exterminated large animals (mammoths, mastodons, giant ground sloths etc.) on
five continents. A paleobiologist, named John Alroy, told the American
journalist, Elizabeth Kolbert that this ‘megafauna extinction’ was a
“geologically instantaneous ecological catastrophe too gradual to be perceived
by the people who unleashed it.” But the rate of destruction appears to be
exponential and we’re now on the part of the curve where it starts climbing
close to vertical; the on-going catastrophe is now perceivable well within a single
human life-time. There have been five major extinction events in the history of
Planet Earth and we’re now living through the sixth. And there’s no doubt that
our own species is causing this one. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But there’s something very odd about this sixth extinction. Others
were caused by insensible natural forces – climate change, volcanism, asteroids
etc. but what makes this one unique is that it is being studied, in meticulous
detail, by elements of the causal agent! I wonder if there’s any evolutionary
significance to that fact – I don’t know – ask me again in another 100,000
years!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But there’s more to recording than just cataloguing loss.
Sadly, we live in a culture which is currently so uncivilised that it doesn’t
recognise, as James and his friends did, and modern people like you and I still
do, the value of the natural world for its own sake. We have to justify the
conservation of landscapes and habitats by proving that they are notably
biodiverse and worth conserving; and that means record keeping.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Everyone in this room understands where James’s mad
enthusiasm came from and why he derived so much joy from the natural world. A
world sterilised of its wildlife, and containing only humans and their
artifacts, would not be worth living in – and would probably not even be
survivable. And that’s why we have to stand against the rising tide of
destruction. Record keeping may seem a rather mundane and bureaucratic activity
– but it’s a powerful weapon in our armoury. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Dave Bishop, April 2014</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
References:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
1. ‘The Late James Crowther, The Naturalist’: Obituary in the
Manchester Guardian, Jan 13, 1847 (Thanks to Andrew Simpson for directing me to
this remarkable document).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
2. ‘The Selected Poems and Prose of John Clare’: edited by Eric
Robinson and Geoffrey Summerfield, Oxford University Press, 1967.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">3. ‘The State of Nature’: Report from the RSPB and
Partners, 2013 (<a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/images/stateofnature_tcm9-345839.pdf">www.rspb.org.uk/images/stateofnature_tcm9-345839.pdf</a>)</span><div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">4. 'The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History' by Elizabeth Kolbert, Bloomsbury, 2014</span></div>
Friends of Chorlton Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14447128364092047150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608949564905689933.post-72923540279928165742014-05-09T10:55:00.000+01:002014-05-09T10:57:14.833+01:00RSPB in the Mersey ValleyRecently Manchester City Council issued the following press release:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">PRESS RELEASE BEGINS</span> <br />
<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Manchester City Council invites the RSPB ‘home’</b></span>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Manchester City Council and the RSPB are
set to develop an exciting new vision to connect people with nature in the
Mersey Valley.</span> <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The two organisations
will work closely with local people and groups at Chorlton Water Park and
Fletcher Moss, to explore ways of encouraging people to do something positive
for wildlife, reconnect with nature and help look after the Mersey Valley by
getting actively involved.</span> <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This
summer, two events will be held to launch the partnership and celebrate the
RSPB’s 125th anniversary, with the organisation ‘coming home’ to Fletcher Moss,
Didsbury - the place where the RSPB was founded in 1889, in protest against the
barbarous trade in plumes for women's hats.</span> <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The RSPB’s Big Wild Sleep Out will take place in June and a
'Giving Nature a Home' Festival will be held in August.</span> <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">A series of workshops has also been planned to take place
throughout the year, allowing local people and organisations to contribute their
ideas - and help shape and deliver the vision for the Valley.</span>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Local friends groups and other key
stakeholders are being encouraged to form a Mersey Valley Forum, which will be
jointly managed by the council and the RSPB.</span> <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Councillor Rosa Battle, Manchester City Council's Executive
Member for Culture and Leisure, said: “We're looking forward to working with
local people and the RSPB, to continue to look after the Mersey Valley and help
develop it for nature in the future.</span> <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">"We want to encourage as many people as possible to get involved
with this summer's events, whether it's by trying some exciting new activities,
volunteering to help out, or by contributing their ideas."</span> <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The RSPB has already started talking to people and
collecting information on site, using questionnaires - and will continue to do
this until the summer, with both organisations keen to involve as many people as
possible in the Mersey Valley vision. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Peter Robertson, RSPB Regional Director for Northern England,
said: “I'm pleased the RSPB is returning to its roots to deliver this inspiring
project. Recent studies have shown that Britain’s wildlife is in trouble but we
know that together, people can make a difference; so we hope to work with the
local community to help give nature a home, whether that’s taking action in
their own homes or getting out and about in the valley, and lending a helping
hand.</span> <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">"Staggeringly, 60 per cent of
Britain’s wildlife has decreased over the last 50 years, and more than 1 in 10
British species are threatened with extinction. In the same period, Britain has
lost 44 million birds and 95 per cent of our hedgehogs have disappeared since
the 1950s.</span> <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">"Some shocking statistics
have also revealed that children now spend less time playing outside and have
less contact with nature than ever before. We believe that being connected with
nature should be part of every child's life and through this partnership, we
hope to enable this to happen.”</span> <br />
<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">PRESS
RELEASE ENDS</span><br />
<br />
This is very exciting news! The RSPB is the UK's top nature conservation organisation and I'm sure that the Valley's wildlife will benefit enormously from their involvement.<br />
<br />
Dave Bishop (FoCM Chair), 09.05.2014Friends of Chorlton Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14447128364092047150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608949564905689933.post-28704519522433125152014-04-27T09:58:00.000+01:002014-04-27T10:12:46.250+01:00Male Whinchat on Chorlton EesRecently local birder, Pete Hines sent me a link to his You-Tube video of a male Whinchat on Chorlton Ees. This bird is, apparently, a summer visitor to the British Isles. Pete has provided some links, on his You-Tube posting, which will provide you with much more information on this bird. Here's the link to the video:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVNYYv_mDLs">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVNYYv_mDLs</a><br />
<br />
Dave Bishop, April 2014Friends of Chorlton Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14447128364092047150noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608949564905689933.post-7296130173624801642014-04-02T19:22:00.002+01:002014-04-20T16:44:58.041+01:00Book Review- 'The Sixth Extinction'<b>Review: ‘The Sixth
Extinction: An Unnatural History’ by Elizabeth Kolbert; Bloomsbury, 2014.</b><br />
<br />
On one fateful day 66 million years ago, the Earth’s
gravitational field captured an asteroid. It was travelling at around seventy
thousand kilometres per hour on a flat trajectory. It slammed into the Yucatan
Peninsula and generated a white-hot, supersonic shock-wave which was directed
mainly northward. The author of this book quotes a geologist who said:
“Basically, if you were a triceratops in Alberta, you had about two minutes
before you got vaporized (sic)”. Trillions of tons of sulphur- rich material were
blasted into the air, which led to a condition analogous to a ‘nuclear winter’.
Whole orders, families, genera and species of plants and animals went extinct –
most famously the non-avian dinosaurs. It took the world millions of years to
recover from these catastrophic circumstances – but they are probably why we’re
here, rather than some descendant of the dinosaurs.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There had, in fact, been four mass extinction events before
the one described above. The most devastating was probably the one at the end
of the Permian, some 252 million years ago when around 96% of all living things
went extinct – although the reasons for that event are not as well understood.
When interviewed recently (http://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2014/mar/09/elizabeth-kolbert-whole-world-becoming-zoo)
the author of this book, Elizabeth Kolbert, stated that life on Earth is
“contingent” i.e. subject to chance or unforeseen circumstances. The title of
her book is based on the rapidly growing consensus among scientists that we’re now
living through the sixth extinction event in the history of life on Earth – and
that our own species, <i>Homo sapiens</i>,
is directly responsible for it. Our current epoch is increasingly being
referred to as the “Anthropocene” because our species is now so dominant and has
so modified the planet’s surface and atmosphere that the fate of the biosphere
is now in our hands. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Elizabeth Kolbert is an American journalist and author. She
is best known for her book on climate change, ‘Field Notes from a Catastrophe’
(2006), and as an observer and commentator on environmental matters for the
‘New Yorker’ magazine. This present book is brilliant, lucid, very readable,
scientifically up-to-date, tragic and utterly terrifying. We learn that
although certain species, such as the Great Auk and the Dodo, have been
deliberately exterminated through over-exploitation in the recent past, more
recent losses can be directly attributed to our gross and ruthless
modifications of the planet’s surface and atmosphere – in particular there are
direct links between species’ extinction and climate change. For example,
carbon dioxide is soluble in water and produces a weak acid. As the CO<sub>2</sub>
content of the atmosphere increases, the oceans become more acidic. This
affects the viability of organisms that use calcium in their body plans;
shellfish and corals are particularly badly affected. In tropical waters, reefs
formed by corals provide ecological niches for thousands of non-coral species;
if corals are damaged or killed, all of those dependent species are put at risk
as well. Tropical rain forests contain hundreds of different tree species. Each
tree species has specific habitat requirements and also provides niches for
many other species of plants and animals. As temperature rises, trees which
produce few seeds and/or are slow growing are at a serious disadvantage, and,
consequently, so are their attendant species. Trees which produce lots of seeds
and/or are fast growing can move uphill to cooler climes. But even the latter
are still at risk because many rain forests are now so fragmented that there
are limited spaces for them to move to.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The much vaunted ‘globalisation’ is a serious problem too.
Many organisms have been (often inadvertently) transported around the world and
have caused havoc in places in which they do not belong. Currently, Central
American amphibians and North American bats are being wiped out by imported
fungal diseases.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I took away two surprising ideas from this book:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
1. This is undoubtedly the first extinction event in history
which is being studied, in meticulous detail, by elements of the causal agent!
In her research for this book, Ms Kolbert interviewed many scientists working
in the field and accompanied some of them on their field trips. The ingenuity
and dedication of these scientists is often astonishing.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
2. Time scales can often be difficult, or impossible, to
grasp; who can get their head round 66 million years – let alone 252 million
years – for example? It is now, more or less, agreed that when humans migrated
out of Africa, they exterminated large animals (mammoths, giant ground sloths,
moas etc.) everywhere they went. Kolbert interviewed a paleobiologist, named
John Alroy, who described this ‘megafauna extinction’ as a “geologically
instantaneous ecological catastrophe too gradual to be perceived by the people
who unleashed it.” The ominous fact is, though, that extinctions are currently
happening within single human lifetimes. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This is an important but scary book. Brace
yourself and read it!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Dave Bishop, March 2014</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Note: This review first appeared in 'Manchester Climate Monthly'. To find out more about Manchester's premier climate journal, you should e-mail the editor, Marc Hudson, on mcmonthly@gmail.com.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">PS: I tried to add a picture of the cover of this book to top of this article but, for some unknown reason, this - bleep, bleep, bleep, bleeping - software wouldn't let me!! </span>Friends of Chorlton Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14447128364092047150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608949564905689933.post-59535236435979826752013-10-22T17:57:00.002+01:002013-10-22T17:58:16.215+01:00The Fallowfield Loop and 'Greening the Greenways'<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FYVxLwsA-Qg/UmanW8-LN1I/AAAAAAAAIIY/xBoOtBZl-I4/s1600/With+Floop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="231" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FYVxLwsA-Qg/UmanW8-LN1I/AAAAAAAAIIY/xBoOtBZl-I4/s320/With+Floop.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: normal;">
<span style="color: #1d1b11; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-themecolor: background2; mso-themeshade: 26;">The Fallowfield Loop (‘Floop’) is an off-road cycle path,
pedestrian and horse riding route from Chorlton-cum-Hardy through Fallowfield
and Levenshulme to Gorton and Fairfield in Manchester. It is part of the </span><a href="http://www.sustrans.org.uk/what-we-do/national-cycle-network" target="_blank" title="National Cycle Network"><span style="color: #1d1b11; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-themecolor: background2; mso-themeshade: 26; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">National</span></a><span style="color: #1d1b11; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-themecolor: background2; mso-themeshade: 26;"> Cycle Network of routes and
paths developed and built by the cycling charity </span><a href="http://www.sustrans.org.uk/" target="_blank" title="Sustrans"><span style="color: #1d1b11; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-themecolor: background2; mso-themeshade: 26; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Sustrans</span></a><span style="color: #1d1b11; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-themecolor: background2; mso-themeshade: 26;">. It is part of
National Route 6 of the National Cycle Network which, when complete, will
connect London and Keswick in Cumbria.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<span style="color: #1d1b11; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-themecolor: background2; mso-themeshade: 26;">At 8 miles long the Fallowfield Loop is thought to be the
longest urban cycleway in Britain. It was previously part of the old
‘Manchester Central Station Railway’, built in the 1890s and closed in 1968.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: normal;">
<span style="color: #1d1b11; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-themecolor: background2; mso-themeshade: 26;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The line had lain
derelict for many years until the late 1990s, when a group of cyclists started
campaigning for its conversion to a traffic free ‘greenway’ across south
Manchester. That group, together with supporters from local civic societies and
other community groups, formally became the ‘Friends of the Fallowfield Loop’ in
June 2001. The route is now mostly owned by Sustrans, a charity which
specialises in building off-road cycle routes. They have partly funded
conversion of the route, together with Manchester City Council, Sainsbury’s and
others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<span style="color: #1d1b11; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: background2; mso-themeshade: 26;">The overall aim of the ‘Friends’ is to encourage and support all the
partners in the Fallowfield Loop route to provide and maintain a first-class
community resource and to encourage As many people as possible to use it.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">T</span><span style="color: #1d1b11; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: background2; mso-themeshade: 26;">he Floop creates a linear </span><span style="color: #1d1b11; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-themecolor: background2; mso-themeshade: 26;">park and wildlife corridor,
linking parks and open spaces. It has an interesting flora – some of which may represent
all that’s left of the lost, ancient rural landscape of South Manchester. Some
of the intriguing plants that I have found, over the last few years, include:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #1d1b11; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-themecolor: background2; mso-themeshade: 26;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #1d1b11; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-themecolor: background2; mso-themeshade: 26;">Hedge Parsley (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Torilis japonica</i>) – which is by no means
uncommon nationally but is very rare in South Manchester – presumably because
its precise habitat requirements are now only met by one little patch of ground
by the Floop (?)</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5VFqqfKcerY/UmapMQ-XIGI/AAAAAAAAIIg/nQS8471Z2n0/s1600/Torilis+japonica+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5VFqqfKcerY/UmapMQ-XIGI/AAAAAAAAIIg/nQS8471Z2n0/s320/Torilis+japonica+6.jpg" width="258" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #1d1b11; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-themecolor: background2; mso-themeshade: 26;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: #1d1b11; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-themecolor: background2; mso-themeshade: 26;">The scarce, pink-flowered
bindweed hybrid <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Calystegia x howittiorum</i>
(although the exact identity of this plant needs to be confirmed).</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cWdt1yhesW8/UmaqjAwtlkI/AAAAAAAAIIo/sGLFivCcf54/s1600/Pink+Bindweed+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cWdt1yhesW8/UmaqjAwtlkI/AAAAAAAAIIo/sGLFivCcf54/s320/Pink+Bindweed+4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #1d1b11; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-themecolor: background2; mso-themeshade: 26;"><span id="goog_1660341061"></span><span id="goog_1660341062"></span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #1d1b11; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-themecolor: background2; mso-themeshade: 26;">Royal Fern (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Osmunda regalis</i>)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #1d1b11; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-themecolor: background2; mso-themeshade: 26;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qyHUxJw0YrE/UmasUlv2MWI/AAAAAAAAIIw/ERD1i3yg7gg/s1600/Lower+hardy+Farm+-+Royal+Fern2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qyHUxJw0YrE/UmasUlv2MWI/AAAAAAAAIIw/ERD1i3yg7gg/s320/Lower+hardy+Farm+-+Royal+Fern2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #1d1b11; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-themecolor: background2; mso-themeshade: 26;">A Sphagnum moss (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">S. capillifolium</i>)</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--ZZt2q64ux0/Umas_ye-_PI/AAAAAAAAII4/4T-13VwNR0c/s1600/Sphagnum+capillifolium+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--ZZt2q64ux0/Umas_ye-_PI/AAAAAAAAII4/4T-13VwNR0c/s320/Sphagnum+capillifolium+3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #1d1b11; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-themecolor: background2; mso-themeshade: 26;"> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #1d1b11; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-themecolor: background2; mso-themeshade: 26;">The presence of the latter two
plants suggest that the surrounding land was probably once much boggier – and it’s
a miracle, really, that they have survived.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: #1d1b11; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-themecolor: background2; mso-themeshade: 26;">An evergreen, Chinese Honeysuckle
(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lonicera henryii</i>). This latter plant
is obviously a garden escape – but I’ve never found it anywhere else.</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7qQGcu0o2B8/UmatYW7itXI/AAAAAAAAIJA/Io3wltI95Wc/s1600/Henrys+Honeysuckle+4comp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="257" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7qQGcu0o2B8/UmatYW7itXI/AAAAAAAAIJA/Io3wltI95Wc/s320/Henrys+Honeysuckle+4comp.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="color: #1d1b11; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-themecolor: background2; mso-themeshade: 26;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #1d1b11; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-themecolor: background2; mso-themeshade: 26;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #1d1b11; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: background2; mso-themeshade: 26;">Because of my interest in the Floop’s flora, I was
delighted to learn, recently, of </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Sustrans’ ‘Greener Greenways’ project
which started this spring (2013) and is a 3.5 year project that they are
running in England on certain sections of their cycling routes. The project is
funded by the Esme Fairburn trust and has allowed Sustrans to employ two
ecologists to run the project. The outline of the project is in stages,
beginning with the baseline surveying of the ecological status of 280
kilometres of cycling routes. The chosen sections are not all that Sustrans owns,
or has management liability for, but they represent the majority of its
holdings and hence some very significant sections.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The roll out of the programme will allow Sustrans to systematically
build up their knowledge of the biodiversity of their greenways. They are aware
that many of their volunteers have an interest and expertise in this field and hope
to engage with that pool of enthusiasm and knowledge as the projects develops.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Once the 280kms of survey have been completed, mapped and analysed – the
findings will inform Sustran’s ecology team and allow them to develop fuller
management plans for the designated routes. They believe that this will allow
them to make very practical but balanced decisions on work priorities for the
routes and the wildlife corridors they run through. In turn, these plans will
help to contribute to work plans that Sustrans staff and volunteers will be
able to share.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Ultimately, Sustrans would like to recruit Wildlife Champions from their
volunteer team and/or the local communities along their greenways. Potentially
each champion could take on such a role for any given <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">one kilometre</span> stretch of greenway and help to monitor and to
care for its wildlife. Sustrans believes that this will represent a great
chance to engage with local communities who, in turn, can help them to enhance
and protect some wonderful local habitats.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Initial surveys are being undertaken by a paid ecologist. These surveys will
not supersede any work already done by any individual volunteers but they are
intended to lead to a Phase One baseline. It should be noted that any
additional information, that any volunteer or supporter of Sustrans might have,
and is willing to share, would be considered very beneficial by the Ecology
team. If you have any of this knowledge and think that Sustrans should know
about it then, please contact Mike Dagley* of Sustrans in the first instance
(for contact details, see below).</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The timetable for the Phase One baseline survey is as follows:</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;">August 13-14<sup>th</sup>
Fallowfield Loop, Manchester</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;">September 17-18<sup>th</sup>
Chester Millennium Greenway</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;">November 5-7<sup>th</sup>
Hadrian’s Cycleway, Cumbria</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 217;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Later this year Sustrans intend to develop Management Plans and specific
recommended actions for each route. As well as informing Sustrans about the
more nuanced management of their routes, opportunities will be created to form
partnerships with Wildlife Trusts, local conservation groups, volunteers and
all interested in making more of the ‘linear parks’ that these routes
represent.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">*Mike Dagley</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Volunteer Coordinator</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Sustrans Northwest England</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">5th Floor, 30-32, Charlotte Street</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Manchester M1 4FD</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">0161 923 6050</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">0161 923 6053 (direct)</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">0787 645 3773</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Dave Bishop, October 2013<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><strong>References</strong>:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Sustrans: <a href="http://www.sustrans.org.uk/">http://www.sustrans.org.uk</a></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The Friends of the Fallowfield Loop: <a href="http://fallowfieldloop.org/">http://fallowfieldloop.org/</a></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Friends of Chorlton Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14447128364092047150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608949564905689933.post-1070662762837964322013-09-26T16:35:00.001+01:002013-09-26T16:35:25.000+01:00Review: Manchester Festival of Nature, Heaton Park, Saturday 7th September 2013<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X4uDbObutb4/UkRTlaKducI/AAAAAAAAIII/8n4bIWUtjf8/s1600/cape+gooseberry3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X4uDbObutb4/UkRTlaKducI/AAAAAAAAIII/8n4bIWUtjf8/s320/cape+gooseberry3.jpg" width="265" /></a></div>
<br />
Here, better late than never, is my review of this event earlier in the month.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">According to the flyer which advertised the event, it was
part of the: “BBC Summer of Wildlife”. Nevertheless, the small print on the
flyer informed us that it was: “... not being organised or run by the BBC”. The
BBC link appeared to consist of an opportunity to: “Meet Naomi Wilkinson from
CBBC’s Wild!” Unfortunately, I seem to have missed that opportunity (drat!).</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The actual organisers were Manchester City Council in collaboration
with Red Rose Forest, Manchester Museum, the University of Manchester, the
Environment Agency and Greater Manchester Local Records Centre. </span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">My main involvement was with the latter organisation - which
is in the midst of an important 3 year project called ‘Grey to Green’ (http://www.gmwildlife.org.uk/grey_to_green/).
The aim of this Heritage Lottery funded project is to: “... <span class="content">encourage and train local people to identify and record wildlife.
The project operates across the whole of Greater Manchester with a particular
focus upon residents in Tameside, Manchester, Salford and Wigan.” The Grey to
Green team has been running ‘bioblitzes’ at various wildlife rich sites,
throughout this region, all year.</span> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A ‘bioblitz’ is an event at which a group of
naturalists attempts to identify as much of a particular site’s wildlife, as
possible, in an approximately 24 hour period. This particular Heaton Park bioblitz
was incorporated into the main ‘Festival of Nature’ event. It actually started
the evening before when bats, moths and other nocturnal wildlife were detected
and recorded. Other groups of plants and animals were recorded on the day of
the main event. My contribution was to work with other botanical enthusiasts to
record the site’s flowering plants and ferns. I’ve been involved with this
project all year and it’s given me the opportunity to investigate and record
samples of Greater Manchester’s wild vegetation from Prestwich to Wilmslow and
from Wigan to Broadbottom. Even prior to any significant analysis of the data,
I think that it may be possible to draw a few very tentative conclusions (at
least about the plant life) – but more on that later.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The main festival event itself was, as these things usually
are, a bit of a mixed bag. I confess that I didn’t get round to visiting many
of the stalls that were present because I spent a lot of my time in the field.
Nevertheless, I did get to speak to two ladies on the Environment Agency stall
who wanted to hear people’s views on their organisation’s management of local
rivers and river valleys. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As it happens,
a number of wildlife groups in the Mersey Valley had discussions with the EA
last year (2012) about their management of the river banks. The EA were
prepared to enter into dialogue and this is currently leading to some very
positive outcomes for the Mersey Valley’s biodiversity. I learned from the two
ladies at the festival that the EA are now actively soliciting comments on the
issues facing local river basins through a consultation. You can find out more
on the consultation website at: </span><a href="http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/challengesandchoices"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">www.environment-agency.gov.uk/challengesandchoices</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
. If you have any opinions on this subject, please contribute to the
consultation – I certainly will be.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I also had an interesting chat with a postgraduate student
from the University of Manchester who is in the process of completing a PhD on
freshwater algae; he had some nifty little microscopes with screen displays –
so that I could see what the microscopic plants, that he was studying, looked
like.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">There seemed to be a lot of silly, vaguely wildlife-related,
things for little kids to do. Children, with whiskers painted on their cheeks,
and wearing sparkly cardboard ‘bunny ears’ rushed around stroking stuffed foxes
and badgers and viewing various hapless living creatures in a variety of tanks
and cages. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am, of course, a bit of a
curmudgeonly old git – but even I don’t disapprove of little kids doing silly
things and having fun on a Saturday afternoon! Nevertheless, these silly things
are supposed to fill them with enthusiasm for wildlife. Do they? I wonder if
the council has ever checked? To my knowledge, the Council has been running
these types of events for around a generation now. I wonder how many little
kids, who were persuaded to construct and wear sparkly bunny ears 20 years ago,
are now enthusiastic and knowledgeable naturalists? I hope that my scepticism
is unfounded. If you are an enthusiastic and knowledgeable naturalist, and were
inspired to become one through making and wearing sparkly bunny ears 20 years
ago, please comment on this post and put me right! </span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">One peculiar and unaccountable aspect of this festival was a
tent full of drummers (!) What their remorseless, monotonous, interminable
thumping had to do with wildlife, I will probably never know. For a while they
could be heard all over the park and I narrowly escaped being driven completely
mad. I briefly toyed with the idea of applying a penknife to all of the
percussive surfaces in the tent – mercifully, I came to my senses and realised
that I didn’t really want to go to prison for drumicide (there is, of course,
no such crime as “drumicide” – I made it up!). </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The ‘star’ of the show was, of course, Heaton Park itself –
or rather it should have been. It is, I believe, the biggest park in
Manchester. Nevertheless, the bits that I saw were not very biodiverse and
maximising their biodiversity did not appear to have any sort of priority. As
far as I was able to tell there were three main types of habitat in the park:
lots of obsessively mown grass, some overgrown, gloomy tree plantations and
some unmanaged, scruffy bits. The dominant flora was a rather dismal assemblage
of (all too common) plants which, I’m afraid, I could have, more or less,
predicted before I laid eyes on it. I can recite species off the top off my
head: Common Nettle, Broad-leaved Dock, Creeping Buttercup, Meadow Buttercup,
Yorkshire Fog Grass, Timothy Grass, Soft Rush, Greater Plantain, Ribwort
Plantain etc., etc., etc. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ubiquity
of this assemblage, in so many sites in Greater Manchester, is, I fear, an
indicator of how species-poor our local biodiversity has become. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Significant populations of the two alien, vegetable thugs,
Himalayan Balsam and Japanese Knotweed, were evident in a number of places. It
is possible to control the former, if the will exists to do so, but controlling
the latter can be difficult and expensive. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The most interesting plant find of the day was also an
alien. It occurred on a little patch of disturbed ground in the midst of a sea
of closely mown grass. The plant in question turned out to be Cape-gooseberry (<em>Physalis peruviana -</em> see photo above). This species is
unrelated to gooseberries but is, in fact, a member of the tomato family. Its
fruits are like miniature yellow tomatoes and are edible. It’s originally from
South America but I believe that it’s now grown commercially for its fruits in
various parts of the world (e.g. South Africa). I’m not sure if it’s grown on
any significant commercial scale in the UK. This was only the second time that
I’ve seen this plant, in the wild, in Manchester. Curiously, I found my first
one, in Hulme, about a week before. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
looked it up in the ‘Bible’ i.e. Prof. Clive Stace’s monumental ‘New Flora of
the British Isles’ (3<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">rd</span></sup> ed., 2010). I learned that it is:
“Intr[o]d[uced]-nat[uralise]d; imported as minor fruit and casual on tips, nat[uralised]d
in Herts; occasional in Br[itain], mainly S[outh] ...” </span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So do my two finds suggest that it’s moving north? Some
authorities believe that some alien plants, will respond to climate change by
doing so in the near future. Well, no - to advance such a hypothesis, on the
basis of two finds, would be ridiculous! But ask me again in a few years time.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I learned on the grapevine that this event had cost the
Council around £10,000. I rather wish that they’d spent the money on improving
the park for wildlife.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Dave Bishop, September, 2013<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
Friends of Chorlton Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14447128364092047150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608949564905689933.post-26499815911015629342013-08-30T09:02:00.001+01:002013-08-30T09:04:17.180+01:00Unravelling the Web of LifeMarc Hudson, of Manchester Climate Monthly, has just sent me the following link to a sad and terrifying piece by the Canadian biologist, Neil Dawe:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.oceansidestar.com/news/web-of-life-unravelling-wildlife-biologist-says-1.605499">http://www.oceansidestar.com/news/web-of-life-unravelling-wildlife-biologist-says-1.605499</a><br />
<br />
Please read it!<br />
<br />
It may seem overly dramatic to compare the Mersey Valley to the wilds of Canada - but my experience of our local green haven, over the last 40 years or so, is eerily similar. We have lost so many species over that time and all we've got now is a species-poor tangle of nettles and brambles.<br />
<br />
I've come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as 'progress' any more - just accelerating environmental destruction.<br />
<br />
<br />
Dave Bishop, August 2013Friends of Chorlton Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14447128364092047150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608949564905689933.post-26209291890764049992013-08-18T18:08:00.003+01:002013-08-30T09:03:41.085+01:00Bat and Moth Night, Chorlton Ees and Ivy Green, 10th August 2013<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bZg_WLRCVhc/UhD57aLag7I/AAAAAAAAIHE/nHY5HM50G_M/s1600/batnmoth8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bZg_WLRCVhc/UhD57aLag7I/AAAAAAAAIHE/nHY5HM50G_M/s320/batnmoth8.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">When
I emailed Dave Bishop to enthuse about the Bat and Moth Walk last Saturday
evening he asked me if I would write a short account for the FOCM blog. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Here
goes………….<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">My
first thought - read Dave's account of last year's Bat & Moth night and
smile smugly (no that's not the word I was looking for) I mean contentedly that
we had much better fortune this year. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">The
humour of Dave's description of last year's event did make me smile "Everyone
seemed perfectly happy to stand around in the dark and the pouring rain,
in a flooded car park, chatting about bats and moths - while the subjects
of these conversations were sensibly tucked up in their little bat and moth
beds. Eventually sense prevailed and we all went to the pub"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
On the night of 10th August 2013 we were blessed with fine weather and an amazing
turn out of people to look at and learn about bats and moths AND we did not see
the inside of a pub at all.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Our
evening started with an introduction to moths lead by Ben Smart. Ben had kindly
brought some moths which he had caught locally in his own garden the previous
night. It was wonderful to see some of the more colourful and unusual moths
which can be found in our local area. The moths included the stunning Red
Underwing which has upperwings which are perfectly camouflaged against tree
bark in order that the moth can rest unnoticed on a tree and vibrant red
underwings which it can flash to startle any predator which disturbs it. Other
lovely colourful moths which Ben had brought along for us to see were a Bloodvein,
an Orange swift and a Canary-shouldered Thorn. Moths such as the Pale Prominent
were really interesting shapes and others like the little Antler moth had very
distinctive markings (well, like antlers really) which give them their names.
Some were so well camouflaged and "twig like" that we all had to look
and then look again to even see them whilst they were resting on their twigs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-huyAKA0Pe1E/UhD62jsoSgI/AAAAAAAAIHM/QY8ONF8AN-w/s1600/batnmoth3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-huyAKA0Pe1E/UhD62jsoSgI/AAAAAAAAIHM/QY8ONF8AN-w/s320/batnmoth3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">I
have to confess to rather liking the Dingy Footman which does seem like a
rather disrespectful name to give to a lovely silky moth with pale edges to its
wing which make it look like it has a halo. As someone who is very keen on
moths, I was in my element and it was lovely to see how enthusiastic and
pleasantly surprised many people seemed when they saw just how varied and
colourful many of our British moth can be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">A
moth trap (light trap) was set up on one edge of Ivy Green car park and Ben ran
this trap for us whilst the bat walk took place. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RDFwWp_2jf4/UhD743yyBuI/AAAAAAAAIHY/GBtVOzyoGPw/s1600/batandmothnight100813+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RDFwWp_2jf4/UhD743yyBuI/AAAAAAAAIHY/GBtVOzyoGPw/s320/batandmothnight100813+4.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">The
Bat walk was lead by Richard Gardner. Richard gave us some background
information about our UK bats and the types of bats which we may expect to
encounter on our walk with him. The group had some bat detectors to share out
and Richard explained to us all how these worked by converting bats ultrasonic echolocation
calls into sound at a frequency which we could hear. He explained how echolocation
worked for bats and what their calls would sound like when we listened to them
using bat detectors. I was really keen to practise using my own bat detector
which I had recently purchased and it was so useful to have an expert on hand
to confirm the identification of the bats.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">I
think that we all liked hearing the "feeding buzzes" which can be
heard through the detectors as the bats close in on their insect prey.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Richard
also gave us some really interesting "Bat Facts" <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">A
tiny Pipistrelle bat can eat 2000 - 3000 midges per night (we were both amazed
and very grateful for this!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bats fly with their hands. Their wings are
made of a thin membrane which stretches across the bones which in our bodies
would form our hands.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Bats
mate before they hibernate in the winter but the female bats delay the
subsequent fertilisation and do not "become pregnant" until the
following spring.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">We
saw and heard both Common and Soprano Pipistrelle bats flying over Chorlton
Brook. Common Pipistrelle's peak echolocating frequency is around 45KHz and
Soprano Pipistrelle's peak echolocating frequency is around 55KHz. We tuned the
bat detectors when were heard the echolocation calls in order to tell which one
of the two types of Pipistrelle we were listening to. We could also see the
bats when they flew into a clear area where they were silhouetted against the
sky. We marvelled at how tiny and agile they were.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UgnwNHWNWpA/UhD9oskit2I/AAAAAAAAIHk/66pdhAbYx_4/s1600/bat+pipistrelle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UgnwNHWNWpA/UhD9oskit2I/AAAAAAAAIHk/66pdhAbYx_4/s1600/bat+pipistrelle.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">After
leaving the Brook and heading across the meadow, we arrived on the banks of the
Mersey where we heard more Pipistrelles and in addition we saw and heard Daubenton's
bats. The sound heard through at bat detector for these bats differ. Pipistrells
produce a sound which is often described as a "wet slap". Daubenton's
bats sound is a faster "dry click" (a bit like a fast two stroke
engine!).<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">The
Daubenton's bats could just be seen skimming the surface of the Mersey,
"gaffing" insects from the river. Gaffing is a term which means that
the bat is using its feet to grab insects as it is flying along very close to
the water.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vK-n6Gxpld4/UhD-JtMmXMI/AAAAAAAAIHs/0LrkjLdPQ1U/s1600/Bat+Daubentons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="231" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vK-n6Gxpld4/UhD-JtMmXMI/AAAAAAAAIHs/0LrkjLdPQ1U/s320/Bat+Daubentons.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">After
some excellent "batting" we returned to the Ivy Green car park to
investigate the moths which were being attracted to the light trap. Large
Yellow Underwings were flying around the light and the dark yellow colour of
their underwings could be clearly seen. Amongst the other moths there were more
Dingy Footman, Pale Prominent an attractive "micro-moth" called a
Mother of Pearl moth which had pale iridescent wings. My absolute favourite was
a Sallow Kitten moth. I saw this species of moth later in the week and thanks
to Ben's excellent moth identification and explanations, I was very pleased to
be able to recognise the moth again when I saw it.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hmVLKxG5_3A/UhD-o6Rhi9I/AAAAAAAAIH0/zTIF9nRF-WE/s1600/batnmoth2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hmVLKxG5_3A/UhD-o6Rhi9I/AAAAAAAAIH0/zTIF9nRF-WE/s320/batnmoth2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">My
thanks go to both Richard and Ben for this very enjoyable event. I would love
to learn more about moth identification and if you are likeminded and would
like to take up moth identification (and very importantly) submitting records
for the moths which you see in the Manchester area, then perhaps you could let
me or Dave Bishop know. If there is enough interest it would be wonderful to
draw upon Ben's experience and expertise to learn more about identifying these
wonderful insects.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Debbie Wallace</span><br />
<br />
Thanks to Ian Brusby for the wonderfully atmospheric photographs that he took, on the night, in the car park - Ed.Friends of Chorlton Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14447128364092047150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608949564905689933.post-48076120942769515552013-08-15T18:02:00.000+01:002013-08-15T18:02:00.523+01:00Wildlife Activities at Heaton Park, 7th September 2013<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3YGsESOWSv8/Ug0I-avgbxI/AAAAAAAAIG0/K50eVjeZxYs/s1600/Heaton+Park23092013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3YGsESOWSv8/Ug0I-avgbxI/AAAAAAAAIG0/K50eVjeZxYs/s320/Heaton+Park23092013.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
There's a Manchester Festival of Nature being held at Heaton Park on Saturday 7th September. All are welcome and it's FREE!<br />
<br />
As well as the wildlife focussed family activities the Greater Manchester Local Record Centre will be running a series of 'bioblitzes' in the park as part of their 'Grey to Green' project. For those people who may not know what I'm talking about, a bioblitz is an event at which the participants attempt to identify as much wildlife as possible, on a particular site, over a limited period of time. If you're interested in finding out more, have look at the following page:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.gmwildlife.org.uk/news/index.php">http://www.gmwildlife.org.uk/news/index.php</a><br />
<br />
Bioblitzes are great fun and to join in, participants do not need any experience. For more details contact either me (<a href="mailto:davegbishop@aol.com">davegbishop@aol.com</a>) or Matt Holker (<a href="mailto:matthew.holker@tameside.gov.uk">matthew.holker@tameside.gov.uk</a>) of the 'Grey to Green' team.<br />
<br />
Dave Bishop, August 2013Friends of Chorlton Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14447128364092047150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608949564905689933.post-83831173752614111832013-08-06T18:24:00.000+01:002013-08-06T18:26:57.284+01:00A Walk from Chorlton to Didsbury in July<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">When Transport for Greater Manchester destroyed the
wonderful plants and habitats of the Lower Hardy Farm SBI, with their hideous
Metrolink-to-the-Airport bridge, they also closed off the path, on the south
side of the river, which leads eastward towards Didsbury and Stockport.
Recently, though, they have re-opened this path and on Tuesday<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>9<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> July 2013 I seized the
opportunity to walk it again and re-visit those of my favourite spots which
haven’t been destroyed by ‘progress’ ... yet.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The weather was gorgeous and the day felt to me to have a
particularly pleasing, summery ‘savour and flavour’ to it. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The first part of the walk took me past Sale Golf Course.
Now here’s a thought - have you ever noticed how much green space in Greater
Manchester is devoted to golf courses? If it has never occurred to you, just
try flicking through the ‘Manchester A to Z’;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>there appears to be a golf course on nearly every page (apart from the
City Centre of course!); some pages show two – or even three. I just thought
I’d point this out – particularly as golf courses are not particularly
biodiverse. If we had as many biodiverse spaces as golf courses then, perhaps,
we wouldn’t be in the midst of a biodiversity crisis (?)</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Beyond the golf course there’s a large electricity sub-station
with extensive open space around it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’ve known this area for at least 30 years and it’s always had an
interesting flora. I think this is mainly due to the fact that, sometime in the
past, a load of limestone chippings were spread over it. Part of this space is
open and the other part now has a rather sparse birch wood growing on it. On
the open part is a sign saying ‘Private Land’. Although I’ve never been stopped
from entering site, I always experience a slight ‘frisson’ when stepping over
the rusty barbed wire perimeter. I calm myself by pretending that I’m the great
early 19<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> century Manchester botanist, James Crowther. James, a
warehouse porter from Hulme, would range miles on his botanical expeditions and
was often chased by gamekeepers - who tended to mistake him for a poacher.
James usually managed to out-run the gamekeepers but there’s no doubt that,
these days, they’d catch me easily! I also suppose that if, on that Tuesday in
July, anyone had intercepted me I would merely have been ordered off the site.
James, on the other hand, probably risked being transported to Botany Bay (how
horribly ironic that particular fate would have been for him!). </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">There were numerous Common Spotted Orchids (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dactylorhiza fuchsii</i>) on the site. In
spite of the name, these are not as common around here as the members of the
Marsh Orchid group (also in the genus <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dactylorhiza</i>).
They are slim and delicate and often have dark spots on the leaves – which are
probably the origin of the common name.</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WnMEFHWG4gg/UgEdZBIUofI/AAAAAAAAIE0/gASG8vsi-gA/s1600/Common+Spotted+Orchid09072013+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WnMEFHWG4gg/UgEdZBIUofI/AAAAAAAAIE0/gASG8vsi-gA/s320/Common+Spotted+Orchid09072013+3.jpg" width="215" /></a></div>
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<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Also present on this site were small patches of Mouse-ear
Hawkweed (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pilosella officinarum</i>).
These have delicate little, lemon- yellow, dandelion-like flowers. The patches
have runners and small leaves with white hairs (I assume that these leaves are
supposed to resemble the ears of mice ...).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span id="goog_173161486"></span><span id="goog_173161487"></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wPMM7l9hljA/UgEhnG0pPlI/AAAAAAAAIFE/VlmSHQX5WBg/s1600/Mouse-ear+Hawkweed09072013+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wPMM7l9hljA/UgEhnG0pPlI/AAAAAAAAIFE/VlmSHQX5WBg/s320/Mouse-ear+Hawkweed09072013+3.jpg" width="295" /></a></div>
</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Is Mouse-ear Hawkweed really a ‘Hawkweed’? That name should
possibly only apply to plants in the genus <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hieracium</i>.
But <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pilosella</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hieracium</i> are closely related (Professor
Stace informs us that “evidence for [their] distinctness is equivocal”).
Nevertheless, there is at least one ‘true’ Hawkweed on the site. At present, I
can’t name this plant and would probably have to send off a specimen for full
identification. You see, Hawkweeds are one of the most difficult groups in the
British Flora. Apparently, all <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hieracium</i>
flowers are female and the plants reproduce via an asexual process called
‘apomyxis’. One of the consequences of this process is that it gives rise to a
multiplicity of similar, but distinct, forms known as ‘apomictic microspecies’
(no, I don’t understand any of this either – I’m just parroting what I’ve read
- and I realise that I’m in <u>very</u> deep water here!).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6SwzXI0gtNI/UgEpKvFOExI/AAAAAAAAIFU/DHDHi8IuqIc/s1600/Hawkweed09072013+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6SwzXI0gtNI/UgEpKvFOExI/AAAAAAAAIFU/DHDHi8IuqIc/s320/Hawkweed09072013+3.jpg" width="231" /></a></div>
<br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Prof. Stace, in his magisterial ‘New Flora of the British
Isles, tells us that, “411 microspp. are currently recognised in the British
Isles.” Even he doesn’t give a full account but divides the genus up into 15
sections.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A simpler account, in a book
called ‘Wild Flowers of Britain & Ireland’ by M. Blamey, R. Fitter and A.
Fitter, gives three main types of Hawkweed: Leafy, Few-leaved and Basal Leaved.
I think that the plants under discussion are probably of the Few-leaved type.
We used to have at least two of the ‘Leafy’ type on Lower Hardy Farm (one of
them, I believe, quite rare) but, as noted at the beginning of this piece, that
wonderful place has now been destroyed. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The open part of the sub-station site shows every sign of
being rabbit nibbled. As I noticed this, as if on cue, a rabbit appeared. It
has always puzzled me as to why rabbits occur much more frequently on the south
side of the river than on the north side. I’m a little disappointed that, in
the middle of the night, the rabbits don’t go ‘hippity-hoppity’ across the
footbridges, like characters in a Beatrix Potter story ... but they probably
don’t ... oh well ...</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A bit further on, a large wild rose bush marked an entrance
to the Kenworthy Woods site. I identified the bush as Sweetbriar (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rosa rubiginosa</i>). Our wild roses have
such beautiful flowers, but they only last for a few weeks each year. As you
can see from the photograph, the hoverflies appreciated the lovely flowers too.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e0rLuBJkkS0/UgEqEf-WqyI/AAAAAAAAIFg/ldp53sDit74/s1600/Sweet+Briar+09072013+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="249" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e0rLuBJkkS0/UgEqEf-WqyI/AAAAAAAAIFg/ldp53sDit74/s320/Sweet+Briar+09072013+4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
</div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Less than a hundred yards beyond the rose bush, I
encountered, on the upper bank, the creamy white flowers of Common Valerian (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Valeriana officinalis</i>). I believe that
the ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">officinalis</i>’ part of the
scientific name translates as “of the shop” – by implication, the apothecary’s
shop – for this is a herb with medicinal properties. In her book, ‘A Modern
Herbal’ (1931) Mrs M. Grieve tells us that extracts of Valerian can be used to
treat disorders of the nervous system. I have a species of Valerian growing in
my garden (I’m not sure which species it is because the magpies long ago stole
the label). This plant certainly has an effect on the nervous systems of cats.
Last winter I noticed that the soil of the site where the Valerian grows was so
compressed it was almost shiny. One day I caught a small black cat rolling
frenziedly around on this patch of ground. Valerian is a perennial which dies
down in the winter and at that time of year nothing is visible. So I must
assume that the cat’s nervous system was being stimulated by the scent of the
plant’s dormant roots lying just below the surface.</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ee4xo8f2wEM/UgErvcKwJXI/AAAAAAAAIFw/FvCsSiYY1Zo/s1600/Common+Valerian09072013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ee4xo8f2wEM/UgErvcKwJXI/AAAAAAAAIFw/FvCsSiYY1Zo/s320/Common+Valerian09072013.jpg" width="257" /></a></div>
</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A long stretch of upper bank was dominated by the huge
leaves of Butterbur (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Petasites hybridus</i>).
In my mind this plant is highly characteristic of the Mersey Valley. I believe
that generations of local kids have known it as “wild rhubarb” – although the
resemblance is superficial. It is, in fact, related to the Hawkweeds I
encountered earlier – not rhubarb! Both Hawkweeds and Butterbur are members of
the great Dandelion/Daisy family – the Asteraceae. In the case of Butterbur,
the flowers appear before the leaves and these leaves don’t appear until the
flowers have died away. In many parts of the UK, only the male flowers are
present. In these cases they reproduce vegetatively, presumably forming clonal
patches and spreading via pieces of root breaking off and forming new patches.
In this part of the North West both male and female flowers occur and the
females produce seeds (not sure how viable they are though). Both male and
female flower heads are odd pinkish, almost ‘fungoid’ looking things. Once the
female flower heads are fertilised they elongate into long tassels which are
easy to spot in March/April.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qLb9qi1PslA/UgEtH_gIhgI/AAAAAAAAIGA/qe3o-_b0CBM/s1600/Butterbur+Leaves09072013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qLb9qi1PslA/UgEtH_gIhgI/AAAAAAAAIGA/qe3o-_b0CBM/s320/Butterbur+Leaves09072013.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I walked further and by this time the sun was getting
hotter. On the opposite bank I noted two gentlemen striding along deep in
conversation. They were smartly dressed and their only concession to the
weather was to have doffed their suit jackets and to have donned Panama hats.
There was something rather Edwardian about them. They fitted in well with the
fine Edwardian houses of West Didsbury just visible through the trees.</span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">On my side of the river I spotted something ominous on the
lower bank – a specimen of the alien Giant Hogweed (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Heracleum mantegazzianum</i>). This is a member of the Carrot family –
the Apiaceae. It is closely related to our native Hogweed (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Heracleum sphondylium</i>). Members of this family tend to have the
same general form with white or yellow flowers arranged in a flat head or
‘umbel’. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">H. mantegazzianum</i> is as
monstrous as its sinister, buzzing name. It’s about twice as big as our native
species and its great hollow, hairy stems are covered in sickly looking
reddish-brown patches. The leaves have a spiky outline and the compound umbels
are huge. But even more monstrous is its effects on human skin. By coincidence,
I was talking to a Polish lady recently who had encountered this plant on a
visit to Russia. Somehow she had brushed against it and it had raised blisters
on her arms. Soon these blisters had turned to infected ulcers for which she
had required medical treatment.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aB6jrFlO8ig/UgEtns44cjI/AAAAAAAAIGI/7EcdvaIbsTs/s1600/Giant+Hogweed09072013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aB6jrFlO8ig/UgEtns44cjI/AAAAAAAAIGI/7EcdvaIbsTs/s320/Giant+Hogweed09072013.jpg" width="247" /></a></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Giant Hogweed is a native of the Caucasus Mountains. It’s
certainly a dramatic plant and that’s probably why Victorian gardeners introduced
it into British gardens. What they didn’t realise, until it was too late, is
that it’s very invasive (as well as toxic!). Now Greater Manchester river
valleys are full of it. It’s certainly common in the Croal-Irwell and the
Bollin Valleys but 2013 is the first year that I’ve begun spotting it in the
Mersey Valley too.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Eventually I arrived in Northenden for lunch. I like
Northenden – it’s a pleasant riverside settlement. Or, rather, it probably was
just a few decades ago. Now, like hundreds of other settlements, in Greater
Manchester and the rest of the UK, it’s being steadily ‘ruined-by-progress’.
Surrendering our landscapes to the motor car and handing property developers so
much power over our built environment and green spaces were never good ideas
and future generations will curse us for these follies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a front window I spotted a sign saying:
“Save Northenden Library”. The sign prompted the gloomy reflection that perhaps
our society is now in the process of abandoning ‘real’ progress. Things like
public libraries and universal education and the National Health Service were
truly progressive – now our political masters want to either sell them off to
the highest bidder or to dump them all together; why are we putting up with
this?</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">After lunch I walked down Ford Lane, past Northenden’s fine
old sandstone church, and still muttering darkly to myself about the state of
the world. I cheered up a bit when I spotted a Polypody (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Polypodium</i> sp.) fern growing on an earthen bank at the base of a
hedge. I expect to see these ferns growing on walls or, occasionally, on trees
– so this was an unusual sighting. There are three species of Polypody in the
British flora: Common, Intermediate and Southern. To cut a very long story
short, the species around here usually turns out to be Intermediate Polypody (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">P. interjectum</i>). The picture below, by the way, is of a specimen that I found on a wall near my house a couple of years ago - it's a better picture than the one that I took on the day of the walk.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Nr1qjhPG1gQ/UgEvKgFHYgI/AAAAAAAAIGY/sqQrHDeGRBk/s1600/Intermediate+Polypody09+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="271" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Nr1qjhPG1gQ/UgEvKgFHYgI/AAAAAAAAIGY/sqQrHDeGRBk/s320/Intermediate+Polypody09+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I continued on until I reached Simon’s Bridge and crossing
this bridge, I arrived at the head of Stenner Lane, Didsbury. In base of the
hedge, by the side of this lane, is a patch of a plant called Dog’s Mercury (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mercurialis perennis</i>). I always make
obeisance to this plant as I pass it as it’s an indicator of ancient woodland.
At one time the floodplain of the Mersey would have been fringed with woodland
– and in this district, this plant may be all that is left of those old woods.
Recently, a fellow member of the Manchester Field Club told me that the doyenne
of local botanists, the late Audrey Franks, discovered this little patch of
Dog’s Mercury long before I did. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-26gSKHYsdQw/UgEv8alrw5I/AAAAAAAAIGk/L9ZZfhzoz-I/s1600/Dog's+Mercury+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="307" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-26gSKHYsdQw/UgEv8alrw5I/AAAAAAAAIGk/L9ZZfhzoz-I/s320/Dog's+Mercury+5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A few yards further on the leaves of Ramsons (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Allium ursinum</i>) appear in the hedge
bottom and beyond that Ivy (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hedera helix</i>)
appears. I suspect that this mixture of plants implies that this hedge has a
complex history and that one end is much older than the other. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A couple of years ago I found a plant called Ivy Broomrape (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Orobanche hederae</i>) growing on the Ivy
covered bank of a ditch within about 2 miles of this spot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Broomrapes are parasites which have no
chlorophyll and derive all of their nutrients from the roots of their hosts.
The plant on the bank is the only Broomrape that I have ever found around here
and now I scan every patch of Ivy I encounter for more. I had no luck on this
particular day but a few days later Mike Pettipher, of the Altrincham
Naturalists, sent me an amazing photograph of a huge patch of Broomrape
(probably <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">O. hederae</i>) growing on the
banks of the Bridgewater Canal somewhere between Stretford and Manchester city
centre. I haven’t had a chance to go and see this plant yet and will probably
have to wait until next year now. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">And
so to Fletcher Moss and a nice cold drink in the park’s excellent cafe.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">And then I caught the number 23 bus back to Chorlton.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Dave Bishop, August 2013</span>Friends of Chorlton Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14447128364092047150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608949564905689933.post-88588006074842795392013-07-09T09:08:00.001+01:002013-07-09T09:16:23.391+01:00Rare Willow Tit Filmed on Ivy Green!I bumped into local birder, Pete Hines the other day - and I'm glad that I did because he had some remarkable news. He had actually filmed a Willow Tit (a Red List species) feeding its chick on Ivy Green. You can see Pete's superb film here:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-kFZSEWCh8" title="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-kFZSEWCh8">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-kFZSEWCh8</a><br />
<br />
You can learn more about Willow Tits on the RSPB's website at:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/w/willowtit/index.aspx">http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/w/willowtit/index.aspx</a><br />
<br />
Dave Bishop, 09.07.2013Friends of Chorlton Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14447128364092047150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608949564905689933.post-22634635243226387402013-05-08T22:50:00.000+01:002013-05-08T22:56:51.351+01:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZVEVu6jJpas/UYrH1kuwDiI/AAAAAAAAID4/RC4BGaqkoZk/s1600/Bumble+Bee+on+Deutzia+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZVEVu6jJpas/UYrH1kuwDiI/AAAAAAAAID4/RC4BGaqkoZk/s320/Bumble+Bee+on+Deutzia+3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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</div>
<h2 dir="ltr">
The Bee Cause Campaign Comes to Chorlton Meadows
</h2>
<div dir="ltr">
You may have heard from numerous press stories this Spring that our native
bee populations are struggling due to a number of different environmental
factors. The main one under the spotlight is the use of neonicotinoid pesticides
in farming. These pesticides are widely used across the globe and research has
suggested that they could be responsible for the dramatic decline in bees.<br />
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</div>
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It is thought that two British bees have become extinct already, and many
others are threatened. You might be wondering after this hot weather what the
fuss is about? Surely you have seen many bees already this Spring? Sadly the
story is very complex with different bees needed to pollinate certain plants and
crops, lose one type of bee and there could be huge consequences for ecosystems
and then the economy.<br />
</div>
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</div>
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Bees pollinate around 75% of our crops and if we lose them, it would cost
the economy around 1.8 billion to artificially do their job. This would result
in a rise in food prices and taxes. This outcome almost sounds like some
futuristic nightmare, but it is already occurring in China and there are
predictions that the US will have to use such methods for certain crops.<br />
</div>
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</div>
<div dir="ltr">
So what can we do? Well like I said, this is one complicated potential
disaster and there is no easy answer. However, Friends of the Earth are running
the Bee Cause Campaign which is promoting awareness and gathering support to ask
for a national bee plan. This plan will address all factors affecting
populations to ensure there is a healthy future for our bees. Other
organisations such as Avaaz and 38degrees are also actively campaigning for such
a plan to be put into place.<br />
</div>
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</div>
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Friends of the Earth have also launched the 'Year of the Bee' this year and
local groups are creating official bee worlds throughout the UK. The Manchester
group are set to create one in Parrs Wood on the 18th May which will have a
positive impact on the biodiversity of the area.<br />
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</div>
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For more information about the national campaign, please visit <a href="http://www.foe.co.uk/what_we_do/the_bee_cause_home_map_39371.html" title="http://www.foe.co.uk/what_we_do/the_bee_cause_home_map_39371.html">http://www.foe.co.uk/what_we_do/the_bee_cause_home_map_39371.html</a><br />
</div>
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</div>
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If you would like to get involved locally and find out what we are doing in
the area, please contact me on <a href="mailto:steph@manchesterfoe.org.uk" title="mailto:steph@manchesterfoe.org.uk">steph@manchesterfoe.org.uk</a><br />
</div>
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</div>
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As a local to Chorlton Meadows, I plan to do some bee spotting to see what
is out there. Still a newbie to all things bee related, this will be an
educational journey as well. Look forward to keeping you posted!<br />
</div>
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</div>
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Stephanie Lynch - Campaign Lead for the Bee Cause Manchester, May 2013</div>
Friends of Chorlton Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14447128364092047150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608949564905689933.post-46381504354086746362013-04-30T19:38:00.000+01:002013-04-30T19:38:03.395+01:00<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's a book review by our local moth expert, Ben Smart. Please note Ben's comment that many of his pictures for the book were taken in the Mersey Valley!</span><br />
<br />
<h2>
Field Guide to the
Micro-Moths of Great Britain and Ireland
<o:p></o:p></h2>
<h2>
<span style="font-size: small;">British Wildlife Publishing
(2012)<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">By </span></span></b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=Phil%20Sterling&search-alias=books-uk&sort=relevancerank"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Phil Sterling</span></span></b></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> and </span></span></b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_2?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=Mark%20Parsons&search-alias=books-uk&sort=relevancerank"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Mark Parsons</span></span></b></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">. Illustrations by </span></span></b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_3?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=Richard%20Lewington&search-alias=books-uk&sort=relevancerank"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Richard Lewington</span></span></b></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span></b><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kzhHqFcwuwE/UYAOTGng7mI/AAAAAAAAIDY/fHw46z_B5n0/s1600/bwp_24_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kzhHqFcwuwE/UYAOTGng7mI/AAAAAAAAIDY/fHw46z_B5n0/s320/bwp_24_cover.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b> </div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">This is a </span>late
review (of sorts), seeing as this book came out about 12 months ago.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
I should declare an interest as I was glad to be asked to
help out with the book in terms of collating the photographs for the book. It
features more than 380 photographs of larvae and their feeding signs, and over
half of these are mine, mostly of moth larvae found in the Mersey Valley.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It also features beautiful colour illustrations by Richard
Lewington, Europe’s leading insect artist, of over 1000 micro-moth species.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
The micro-moths are a fairly artificial grouping of
approximately 1500 species. Most are (unsurprisingly) small and most are known
by their Latin names, but the variety of life cycles make this a fascinating
group to study.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some of the larvae feed inside a leaf creating a distinctive
pattern known as a leafmine. Some feed on dead bark, fungi, wine corks or owl
pellets. The seeds, flowers and fruit of almost all plants are potential food
for at least one species. Many are extremely specialised and will only feed on
one particular foodstuff, often in one particular habitat. The photographs aim
to demonstrate these feeding signs as many of the micro-moths may be more
easily identified by observation of their early stages than by the adult moth,
which is many cases is hard to find.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The illustrations of the adult moths are excellent and
feature the moths in a natural resting position, rather than the unnatural
‘pinned’ appearance, as in a moth collection, that features in some other
books. They also show the moths at 2 or 3 times life-size, and this helps to
show the intricacies of pattern that feature on the wings of many of these
species, despite the actual moths’ miniature</span> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">appearance. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The photographs below show the adult and
leafmine of one such species, Phyllonorycter trifasciella. The larva of this
moth feeds inside honeysuckle leaves, causing the leaf to twist and turn on
itself, making the presence of the larva reasonably easy to detect. It can be
found in gardens, so if you have any honeysuckle there, have a look to see if
you can see any of these twisted leaves.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Pajid1pqTKM/UYAOe1G_mUI/AAAAAAAAIDg/EfT37YcYNvA/s1600/b361Ptrifasciella1103.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="219" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Pajid1pqTKM/UYAOe1G_mUI/AAAAAAAAIDg/EfT37YcYNvA/s320/b361Ptrifasciella1103.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bA_rpBGNXRM/UYAOndXCYGI/AAAAAAAAIDo/y17tCZtRWAE/s1600/b361Ptrifasciella084%23001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bA_rpBGNXRM/UYAOndXCYGI/AAAAAAAAIDo/y17tCZtRWAE/s320/b361Ptrifasciella084%23001.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is probably the first time that anything approaching a
handbook has been produced, that covers all the micro-moth families so
extensively, and the book has opened up this area of nature for many more
people. I was pleased to see that there are thirteen reviews of this book on
amazon. Twelve of these give the book 5 stars. The thirteenth gives it four. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
The book is available in softback and hardback. There is a
link to the publisher below, although obviously other booksellers are
available.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://www.britishwildlife.com/viewbook.asp?bookid=24"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><span style="color: #003399;">http://www.britishwildlife.com/viewbook.asp?bookid=24</span></span></a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ben Smart, April 2013</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br />Friends of Chorlton Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14447128364092047150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608949564905689933.post-61000661805774352342013-03-29T10:29:00.001+00:002013-07-09T09:09:22.061+01:00A Walk From Chorlton to Urmston in mid-March<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Last week (Tuesday 19.03.2013) I took a walk westward to
Urmston. This has always been one of my favourite walks – although it shouldn’t
be because it takes the walker through some of the most ravaged and despoiled parts
of the Mersey Valley. Nevertheless, there’s a surprising number of interesting
things to see and, for me, the route is now laden with memories of various
encounters and discoveries.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I started by walking across Ivy Green and eventually came to
a gap in the hedge which leads on to Hawthorn Lane – the lane which our local
historian Andrew Simpson, calls, with good reason, the “Old Road”. The first
thing to note, by the gap itself and comprising part of the hedge, is a
specimen of Midland Hawthorn (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Crataegus laevigata</i>)
which differs from Common Hawthorn (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">C.
monogyna</i>) in that its flowers have two stigmas rather than one and it also
has less deeply incised leaves. This is a very rare plant in the Mersey Valley
and I suspect that this particular specimen was probably planted in the 1970s
or 80s.</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eSxijDoR9U0/UVVoqRine0I/AAAAAAAAICI/qC7oDVs4MoA/s1600/Midland+Hawthorn+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="194" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eSxijDoR9U0/UVVoqRine0I/AAAAAAAAICI/qC7oDVs4MoA/s320/Midland+Hawthorn+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Turning left, I followed the lane west with Turn Moss
playing fields on my right. By the lane are a number of ‘coppiced’ Ash stools
with multiple stems. Strictly speaking, these are not true coppice stools
because they have not been cut off at ground level but, rather, a few feet
above the ground. Nevertheless, they demonstrate the principle that most
British native trees will produce multiple growing points if cut off low down.
I suspect that these were created by farm labourers hacking them back with
edged tools well over a century ago.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Also in this area is a magnificent English Oak tree. John
Agar and I tried to date this tree by measuring its girth; we reckon that it’s
around 150 years old. This isn’t particularly old for an Oak tree but it’s
probably the oldest Oak in the district. Reading Andrew Simpson’s local history
blog the other day, I was amazed to see a photograph of Hawthorn Lane from the
1930s and depicted in the photo was, I’m pretty certain, our oak tree as it
looked 80 years ago! Here’s the link to Andrew’s blog page: <a href="http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/looking-out-of-chorlton-old-road-in-1930.html">http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/looking-out-of-chorlton-old-road-in-1930.html</a></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FVK7fgewHBE/UVVqHOsOR8I/AAAAAAAAICY/xvNgLGfc_d8/s1600/Oak.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FVK7fgewHBE/UVVqHOsOR8I/AAAAAAAAICY/xvNgLGfc_d8/s320/Oak.jpg" width="206" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Eventually the lane reaches the base of the river embankment
and then bears right towards Stretford. In the shelter belt between the lane and
Turn Moss there’s a little clump of Snowdrops (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Galanthus nivalis</i>). Every year their flowering tells me that Spring
is on the way. On the left, under the hedge below the river bank are some long,
thin Crocus leaves. These are the leaves of the Mersey Valley’s most famous
plant – the Autumn Crocus (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Crocus
nudiflorus</i>). This is an alien species, originally from the Pyrenees. No-one
really seems to know how it got here and there are a number of competing
theories (too complicated to go into here).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This plant produces its leaves in the Spring and its flowers in the
Autumn (hence the name).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">After about a quarter of a mile the Lane passes Stretford
cemetery. Just beyond the fence are several rows of tombstones each inscribed
with multiple names. My best guess is that these are paupers’ graves – possibly
those of some of the former inmates of Stretford workhouse. Growing on some of
these graves, at this time of year, are some attractive little pink Crocuses (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">C. tommasinianus</i>). These plants are
originally from Dalmatia (the long, thin strip of land between the Adriatic Sea
and the Dinaric Alps and now part of Croatia). Their scientific name
commemorates Muzio de Tommasini – a botanist from Trieste who was an expert on
the flora of Dalmatia. They were given that name by the 19<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> century
Crocus expert, William Herbert – whose ‘day job’ was Dean of Manchester. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Also
on the ‘paupers’ graves’ are a few of the purple flowers of the Spring Crocus (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">C. vernus</i>) – a mountain plant from
western continental Europe and now thoroughly naturalised in Britain.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A few yards further on and we come to the Cut Hole Bridge, a
stone-built aqueduct which carries the Bridgewater Canal over the Mersey. This
is attributed to the 18<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> Century engineer James Brindley. Of
course, he just designed it and supervised its construction; it was actually <u>built</u>,
c.1760, by hundreds of nameless, sweating labourers!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">After the bridge the path takes a ‘dog-leg’ – first to the
left and then to the right to run parallel to a now choked channel called
Kickety Brook. At the beginning of this section there is a small children’s
playground a few yards off the path to the right. On the edge of this
playground is a Norway Maple tree (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Acer
platanoides</i>) which I call, for obvious reasons, “the snail tree” i.e.
there’s always a large gathering of snails about half-way up the trunk. Norway
Maples have been planted in other places as well as this one – but I don’t know
of any other snail trees. Presumably the snails are gaining some sort of
nutritional benefit from this tree that they can’t get elsewhere (?)</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2wJCVb7kpFo/UVVq-DcXYBI/AAAAAAAAICg/6nJCnLvtIeY/s1600/Snail+Tree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2wJCVb7kpFo/UVVq-DcXYBI/AAAAAAAAICg/6nJCnLvtIeY/s320/Snail+Tree.jpg" width="246" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Kickety Brook used to be a good site for botanising 20 or 30
years ago, with plants like watercress in the brook itself and orchids and even
heather on the grassy banks. Unfortunately, the area hasn’t been managed in any
way for years. Now the brook is choked and silted up and the banks overgrown
with brambles and coarse grasses. Presumably one day men will appear with heavy
machinery, blitz the whole area and it will take years to recover. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Just before the path goes under the Chester Road Bridge
there is a fern growing on the bank of the brook. This is Soft Shield Fern (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Polystichum setiferum</i>). Years ago I
found a specimen of this fern growing on the edge of Hardy Farm. I was told
that, until then, this species was thought to have been extinct in Greater
Manchester and that I had re-found it (!) Since then I’ve found a few more – the
latest being this one near Chester Road.</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lyQ7Ih4279M/UVVrNY91m1I/AAAAAAAAICs/HNYxIgQhbiw/s1600/Soft+Shield+Fern+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lyQ7Ih4279M/UVVrNY91m1I/AAAAAAAAICs/HNYxIgQhbiw/s320/Soft+Shield+Fern+2.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Immediately after emerging from under the road bridge and to
the right there is a little grove of trees with dark coloured, almost black
bark. These are Cherry Plums (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Prunus
cerasifera</i>). They look a bit like Blackthorn (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">P. spinosa</i>) but they tend to be taller and less ‘shrub-like’ than
Blackthorn and rarely have thorns. In addition they tend to flower in February
– in some years around two months earlier than Blackthorn.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In the summer of 2011 I found a mysterious orchid under the
planted tree belt to the left of the path. I couldn’t decide whether it was a
Helleborine in the genus <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Epipactis</i>
... or a Helleborine in the genus <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cephalanthera</i>
(following me so far?). If it had been the latter I probably would have received
the Nobel Prize for Botany! I exaggerate, of course, but it would have been a
remarkable discovery for this area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway,
I e-mailed a photograph to a national orchid expert and he replied that he
couldn’t ID my plant from a photograph and could I please pickle two flowers in
vodka and post them to him? By the time I got back to the site to pick the
flowers they had developed a bit more (they had only just begun to open when I
first found them) and I realised that they represented an <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Epipactis </i>species ... definitely not <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cephalanthera</i>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway, after
receiving my pickled flowers, the Prof. told me that all I had found was a very
pale flowered form of Broad-leaved Helleborine (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">E. helleborine</i>) - which is quite common. Oh well!</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6e8ejx4fUOY/UVVrlVAfDfI/AAAAAAAAIC0/NKhNZofF6FY/s1600/Mystery+Orchid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6e8ejx4fUOY/UVVrlVAfDfI/AAAAAAAAIC0/NKhNZofF6FY/s320/Mystery+Orchid.jpg" width="245" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A bit further on and the landscape opens out – although it’s
not a pretty landscape (understatement of the century!). To the left is the M60
motorway – thousands of vehicles pouring out CO2 and polluting nitrogen
compounds day and night – just one of the countless nails in the coffin of the
world. To the right is large grassy area, part of which gradually rises above
the surrounding landscape to form a ‘hill’. This hill is known locally as the
“Stretford Mountain”. More accurately it is the aftermath of the Lesley Road
Tip – a vast mound of domestic rubbish capped with top-soil. Surprisingly, the
“mountain” is a good plant hunting area. A few years ago the Greater Manchester
Ecology Unit, in collaboration with Salford University, produced ‘An Ecological
Framework for Greater Manchester’ (</span><a href="http://www.wigan.gov.uk/Services/Planning/Policies/DevelopmentFramework/GreaterManchesterEcologicalFramework.htm"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.wigan.gov.uk/Services/Planning/Policies/DevelopmentFramework/GreaterManchesterEcologicalFramework.htm</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">).
They identified a number of “ecological improvement areas” throughout the
county and the “Mountain” was one of them. To fulfil its potential though it
would need to be managed – and, unfortunately, I can’t see that happening any
time soon. On the plus side local botanist, Liz Blackman tells me that she has
found an orchid called Twayblade (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Listera
ovata</i>) in the area. It’s a species that I haven’t seen in the Mersey Valley
before and I can’t wait for June when I can go looking for it!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Further on there’s a footbridge over the motorway. On the
other side, the path winds around a bit and then forks. Last week I took the
right hand fork (the left fork is another story). This whole area seems to have
been comprehensively bulldozed at some point and then had a liberal layer of
nasty, cindery stuff spread over it. On both sides of the path are copses of,
mainly planted, trees which should have been thinned out about 20 years ago. To
the right of the path, and parallel to it, is a vile, lifeless ditch. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Between the path and the dead ditch are some
Poplar trees. I think that these are Black Poplars (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Populus nigra</i> subsp. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">betulifolia</i>).
This is rare native tree, probably indigenous to East Anglian river valleys. At
the end of the 19<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> Century it was found to be resistant to
industrial pollution and was widely planted in the Manchester region – so much
so that it acquired the name “Manchester Poplar”. Last year I showed these trees
to some very experienced botanists but they couldn’t decide whether they are
true Black Poplars are not; nevertheless the leaves are the right shape, the
trunks are covered with large bosses and lean away from the vertical - so
they’re close!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">At the end of the path, on the left hand side, is a dense
copse of trees (mainly Willows). Over the last 30 years or so, whenever I’ve
had a problem in my life, I’ve walked out here and sat under these trees to
think things through. Once it was a more attractive site, its floor consisting
of a thick carpet of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Polytrichum</i>
moss. It’s now, like far too many parts of the Mersey Valley, overgrown and
gloomy. Two interesting plants that I’ve found here, over the years, are Hard
Fern (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Blechnum spicant</i>) and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rhododendron ponticum</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The former is a rare fern in the Mersey
Valley and I only know it from two other sites. In several parts of the
country, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">R. ponticum</i> is a wildly
invasive alien but in the Mersey Valley I’ve only ever found it in this one
site. In fact I’ve watched it grow from a seedling into a full-sized, flowering
shrub. So far it shows no sign of spreading.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--hiPeHWODzo/UVVr1tqBVNI/AAAAAAAAIC8/mLGiBSsIT0E/s1600/Rhododendron+ponticum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--hiPeHWODzo/UVVr1tqBVNI/AAAAAAAAIC8/mLGiBSsIT0E/s320/Rhododendron+ponticum.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Beyond the copse, the path comes out on the river bank. Looking
east, back along the river towards Stretford it’s possible to see, in the
middle distance, a grove of large trees which shield Stretford Sewage Works
from the river. In the tops of these trees is a large and thriving rookery.
Rooks (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Corvus frugilegus</i>) are a
characteristic bird of the British countryside, but around here they are now
rare (I’d be interested to know if anyone knows of any more local rookeries).
There’s something wild and elemental about Rooks: their harsh cawing and the
way they look like ragged, black scraps blown across harsh winter skies. I
suppose it’s possible to confuse them with Carrion Crows (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Corvus corone</i>) but the difference between the two species is neatly
summed up in a passage in a novel called ‘The Liar’ by the ubiquitous Stephen
Fry. In this book a callow youth is working for a laconic old farmer called Mr
Sutcliffe:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“ ... [He] caught sight of a gathering of huge birds, as
black as priests, pecking at rotten potatoes at the further end of the field.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">‘Look at the size of those crows!’ he had cried.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">‘Boy’, said Mr Sutcliffe, tugging at a sack, ‘when you see a
lot of crows in a field, them’s rooks. And when you see a rook on his own,
that’s a f***ing crow.’ ”</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kOw5uXiXDh4/UVVsfkleHgI/AAAAAAAAIDE/Rm3tH_xNUeU/s1600/Rookery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kOw5uXiXDh4/UVVsfkleHgI/AAAAAAAAIDE/Rm3tH_xNUeU/s320/Rookery.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Anyway, moving swiftly on!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">After admiring the rookery, I turned right and continued my
walk in a westerly direction along the river bank. After about half a mile the
path stopped and if I had wanted to proceed any further west, I would have had
to have crossed over a footbridge to the opposite bank. At this point there’s a
tall, feathery grass growing at the top of the embankment (only dead stalks in
mid-March, of course). This is Wood Small-reed (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Calamagrostis epigeios</i>) – another local rarity. Instead of crossing
the footbridge, I turned right again and walked down a lane towards Urmston.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">There’s more to relate - but this is too long already. Let’s
just say that I walked into Urmston, had lunch in the dining room of
Whittaker’s rather wonderful chippy, bought a fern for my garden at Urmston
market and then caught the number 23A bus back to Chorlton.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Dave Bishop, March 2013 <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
Friends of Chorlton Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14447128364092047150noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608949564905689933.post-7524517890388751062013-03-10T16:05:00.000+00:002013-03-10T16:05:37.636+00:00Nature and Me<br />
Recently, Manchester Museum have been undertaking a project called 'Nature and Me' (<a href="http://naturemanchester.wordpress.com/2013/02/22/tree2yourdoor-for-nature-and-me/">http://naturemanchester.wordpress.com/2013/02/22/tree2yourdoor-for-nature-and-me/</a>). Local people, who were known to be interested in Nature, were invited to make short films describing their passion for the subject. Participants wrote their own scripts and supplied photographs or other illustrations and the films were made and edited by persons skilled in that art. I took part in this project and was filmed last year, partly at Stockport College and partly in Chorlton. The Producer of my film was a gentleman named Didier DuBois.<br />
<br />
This project is now complete and I have been told that a total of 42 films have been made. The project was launched one night last week at the Museum. If you visit the Zoology Gallery you can see all of the films running in continuous loops on three or four screens. For some reason my film, and one other, seem to have found their way on to You Tube; you can see mine here: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O-odLKVJRA">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O-odLKVJRA</a><br />
<br />
Frankly, I find it a bit embarrassing watching myself on screen but others have told me that they enjoyed the film (Didier should have got someone else to play me though ... George Clooney or Tom Hanks, perhaps?). <br />
<br />
Anyway, I bet mine's the only one to mention the 'Scarlet Peony of Constantinople'!<br />
<br />
<br />
Dave Bishop, 10.03.2013<br />
Friends of Chorlton Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14447128364092047150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608949564905689933.post-72653304599327226072013-02-27T21:37:00.000+00:002013-02-27T21:40:27.137+00:00Nest Box Checking, 2013<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In 2011 FoCM obtained a Council grant which allowed us to
put up 20 bird boxes on the Chorlton Ees and Ivy Green Local Nature Reserve
(see John Agar’s blog entry for March 2011). We put up 10 boxes on the Ivy
Green side of Chorlton Brook and 10 on the Chorlton Ees side.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Last year (15.01.2012) we checked to see if any of the boxes
had been used over the previous nesting season, and to clean out those with old
nests in. The results of this exercise are described in the blog post for
19.01.2013.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A couple of Sundays ago (17.02.2013) a group of us repeated
the exercise. Again, it was John Agar’s son Mark who climbed the ladder and wielded
the electric screwdriver to detach the boxes from their trees and then to
re-attach them.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">On the Ivy Green side of the brook all 10 boxes were still
in place, but on the Chorlton Ees side only four of the original 10 were left
(down from six the previous year).</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Eight of the boxes we checked contained dry (-ish) nesting
material and no eggs. We concluded that the occupiers of these nests had
probably raised successful broods. Two boxes contained very damp material. This
probably meant that these boxes had been penetrated by rain during the
exceptionally wet summer of 2012; we couldn’t be certain if these soggy nests
had contained successful broods (they could even have been abandoned part way
through nest building). Three boxes contained un-hatched eggs and one contained
a dead bird. Although the corpse was vey degraded, John thought that it was
probably a Great Tit. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Most of the nests were, as we observed last year, constructed
of moss on a foundation of dry grass. Nevertheless, a few contained fibres
derived from human sources. Some contained bright red, wool-like fibres - which
we couldn’t identify. There were also fluorescent, green-ish yellow fibres in
some nests. FoCM member, Chris Hirst suddenly realised that these fibres came
from tennis balls (!) Dog owners regularly take tennis balls into the area to
throw for their pets to chase. The balls must, equally regularly, get lost and
the nesting birds obviously see their bright, fibrous coverings as an ideal
source of nesting material. I’m tempted to interpret the inclusion of these fibres
as a form of avian interior decorating ... but mustn’t get carried away! </span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Even more bizarrely, a few of the damper boxes contained
colonies of slugs. By coincidence a person from Inverness recently wrote to the
Guardian about slugs in nest boxes; she wrote:</span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Last autumn I
took down the wooden bird houses from the silver birch and one of them when I
opened it had at least 36 large slugs packed very, very tightly together in the
box ... stuffed in. They appeared to be possibly hibernating although it was
still early autumn and not cold. Actually looking at them it was rather like
opening a tin of pilchards and seeing them all packed neatly and tightly
together. I was so revolted that I could only rush to dispose of them and
didn't even check whether they were alive or dead.”<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">None of our boxes
contained that many slugs!<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The above quote
was contained in article by the Guardian correspondent, Jane Perrone (</span><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2013/feb/20/slugs"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2013/feb/20/slugs</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">)
and contains some surprising information, namely that the slugs in the box were,
almost certainly a “non-social aggregation” and probably represented a strategy
to conserve moisture (do slugs ever ‘aggregate socially, I wonder? Getting
carried away again! Sorry!). Also a group of slugs is called a “cornucopia”.
Who knows? Perhaps you’ll get an opportunity to use that fact in a social
situation! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I think I’d
better stop now ... <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Dave Bishop (27.02.2013)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Friends of Chorlton Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14447128364092047150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608949564905689933.post-52817516184967853132013-01-25T11:28:00.000+00:002013-01-25T11:30:09.837+00:00Biophilia and Biophobia in ManchesterThose of you who read this blog might like to follow this link: <br />
<br />
<a href="http://cultureprobe.wordpress.com/2013/01/23/a-tale-of-two-cities-the-manchester-that-loves-and-hates-wild-nature/#comment-96">http://cultureprobe.wordpress.com/2013/01/23/a-tale-of-two-cities-the-manchester-that-loves-and-hates-wild-nature/#comment-96</a><br />
<br />
and read the interesting essay by Nadine Andrews of Whalley Range for Wildlife.Friends of Chorlton Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14447128364092047150noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608949564905689933.post-67835572235927987382013-01-24T19:47:00.000+00:002013-01-25T11:29:48.251+00:00The Fate of the Mersey Valley<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Dear Friends,</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I kept hearing rumours about council spending cuts and the
fate of the Mersey Valley and became increasingly concerned. So I e-mailed my
three local (i.e. Chorlton) councillors and asked them what was going on. The
text of my e-mail is below:</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Dear Councillors, <br />
<br />
I keep hearing rumours to the effect that the Mersey Valley Countryside Warden
Service is to be disbanded. Are these rumours true, or not? If the rumours are
true, are Friends groups, like the Friends of Chorlton Meadows, who have
devoted hundreds of hours of their free time to the Mersey Valley, going to be
properly informed and consulted - or are we just going to have to rely on
rumours? <br />
<br />
Yours sincerely, <br />
David Bishop, Chair of FoCM<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">So far I have had the following reply from
Cllr Victor Chamberlain:</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">The Mersey Valley Committee is meeting today [24.01.2013] and I
still haven't heard back what the outcome is. <br />
<br />
I understand that the City Council's budget proposals mean that the service
will close down in April. A cut of £150,000 from MCC along with Trafford's lack
of a payment commitment mean that the service is unlikely to survive. <br />
<br />
It's really poor that you haven't received any information about this so I will
ask the Council how they plan to engage Friends Groups in the proposals and the
future.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">He subsequently wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">I understand that the meeting was very sombre and that members
accepted the budget cut. Some Councillors argued that Trafford Council's
decision to cut funding last December encouraged Manchester to do the same.
Apparently there is going to be a consultation which opens from today however
the service is likely to be run down between now and the end of March.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">So, the Mersey Valley project appears to be
dead and the fate of a well-loved piece of local green space hangs in the
balance. As a long-term user of this green space myself I am saddened and
angry. I might also ask: What is the point of a consultation when the decision
already appears to have been made?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">As you are a Mersey Valley user, I’m sure
that you will share my concerns, so please, please, please take some time to
express those concerns by e-mailing: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Councillor Rosa Battle, Executive Member for Culture
& Leisure (<a href="mailto:cllr.r.battle@manchester.gov.uk"><span style="color: blue;">cllr.r.battle@manchester.gov.uk</span></a>)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Questions that you might like to ask Cllr Battle could
include:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">What
are the implications of the disbanding of the Mersey Valley Countryside Warden
Service for the future of the Mersey Valley?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">How
does the Council intend to maintain sites like Chorlton Ees/Ivy Green and
Chorlton Water Park in the future?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">How
does the Council plan to protect these sites from vandalism and other forms of
damage?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">How
does the Council plan to protect Mersey Valley wildlife?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Have
the Council have any plans for selling off any Mersey Valley sites?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 18pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">It would probably be a good
idea to copy your ward councillors in on this correspondence; you can find your
ward councillors here: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<a href="http://www.manchester.gov.uk/councillors/ward"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.manchester.gov.uk/councillors/ward</span></a><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It is absolutely essential to keep your message polite!</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Please feel free to circulate this blog post to as many people
as possible. Let’s show the Council that we love the Mersey Valley and that we
don’t intend to lose it!!</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Best Regards,</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Dave
Bishop (FoCM Chair)</span>Friends of Chorlton Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14447128364092047150noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608949564905689933.post-48638400242357124992012-12-29T18:29:00.002+00:002013-01-25T11:28:56.349+00:00Mistletoe<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NepH-EoqjiY/UN813FWeABI/AAAAAAAAIB4/TpZsOtjUdzA/s1600/Mistletoe13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="248" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NepH-EoqjiY/UN813FWeABI/AAAAAAAAIB4/TpZsOtjUdzA/s320/Mistletoe13.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Mistletoe is, of course, one of those plants associated with
Christmas. I had a couple of encounters with Mistletoe during this festive
season, but, alas, I regret to report that none of these encounters involved
any of the traditional kissing!</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I visited my brother and his family in the Norfolk village
of Congham near King’s Lynn. As I’ve reported before, this village is located
in glorious ancient countryside with at least two nature reserves, of national
importance, nearby and old lanes bordered by rich hedgerows and copses of old
oaks. I have to report though that the area is becoming increasingly
suburbanised and, I imagine, most of its modern inhabitants are commuters who
work in nearby towns (perhaps as far away as Peterborough or Norwich). Although
I’m sure that many of Congham’s inhabitants do appreciate the quality of their
environment, I wouldn’t be surprised to find that many of them just drive
through it and never really see it (when I went for walks I rarely encountered
anyone on foot – lots of cars speeding through the village though).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Anyway, I digress! My first encounter with Mistletoe was not
on a nature reserve, or in a lane, but on an apple tree in the garden of one of
my brother’s neighbours; there were three or four plants in the same tree. But
the really major sighting was last Thursday (27.12.2012) from the window of the
12:56 train out of King’s Lynn, on my way back to Manchester. In the suburbs of
Lynn, in the middle distance, I spotted an urban park bordered by old Lime
trees – probably (hybrid) Common Limes (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tilia
x europaea</i>). The boughs of many of these trees were conspicuously adorned
with the characteristic frozen starbursts of Mistletoe plants; I don’t think
I’ve ever seen so much Mistletoe in such a limited area.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The great expert on the British landscape, Oliver Rackham,
tells us that: “Mistletoe is a flowering plant usually seen on exotic trees –
cultivated apple, hybrid lime, hybrid poplar – with a preference for old specimens
... It has a natural habitat on ancient native trees, especially hawthorns.” He
also tells us that there is evidence to suggest that Mistletoe was never a
woodland species but a characteristic plant of more open, ancient savannahs. I
vividly recall finding it on a Hawthorn bush on the Barnack Hills and Holes
nature reserve in Cambridgeshire. It was only after reading Rackham’s book that
I realised that I had been afforded a privileged glimpse of a prehistoric
landscape!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">There is only one species of Mistletoe in Britain: the plant
with the scientific name, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Viscum album</i>.
Worldwide there are many other species, all belonging to the family,
Santalaceae. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Mistletoe, like Yellow Rattle which I referred to in the
last post, is a hemi-parasite i.e. it derives some of its nourishment from the
host tree but also has chlorophyll in its leaves which allows it, like most
plants, to synthesise sugars from carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the process
being powered by sunlight. A severe infestation of Mistletoe can actually kill
a tree.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Mistletoe seeds are delivered to the host tree by birds. An
interesting website, called ‘The Mistletoe Pages: a website about the original
mistletoe of western tradition and folklore’ (link below) has more to say about
which species of bird are involved:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“[Mistletoe] <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">relies entirely on winter birds for berry, and therefore seed,
distribution – so birds are essential. Secondly the white sticky berries of </span><i><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica-Oblique; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Viscum album </span></i><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">are not attractive
to many birds – many ignore them as they are looking for red, orange, black or
blue berries (mistletoe is the only native British species with white berries)
and even if they try them the birds are put off by the super-glue quality of
the berry pulp. So which birds do take mistletoe berries? In Britain the answer
is largely Mistle Thrushes, whose common name and latin name, </span><i><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica-Oblique; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Turdus viscivorus, </span></i><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">hint at a
mistletoe specialism. Other thrushes – including Redwings, Fieldfares etc will
also eat the berries. But despite their name Mistle Thrushes aren’t really mistletoe
specialists as they occur commonly across the country in areas with no
mistletoe, where they will eat many other berries. Furthermore they’re not
really very efficient at spreading mistletoe. They usually swallow the whole
berry, seed and all, excreting a mass of semi-digested berry pulp and seeds
about 30 minutes later. Some of those seeds, still sticky, may stick to a
branch where they can germinate. Most will not – often hanging uselessly below
a branch. A few other birds will eat mistletoe too, including Waxwings and a
few other relatively uncommon species, but the most efficient mistletoe
spreading species is the Blackcap. These smart little birds only swallow the
berry skin and pulp, wiping each seed off their beak before swallowing – and so
they are much more efficient than Mistle Thrushes. Blackcaps in Britain migrate
south for the winter, so they have not, traditionally, been a factor in
mistletoe distribution in the UK. But changing migration patterns in the last
20-30 years have led to first 100s and now 1000s, of migrant Blackcaps from
Germany visiting Britain each winter.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This website
also tells us that the main stronghold for Mistletoe in Britain is in the South
and West Midlands, but that the distribution appears to be changing – possibly as
either the result of climate change or the changed migration patterns of Blackcaps.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Mistletoe
always seems to have been rare or uncommon in the Manchester region. The
shoemaker botanist, Richard Buxton, in his flora of 1849, gives only two
locations: <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Parasitical
upon apple trees. In the neighbourhood of Pilkington and Prestwich.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ten years
later his contemporary, Leo Grindon reported in more detail:<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“On
apple-trees in garden and orchards at Lymm; Warburton; Atherton near Leigh ..
Prestwich (also on hawthorns), Knutsford, Baguley and elsewhere, but very
sparingly, and generally out of public view or Christmas thieves would have
destroyed what little there is.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Until recently
I thought that Mistletoe must be extinct in this region but, amazingly, I now
have two sites for it – both in Common Limes in the Didsbury area (I don’t want
to be too specific for fear of [modern] “Christmas thieves”!). The photograph
above was taken at one of my sites. As Common Limes are - well - common in
parks and cemeteries, I can think of plenty of places where it might be worth
searching for more local Mistletoe. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Dave Bishop,
December 2012.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">References:<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Rackham,
O.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Woodlands’, Collins, 2006.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Wikipedia: </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mistletoe"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mistletoe</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Mistletoe
Pages: </span><a href="http://mistletoe.org.uk/homewp/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">http://mistletoe.org.uk/homewp/</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Buxton, R. ‘A
Botanical Guide to the Flowering Plants, Ferns, Mosses and Algae Found
Indigenous Within Sixteen Miles of Manchester’, Longman And Co., 1849.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NepH-EoqjiY/UN813FWeABI/AAAAAAAAIB4/TpZsOtjUdzA/s1600/Mistletoe13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a> </div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Grindon, L. ‘The
Manchester Flora’, William White, 1859.</span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></span>Friends of Chorlton Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14447128364092047150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608949564905689933.post-24284619925702062802012-10-20T15:39:00.000+01:002012-10-20T15:39:45.397+01:00Making a Meadow on Ivy Green<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gghTeJgbaZA/UIKzKGI9LYI/AAAAAAAAIA0/VNSSlI_Wp7k/s1600/Hay+Raking4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gghTeJgbaZA/UIKzKGI9LYI/AAAAAAAAIA0/VNSSlI_Wp7k/s320/Hay+Raking4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Species-rich, semi-natural grasslands (e.g. traditional hay
meadows) are now some of the rarest habitats in Britain, and they are also some
of the most colourful and biodiverse. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Up until the Second World War such grasslands were common –
particularly in river valleys. These meadows were full of wild flowers and were
at their most glorious in May and June. In late summer they were cut
(traditionally using scythes) and the cut grass left to dry in the sun. Once
dry, the ‘hay’ was raked into piles, loaded onto horse-drawn carts and dragged
away to be stored in barns, eventually to be fed to animals during the winter
months. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I don’t suppose many of the old farmers thought too much
about the effect they were having on biodiversity (!) Nevertheless, the drying
and raking stages helped to spread the wild flower seeds (not to mention the
grass seeds) and removing the hay crop kept the nutrient content of the soil on
the low side. This may seem counter-intuitive but high nutrient levels lead to
the habitat being dominated by a few vigorous species, whereas lower nutrient
levels tend to suppress these species whilst giving more delicate species a
chance to flourish.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">After the Second World War millions of acres of meadowland
were ploughed up and planted with crops or turned into species-poor ‘ley’
meadows dominated by Perennial Rye-grass. In the Mersey Valley the ancient
meadows were tipped on, turned into golf courses or sports fields or grossly
over-grazed by horses. But when I first moved to Chorlton, in the 1970s, there
were still small patches of species-rich grassland left, with some of the
original meadow flora. The local authorities then committed a series of
outrageous acts of crass vandalism by planting trees on many of these precious
patches. This was basically a stupid and perverse assault – a bit like gluing a
false moustache onto the upper lip of a beautiful woman! It led me to formulate
Bishop’s First Law, i.e. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">an
organisation’s knowledge of, or concern for, its local environment is inversely
proportional to it propensity to plant trees</i>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whenever I walk on Chorlton Ees (i.e.
Chorlton <u>Meadows</u>) and see those gloomy, species-poor pseudo-woods that
dominate the area now, I mourn for the rich, colourful place that we could have
had if the local authorities had known what they were doing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I have reason to believe that the old local meadows were of
a type that ecologists call ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Alopecurus-Sanguisorba</i>’
– that is meadows dominated by the grass Meadow Foxtail (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Alopecurus pratensis)</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> and the herb Great Burnet (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sanguisorba officinalis</i>).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A defined
suite of other species tend to accompany these two dominant ones. A sad,
degraded remnant of such a meadow is still just about visible near Sale Water
Park. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was wandering across Ivy Green, one day last June,
admiring a large patch of Meadow Foxtail, and thinking, “wouldn’t some Great
Burnet look good with that?” Suddenly I stopped in amazement because with the
grasses were a few plants of Great Burnet - in a site where I’ve never recorded
that species before! Frankly, I can’t explain how they got there and how I had
previously failed to spot them. It occurred to me that here was an opportunity
to attempt to re-create a Mersey Valley hay meadow.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I asked the Mersey Valley Wardens if they could strim the
area in late summer or early autumn. They did so, and then last Sunday
(13.10.2012) members of FoCM raked off the hay. This wasn’t too easy because,
after all the rain recently, the hay was sodden (luckily we weren’t planning
feed it to any animals). One of our members said that raking this soggy mess reminded
him of combing the knots out of one of his children’s tangled hair.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Although two of the appropriate species are present on our
site, many other key species are missing. In the weeks leading up to our hay
raking day I had been gathering appropriate seeds from up and down the Mersey
Valley. After we had finished raking, and had removed the hay, I mixed these
seeds with some dry sand and broadcast the mixture over the site. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Species I chose included some more Great Burnet plus
Bistort, Meadow Buttercup, some vetches and Red Clover and two dandelion
look-a-likes: Common Catsear and Autumn Hawkbit. Most important, I added seeds
of Yellow Rattle (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rhinanthus minor</i>).
This plant is a ‘hemi-parasite’ – which means that although its leaves contain
chlorophyll and are green, it also attaches itself to the roots of grasses and
steals nutrients from them. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
suppresses the grasses and reduces the competition with the more delicate
plants.</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X7pwZqEKLhQ/UIK2QYLgAzI/AAAAAAAAIBg/DniUdKeN_Os/s1600/Hay+Rattle12+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="273" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X7pwZqEKLhQ/UIK2QYLgAzI/AAAAAAAAIBg/DniUdKeN_Os/s320/Hay+Rattle12+6.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">When attempting a project like this it is extremely
important to use local seed and not any old imported ‘wild flower mix’. Perhaps
I’ll get round to explaining why in a future post. Suffice it to say that,
contrary to popular opinion, planting any old ‘wild flower’ seeds in the
countryside can be as damaging to local biodiversity as planting the wrong
trees in the wrong place. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, will all of this effort pay off? We’ll have to wait at
least until next May to find out – watch this space!</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Dave Bishop, October 2012</span>Friends of Chorlton Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14447128364092047150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608949564905689933.post-63076490344190078172012-09-24T14:35:00.000+01:002013-01-25T11:30:34.440+00:00An Encounter with the Trichomanes Gametophyte<br />
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On Saturday afternoon I, and some fellow fern enthusiasts, got very excited about a green, fuzzy patch on the wall of a rock crevice. For reasons which will be revealed later, I can't tell you where this was - but it wasn't in the Mersey Valley.<br />
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I suppose I'd better explain:<br />
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In Britain and Ireland there are three species of, so-called, 'filmy ferns'. These are Wilson's Filmy Fern (<em>Hymenophyllum wilsonii</em>), the Tunbridge Filmy Fern (<em>H. tunbridgense</em>) and the Killarney Bristle Fern (<em>Trichomanes speciosum</em>). These grow in wet, sheltered sites on rock faces - usually in areas with high rainfall. They all have translucent leaves which are only one cell thick (hence the 'filmy fern' name). In the 19th century colonies of the handsomest of these species, <em>T. speciosum</em>, were practically destroyed by fern collectors, and they have never really recovered. At least the colonies of the <u>adult</u> form of <em>T. speciosum</em> - i.e. the spore-bearing or 'sporophyte' stage - have never recovered but, relatively recently, an extraordinary discovery was made. Ferns have a complicated life cycle and before they reach the sporophyte stage go through a 'gametophyte' stage in which a female element is fertilised by a male element. Typical fern gametophytes are usually tiny, heart-shaped scales clinging to rocks or soil. <br />
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Around 30 or 40 years ago Donald Farrar, a professor of botany at Iowa State University, discovered that certain American fern species, including filmy ferns, produce 'independent gametophytes' - tiny plantlets that never produce adult sporophytes; they exist in a state of permanently arrested development. He discovered colonies of these independent gametophytes by examing the interiors of rock crevices, fissures and other shady places with a torch (OK - a 'flashlight'!). Unlike typical fern gametophytes, the independent gametophytes of the American filmy fern species, <em>Trichomanes intricatum</em>, are like green mats of thread-like filaments - sometimes covering several square metres. They reproduce via tiny, specialised buds, called 'gemmae', which become detached and dispersed to new locations.<br />
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In 1989 Prof. Farrar was on sabbatical leave in Britain and found colonies of the independent gametophyte of <em>T. speciosum</em> here. This discovery prompted further research and such colonies have now been found in several areas of Britain and elsewhere in Europe.<br />
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The big question, of course, is how did this phenomenon arise? The American fern expert, Robbin C. Moran, has put forward an extraordinary explanation: Most filmy ferns are tropical species found clinging to trees in rain and cloud forests. Until the middle of the Tertiary period, 35 million years ago, such forests existed in America and Europe. Then the climate began to cool and become more seasonal, culminating in the last Ice Age. A few species hung on as sporophytes in wetter, somewhat warmer areas (like western regions of Britain and Ireland) but in other drier, colder areas they 'toughed out' the climate change by confining themselves to the stable micro-climates in rock crevices and similar places, and arresting their development to their gametophyte stages. So, and I hardly dare write this, those little green patches that we saw on Saturday, and which were not noticed until just over 20 years ago, have probably existed in Britain for millions of years!<br />
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The colonies of <em>T. speciosum</em> gametophytes which we found on Saturday looked like thin layers of bright green cotton wool pasted to the rock and we had to use torches to see them (and because of the cramped and awkward conditions my photo is rubbish - well, that's my excuse!).<br />
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All stages of <em>T. speciosum</em> are protected by law in Britain and Ireland (it's a Red Data Book species) - which is why I can't tell you where the site is. A passerby asked us what we were looking at and, I'm ashamed to say, we lied and told him that we were looking for mosses. On the bright side, though, by lying we didn't have to kill him and he didn't have to endure my explanation of what a gametophyte is!<br />
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Dave Bishop, September 2012<br />
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References:<br />
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Moran, R.C., 'A Natural History of Ferns', Timber Press, 2004<br />
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Rich, T.C.G. & Jermy, A.C., 'Plant Crib 1998', BSBI, 1998<br />
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Friends of Chorlton Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14447128364092047150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608949564905689933.post-10018355256758721742012-09-08T09:51:00.000+01:002012-09-08T09:51:31.978+01:00Re-scheduled Bat & Moth NightWell, the evening of the Bat & Moth night turned out to be a bit 'moist'. Nevertheless, about ten (mad? dehydrated?) people turned up! Everyone seemed perfectly happy to stand around in the dark and the pouring rain, in a flooded car park, chatting about bats and moths - while the subjects of these conversations were sensibly tucked up in their little bat and moth beds. Eventually sense prevailed and we all went to the pub.<br />
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Obviously we didn't see any bats or moths that night ... well that's not entirely true because Ben Smart brought some moths in plastic boxes which we peered at by torchlight. <br />
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Later, in the (warm, dry) pub, we decided to re-schedule the evening. Details of the next, hopefully less moist, Bat & Moth night are as follows:<br />
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Date: Sunday 16th September<br />
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Time: 7:15 pm<br />
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Place: Ivy Green car park on Brookburn Road, Chorlton (opposite the bowling Green pub).<br />
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If you decide to attend, you may like to bring a torch with you.<br />
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Hope to see you there.<br />
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Dave Bishop (FoCM Chair)<br />
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Friends of Chorlton Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14447128364092047150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6608949564905689933.post-41434576552558798412012-08-20T19:44:00.001+01:002013-01-25T11:31:00.884+00:00Forthcoming Bat & Moth Night<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4ZQ2ekecIOU/UDKFVadsM9I/AAAAAAAAIAE/8yK5VuPwIXw/s1600/1991ElephantHawk-moth031%23001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4ZQ2ekecIOU/UDKFVadsM9I/AAAAAAAAIAE/8yK5VuPwIXw/s320/1991ElephantHawk-moth031%23001.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here's another outing for you - a nocturnal one this time!<br />
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<strong>BAT AND MOTH NIGHT</strong> Chorlton Ees & Ivy Green<br />
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<strong>Date:</strong> Saturday 25th August<br />
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<strong>Time:</strong> 8:15 pm<br />
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<strong>Meeting Place:</strong> <span id="misspell-0">Ivy Green car park,
Brookburn Road, Chorlton (opposite the Bowling Green pub)</span><br />
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The plan is to wander along the bank of Chorlton Brook until we reach the
river bank and then back to the car park. We will have bat detectors with us to
pick up the ultra-high frequency bat calls.</div>
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On our return to the car park we will check a special moth trap with local
moth expert, Ben Smart, to see how many species it has attracted (no moths will
be harmed - hopefully!).<br />
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<strong>PLEASE BRING A TORCH WITH YOU</strong>.<br />
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Hope to see you there.</div>
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Best Regards,</div>
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Dave Bishop (FoCM Chair)</div>
Friends of Chorlton Meadowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14447128364092047150noreply@blogger.com0