Climate Walk and Lichens on Swindale Ridge on 2 Sept 2023 - before Wild Haweswater Talk by Lee Schofield on 21 Sept.

 On the 1st of the month (in this case on the 2nd ) we go for a walk which we call a Climate walk - (See more) see. We - being a group from Craven Conservation Group and from Churches together in Settle and District plus anyone else interested.  The weather on the 2nd September was excellent.

We are looking forward to hearing Lee Schofield come and talk on "Wild Haweswater" at Craven Conservation Group on 21 Sept (7.30pm St Johns Methodist Church) so we planned the September walk to go to Swindale, near Haweswater.

This involved driving up the M6 to Shap (lots more limestone ) and then turning into the Lake District.

We parked at the entrance to Swindale and set off diagonally up to Swindale Common. I was delighted to find excellent specimens of Lasallia pustulata (a lichen) at our first resting point half way up the bridle path to Swindale Common.

Lasallia pustulata in the foreground.

We wet the top half of the Lasallia - the pustules look even more obvious.

Candelariella coralliza

I wonder if the black dots on the Ophioparma ventosa are the lichenicolous fungus  Muellerella ventosicola

We saw some bracken management.

At the brow between Swindale and Naddle we enjoyed watching orienteers go back and forth.

We had considered descending into the Naddle valley to look for Lungwort Lichen we had been told about.. but realised if we walked downhill we would have to walk back up again. So we shelved that Idea for another time.  We walked south along the ridge. This is the view looking back north east, over the tree tops of Naddle.

At some point we would have to leave the wall be this path and head cross country ( uphill and cross heather and rocks and lumpy maybe marshy ground to aim to meet the Corpse Road (path) ready to descend back into Swindale.

There were some flushes with Sundew

This "cairn" turned out to be a boulder - with more good lichens

Bryoria  rufescens  (Don't get that at Settle)

Stereocaulon

Umbilicaria species.

Eventually we found the Corpse road and set of down back into Swindale

I have a few more pictures to add - of us resting by the steep stream down to Swindale.  

Then it was a two mile treck along the lane (not a single car passed us .. but then the lane only led to the one farm) back to the car.. 

On October the 1st we will be going on a much more gentle walk close to Settle. 

Lichens at The Yorkshire Arboretum September 2023

One of the hottest days in 2023 found myself and five participants  at the Yorkshire Arboretum "Discovering Lichens" 5 Sept 2023. this arboretum is next to Castle Howard

What did we discover?

We spent a pleasant morning session in the shade of the spacious new workroom with its big windows overlooking the grounds, learning the terminology for lichen structure. We looked at twigs I had brought in from near Settle.

Then a short walk to the nearest tree - a hawthorn. This  provided a wealth of specimens for beginners; (See classroom in the background)

Here is a list of English names of some of the lichensThe names I have made up have an asterisk as not all lichens have common names in Britain. I have taken the common names from the list provided by Ray Woods on the British Lichen society website). They are followed by their Latin Names:

1. Little Ciliated Lichen; 2. Golden Sunburst Lichen; 3. Ink Blot Lichen* 4. Abraded Camouflage Lichen   (or Brown Parmelia on Branches*), 5. Common Treetrunk Jam-tart Lichen,   6. Oak Moss   7. Mealy Ramalina (Or Dotted Ramalina) 8. Powdered Loop Lichen

1 Physcia tenella, 2 Xanthoria parietina,  3.Arthonia radiata, 4. Melanelixia subaurifera, 5. Lecanora chlaratera agg. (Now possible known as Lecanora hybocarpa)  6 Evernia prunastri, 7. Ramalina farinacea. 8. Hypotrachyna revoluta

By now it was lunch time.

In the afternoon we used the FSC chart "lichens on twigs" and listed those lichens which we had seen so far.