The Yorkshire Naturalists' Union has a VC64 visit this year 2023 to Hell Wath in Ripon on Sat 27 May 2023. 

..Note I am still writing this post.(Still. in March 2024) . and there may yet be some alterations to come and pictures to be added

Unfortunately because I am booked to run a Grass Identification course at Juniper Hall Field Centre, Surrey this weekend I cannot attend the YNU meeting.  So I went for a walk round round the area on Wednesday afternoon 24 May.

I could divide this post into three posts: 

- 1: History and management,
- 2: Wildflowers - I must have seen at least 1 dozen white flowers)
- 3: Lichens. But for the moment I will put the three together. 

(Lichens: fortunately a) the area is not rich in lichens and b) I had looked a the lichens here before.. otherwise my walk probably would not have progressed beyond the bridge at High Cleugh... 

- 1: History and management

This is an area where the River Skell (and River Laver) cut through the magnesian limestone; and also cut through gravel beds.  Part of the land was used for quarrying limestone, and for quarrying gravel long ago. 

The area consists of grassland,  scrub, trees, and riverside with Himalayan Balsam. It is marvellous that this wedge of countryside has been saved. There are extensive housing developments to the north and south. 

The land was used for training in the First World war. There was a huge army camp.

I grew up on Whitcliffe Grove, 1/4 mile away. When I was small there were houses built up Whitcliffe Lane, there was the Choir School - St Olaves - and there was our  unsurfaced  road - Whitcliffe Grove, with houses numbered 1 to 12 on the west side and no houses opposite us. Whitcliffe Crescent was there by the time I was four because I remember going to Sunday School and later primary School with children from newer houses on the Crescent. But everywhere else was fields. .. which bit by bit became building sites.

We had walks, especially with visitors to Hell Wath, to the Rustic Bridge (i.e Fairy Steps and High Cleugh) , and to the Paddling Pool. 

On the walk between Hell Wath and the Rustic Bridge   there was young and medium scrub on the banks and cattle grazing in the fields. The Hawthorn scrub has now grown much taller.  The land (I am told) is rented on a long lease by the council (Ripon/ Harrogate) from the Quarry company and has been managed as nature reserve/ community area for dog walking for at least 40 years. 

I remember many happy walks seeing primroses and violets when I was small. And making Easter cards based on these. We usually walked up Whitcliffe Lane then to Hellwath then along the path through the treed/hawthorn scrub to where it opens out in the field; The river turns a right angle bend and makes a poll big enough for young children to be waist deep in. 

It really is a great asset to Ripon. When so much of the area round Ripon is either covered with Houses or agricultural land with intensive crops to the east and reseeded grassland to the west it is lovely that there are a few places where people can walk and see wild flowers. 

This YNU visit actually straddles four hectads (10km) squares - which makes recording difficult (or alternatively - easy to get records for four hectads).

Anyway, I start at the Rustic Bridge, (the monad nearest Ripon, the north east monad) I then walk through the hectads in an anticlockwise direction.  

SE3070  SE 37

Most of the recording area is in monad  SE3070 and hectad SE37. This includes The Rustic Bridge (SE30467071) at High Cleugh at the confluence of the rivers Skell and Laver, with its pebble beach.

Across the bridge there is Crack Willow. The big tufts of Pendulous Sedge have been there a good number of years. 

Follow the Skell upstream (SW)  and you can ascend the Fairy Steps, or keep low at river level. Both paths leading through now maturing spindly trees that were once scrub, and join up still following the river upstream.

Today the sides of the path are covered with Common Chickweed Stellaria media. Sheets of it.  The bare areas became wide - maybe during the drought last summer or maybe due to trampling muddy weather when trampling widens the paths. Now the Chickweed has made good use of the light last month before the trees came into leaf.

Several people pass by taking their dogs for a walk.  Footpaths criss cross the area. There are areas of field kept open by the rabbits and areas of hawthorn  and sloe and other bushes. I watch  a crow pecking away at a dead rabbit carcass.  I go over to have a look and photograph the bluebottles on it.

After 1 km the river makes a sharp bend at SE29947010. That's just into the next monad and hectad.

SE2970  SE 27
We are now briefly in monad SE2970 and hectad SE27. 
 Here the river makes a waist deep-pool on the outside of the curve - well waist-deep for a seven year old child - and we used to enjoy going there for picnics sixty plus years ago. There may not be many extra species records gained by this incursion into SE27 .

The shallower side of the river has bedrock at the surface during low water and is covered with slippery algae. It does not look at all inviting now. The steep sloping river bank that was covered in grass as a carpet for our picnics long ago is now all exposed sand - Due to rabbit grazing or bicycles cycles? The trees surrounding the pool are much taller now giving more shade, perhaps reducing grass growth. 

The big area of flat area of grassland above the slope is now reduced to less than half its former size as sloe scrub is spreading out from the wooded slope beyond - It is impressive to see succession taking place. (Maybe one day large trees will get established amongst the sloe?)

SE2969    SE 26 

SE29916994  Hell Wath footbridge.  Any walk in the area demands a visit to this foot bridge (because it is there) - and adjacent to the ford.

The views from the bridge are not particularly notable. Beyond the bridge footpath continues onwards into "beyond the Skell" territory towards Duck House. When I was little I think it went through pasture. We found some big field/horse mushrooms one year by the path. Then I think at some time arable crops were planted on both sides. Then Paul Sykes bought the land and put it to pasture again with low intensity grazing, with new hedges but in the area near the bridge he planted many trees. (but no public access) These are getting quite big now. There are some birch which very white trunks.  I was given a public guided walk round about 10 years ago by his land manager on 8 June 2016 when I saw this beautiful damselfly at maybe SE299701

He has sold it and someone else owns it now.

At the bridge:

Grasses: Glyceria declinata, Brachypodium sylvaticum, Phalaris arundinacea, Anisantha sterilis

Lichens:  Bilimbia sabulatorum; Aspicilia contorta 

Herbs: This is the one place I remember seeing Himalayan Balsam c.1960 and touching the fruit to let them flick open. (It was probably elsewhere too). There were lots of young plants here today.

In the water was that umbellifer with once pinnate leaves and a mark on the petiole.. I will add its name when it comes back to me.

In 2016 - 6 June - there was Wood Stitchwort Stellaria nemorea at the bridge, but I looked and could not find it today (24 May 2023). I had also seen it at the fence at the bottom of the steep steps near the Rustic Bridge leading to Whitcliffe Lane but could not find it today. Maybe I need to look in June.. but that's only two weeks ahead.

SE36  SE300697

This monad contains the Hell Wath Pavilion  where people will meet at the YNU meeting to have tea.  I see on a notice that "Friends of Hell Wath" organised a Dawn Chorus bird walk earlier this month. 

This monad also contains Sand Leek  (Allium scorodoprasm) which is an uncommon plant.

From the pavilion I then reenter SE  the first Monad - SE300700, starting to walk back towards the Rustic Bridge, but by the fields at the top.

 I am looking at the branches of a tree - mostly plastered with bright yellow Xanthoria parietina and delicate pale grey Physcia adscendens two lichens indicating heavy reactive nitrogen compound presence. I meet a gentleman walking his dog. First he says "Thank you " to me - I realise he thinks my walking pole is a litter picker. 

Then we have a chat. He tells me about some areas in next/another field when they had recently sprinkled wildflower seed, and taken the turf off some areas and put in wildflower seed.

I said that when they had first stopped having cattle in the fields (40? years ago)  I thought that they would have to cut the grass to keep it down. but now it looked as thought the rabbits were doing that job.

He said yes they had cut it sometimes. And that the rabbits spilled over into peoples gardens. As I walked in (now nearly 8pm) I saw millions - well lots - of groups of rabbits, happily nibbling away now that there were few people around.

I find the wildflower seeded plots - There was lots of Field Woodrush near them - (Luzula campestris) I wonder if that had been sown.

I discover two clumps of trees in one field - I like the way they have been planted about 8 in a clump including ash, oak and I forget the others.. They have space to spread out their branches  and light can get in to allow lichens to grow on their trunks. Under one (very dead) tree I find two or three large fungi - including an inkcap.

As I walk towards the path that would have led to "St Olaves" (former Choir School - land now covered with new houses) - the path from Whitcliffe Lane to the steep steps to the Rustic Bridge - the evening sun comes out and lights up the Bulbous Buttercups and hawthorn tree in the hedge.

Lichens

Before setting off on my walk I had parked at High Cleugh at the lush amenity grassland, and looked at the "Fence" - posts with a wooden rail under the trees, on the grass at the end of the road. I had found two species of Melanohalea lichen here two years ago - I hoped I could refind them. I found one, and took photos.  The lichens on these horizontal wooden posts are excellent lichen habitat  because they are under trees, but also with lots of light.

If the YNU make recommendations about land management - I (as a lichenologist)  would like to suggest finding an excuse to construct such wooden posts in several other areas under trees - but the trees must be really well spaced out so that their trunks have lots of light. 

After the walk, back at the lush grassland at High Cleugh I went back towards my car and then noticed a rock in the ground... Would it have lichens on it?

In fact it had a plaque on it... to be written up later