08 June 2023 - Langcliffe Hillside SD8264 - Looking down to Settle - Petractis clausa - 30 Days Wild

A friend, Doris, has just moved into Mill Close, Settle, and from her bungalow, looking left, to the NE, you can see some woodland and limestone grassland high up, a mile or two away. This land is the hillside above (SE) of Langcliffe. Could I reach this area by driving up to Langcliffe Brow and walking diagonally along/down the footpath (Pennine Bridleway) towards Settle?

So I found myself exploring the very large, very steep field above Langcliffe on 8 June. at 7- 9 pm. It had been sunny all day and windy so the grassland and plants are beginning to look a bit dry. I waved to a man cycling down this very narrow path

This anonymous area which, includes the southern boundary of Langcliffe Parish with Settle Parish, is in the same monad as Langcliffe High Road (way below) and Barrel Sykes in the west. It includes  Blua Crags (that I had visited with Allan Pentecost once to the south) and the southern tip of Langcliffe Churchyard and village to the north.

Much of the monad is extensive limestone grassland slope.  The hillside stretches from 180m near Barrel Sykes up to 360m in the east (leading towards Warrendale Knotts and Attermire).

I sat down on a patch of very pink wild thyme.

 I looked at the white sunken limestone rock it was growing in.

Ahah. A little "dotty" crustose lichen on limestone I could recognise: Petractis clausa. Its apothecium is not a dot really: it has big "folded in lion's teeth" round the edge. I wetted the thallus and scratched it but it did not go orange - maybe light green.  (The book at home tells me it has the orange alga Scytonema) 

This is close up - The picture is above 5 mm across.

Back at home I discover it is my first record of Petractis clausa for SD86- though others have found it in this hectad before.

A little higher up the slope (10m) was a "clifflet"/ledge. All this in a sheltered part of the sloping  hillside facing the evening sun and very pleasant..  Working over the rocks with my handlens, and perched in my rather loose overwide trainers (ie not rock climbing shoes) I found Dermatocarpon miniatum, Squamarina cartilaginea, Solenospora candicans and Romjularia lurida.  (But no Caloplaca cirrochroa)

Dermatocarpon miniatum

Solenospora candicans

Romjularia lurida 

One of several different species of "Dotty" lichens" These are the tiniest, most densely packed dots I have seen.

Squamarina cartilaginea

 view from Squamarina cartilaginea  but needs the horizon making flat.

I explored the hillside as far as the southern boundary of this field, at 300 m above Sea level - From here I could see Doris' House (near centre of the picture)  -but very hazy because I was looking towards the sun. This boundary wall had potential extra species.. But they are for me to revisit another day.

View north to Penyghent

This was on an acid rock in the otherwise limestone dry wall -- The picture is to remind me to go back and look at it

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The lichen below is on limestone The big black apothecia below were on a pale grey greensh thallus. Lower picture is magnified - therefore shows about 0.8cm across.

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For the record - I had two other "Walks" on this Day - Thursday - that I could have written about.

I visited The Hub, held at Settle Quakers for lunch. I had Tomato soup and "Tim's bread" - Sat outside int the garden in the sun. A lady was giving people hand massages to people. She gave me one with "Balance" oil.  She told us about playing violin and viola in a group for weddings. The Yellow rattle in the  lawn is out and the Ox-eye daisies are getting tall but not quite out. 

I then went round to Doris' bungalow that she had just moved into earlier in the week.  And looked left and could see the trees on the hillside to the NE. But see 10 June for a picture