Tremelecia atrata and Waxcaps on a walk along the (south) Craven Fault above Settle

 Did I tell you I had discovered lots of local Settle walks during Covid? well I learned a new footpath for me and new views today that I never found during Covid. 

And most important a new record of this metal loving lichen beyond the SE end of its main range in the North of England in The Lake District and Swaledale.

Tremolecia atrata

Where did I go?

(If you want to skip this geology detourt go straight here to the rock)

The narrow tarmac road Michell Lane that runs SE from Settle is  initially on the level at 190m above sea level. A footpath from Mitchell Lane runs from the road at 198m then up along a track beside the reservoir wood, and  parallel to the road. The rock of which the wall is made is gritstone/sandstone. The geology of the rocks here correlate / are an extension of my walk at Giggleswick

The Bedrock just here is Pendle Grit member, but the level above it and in some cases lateral to it is Brennand Grit.  (and in some cases lateral with it) is Brennand Grit.  (Click!  that must be why the reservoir was originally built here - gritstone is impermeable to water.)  How can you tell the difference between Pendle Grit and Brennand grit? - Field tips: if you see abundant rounded quartz pebbles and strong cross-beds, lean Brennand; if you see thick, massive, feldspathic beds with fewer pebbles and interbeds of silt/mud, lean Pendle. NERC Open Research Archive+1

This is a whitish lichen with black apothecia on the dark siliceous wall.
I am still thinking about this lichen.

Then the path turns ENE up through the field 

Two yellow waxcaps with yellow stipes in foreground

I climbs up a steep, steep slope to the top corner of the reservoir wood stillwith its regular gritstone  wall. At 258m. 

Ancient wall?

As I walked up this slope, I looked up and could see the wall running along the skyline SE from the wood wall was made of big boulders with the sky showing through between. Intriguing.  Was this an ancient wall?   Some of the walls in Ireland, made of much smaller stone, have the sky showing through like this and so do a few of the walls above Malham Tarn House.

  Or had the boulders been moved here recently (last 100 years) with the help of machinery as a way of clearing the field?  I discovered  the boulders I had been looking up to were supporting the soil of flat field above, they were a retaining wall - like a Ha-ha

The vegetation and soil on which the boulders are perched is "old vegetation" - i.e. heathland type - Polytrichum juniperinum and Heath grass (Danthonia decumbens) and Heath Bedstraw (Galium saxatile)

Apricot Clubs in the foreground.  Heath grass with upper surface of blade whitish so the two grooves down the centre of the blade show up.

Whereas the soil in the flat field above the boulder wall and also on the slope below starting 3m down the slope is softer-lusher-Yorkshire-Fog grass and Tufted Hair-grass and one or two rushes. (MG9 National Vegetation Classification Type)

 I initially thought this was due to improvement by muck spreading -but a search of the internet shows  there is glacial till (boulder clay:- clay and jumbled angular rocks of different sizes brought up here and deposited by the ice maybe 20,000-15000 years ago) on the ground above and below the wall, whereas the ridge where the boulders have been placed has no till. (according to Cuacera website) The bedrock is The Brennand Grit is "Very coarse, pebbly to medium-grained cross-bedded feldspathic sandstone with minor siltstone beds." I certainly noticed the pebbles in some of the rocks.

(The actual junction, the fault, between the Grit and the limestone is some 80m NE of here, across the flat field between us and Springfield Farm.)

What caught my eye was a completely different type of geology - the largest boulder in this boulder wall was a smooth siliceous rock - a glacial erratic - gleaming with patches of fluorescent green of the lichen Rhizocarpon geographicum - and contrasting with blue sky and white clouds behind.

Centre: Rhizocarpon geographicum  Right thick thallus: Lecanora rupicola and left: ?

And wait -what are those evenly coloured deep russet copper coloured patches with black apothecia?

It is one of the two look-alikes Tremelecia atrata and Rhizocarpon oederi (now Haugania  oederi) . Back home after talking to ChatGBT and looking at lots of internet pictures I plump for T. atrata because the apothecia are concave, the areole surface sunken, and the prothallus very black showing between the areoles.  I had scraped off a few apothecia- one day I may see if they have simple spores just to check. (H oederi has three septate spores). 

Here is a distribution map of Tremelecia atrata  Settle is just left of centre near the bottom in this map, and the location of the rock is just under the second t of Settle.  This point will get added.  

I also think I found this species on another single rock c 4km north of here, near Stainforth

At the corner of the reservoir wood wall I found Caloplaca (now Athallia) holocarpa. I pulled the small pebble sized loose stone out of the wall - I could take it home. "No I won't" I thought - "The lichens I bring home all die. It is better to leave it here and come and look for it another day.

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On a rock at the foot of the erratic boulder there was some of our "Pertusaria corallina that goes yellow and then orange with K but not red." This specimen was significantly grey rather than white (which made me think it might be P. pseudocorallina. close inspection showed that the isidia did not have dark tips.  (Though they were slightly dark... And this close inspection led me to noticing several black dots amongst the isidia. I shall call them the parasitic lichenicolous fungus ... and say "that proves it is P corallina." 

 though I am not very confident.

The yellow changed to orange after 25 minutes.

As it is the waxcap season (end of October) I have been looking for waxcaps.  I found heath wax cap and slimy wax cap and possibly cedar waxcap and apricot clubs. mostly in this 3 m wide strip of heathy grass just below the boulders. 

This Didontodon looking moss is grwoing in an acd place - It must be Ceratodon purpurea.

Xanthoparmelia conspersa - a big thallus but the only one I saw there.

Gliophorus laetus - Heath Waxcap 

See the flat field behind our big boulder in the wall

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Christians Aware Summer School 2025 at Parcevall Hall - Geology of the location on the Craven Fault.

This is the geology background for the post which  I wrote about this Summer School

Barbara Butler invited me to  the Christians Aware Summer School at Parceval Hall, near Appletreewick in the Yorkshire Dales. In 2023 I had visited and run a session on lichen identification. 

"Come on the Sunday night" she said. "We are going to launch the book "Rooted in Hope - A Christians Aware Resource towards Building Biodiversity - for which you wrote the chapter on lichens. Then lead us on a trip on the Monday."

I wanted to take the group somewhere really local. Yes, they have visited Malham and Settle before - but there are so many lovely places near Parcevall Hall. Where could I take them? 

I dug deep into my book piles and dug out the two brilliant books fo the British Cave Research Organisation edited by Tony Waltham and David Lowe - so glad that Tony Waltham had sold me copies.

How does Parcevall Hall fit into the geology? - especially related to the geology of Settle and Malham Tarn that I (And all the local Settle people who read this blog post)  know so well.

What is the point of coming from Wakefield or Falmouth all the way to Parcevall Hall if you cannot find out about the geology? (We also had three people from Kenya - but they missed my first evening of condensed geology talk.)

The layers of rock around here consist of at the bottom 500MYR old slate, the Thick beds of 350MYR old limestone then on top of that a repeating cycle of rocks-limestone,sandstone,shale, imestone, sandstone, shale (up to 7 times in some places) 

So

Settle and Malham Tarn lie on the Craven Faults - South, Mid and North Craven Faults. These between them go all the way from the south end of Gragareth and Kingsdale in the west to Greenhow and Coldstones Cut above Stump Cross Caverns and Pateley Bridge  in the East - 50m or over 30miles.

Hence I can apply the geology of Settle and of Malham to the geology of Parcevall Hall 16 miles(25KM) directly to the East:

500 MYR (million years) ago the land under the south of England was near the south pole and the north of Scotland was near the north pole and in between was a big muddy sea. Over the course of time the South of England moved up over the equator and the mud was compressed and formed some huge fold mountains as big as the Himalayas. The mud was compressed and with the heat and pressure turned into slate - Like the slate we see in the Lake District). The Mountains got worn down and the area was under the sea again. this time it was a warm clear sea.  Algae and sea creatures grew in the warm water and their remains fell to the bottom and formed thick bands of limestone - now called the Great Scar Limestone that we see at Gordale Scar. 

Then over a long period of time the land to the south slipped down, the land to the north rose up - this left a big cliff. But over the course of time the top of the taller rock to the north go worn down - so the millstone grit and the Yoredale series got worn away by glaciers, rivers and weather.  So Limestone is at the surface to the north is Limestone, but the land at the surface to the south is Millstone grit.

This is the geology background for the post with  I wrote about this event

 

Settle Waxcaps near Mitchell Lane 22 October 2025

Wed 22 October 2025

Hygrocybe punicea

 22Oct 2025

Hygrocybe punicea

Apricot  Club Clavulinpis ludeoalba

Then I found two  large honey waxcaps  not photographed but I have a video: Hygrocybe reidii

I also found Meadow Waxcaps Cuphophyllus pratensis

Gliophorus irrigatus  Slimy waxcap

Hygrocybe coccinea Scarlet waxcap

Stropharia caeruleum (I think - possibly) 

Gliophorus  psittacinus 

View down to Settle. I am walking up parallel to the road on the right

Clavaria straminea

   Straw 

The Ballerina - with flash

The Ballerina - without  flash

  (Rugby Club belwo)

The Ballerina / Pink Waxcap

Settle Community Christmas Day Meal 2025

The Settle Community Christmas Day Meal will take place again this year 2025 at St John's Methodist Church, Settle BD24 9JH !!!

Please tell your neighbours an friends, and especially people who might be lonely, sad or bored this Christmas and who live in Settle or at a village nearby. We have a great time at this occasion.

1. Download and print a larger version of this poster to print and give to a friend.

2. Download a booking form or get a printed one from AgeUK or The Place or Settle Hub (see below).

Programme: - 

All parts are optional -  you can sit and chat in the "Garden Room" or rest or play board games there if you prefer.  Attend the whole day or just part.

If you need transport we can arrange it.

(We can also deliver take-aways, either lunch or tea for a limited number of people who are housebound)

11.45:Arrive, coffee, soft drinks nibbles,- The Garden Room 

12:00 Carols, - The Carol room (/worship room)

12.30 Dinner - The Hall

2.30 A few gentle party games, pass the parcel, party pieces: (Hall or Carol Room) (Bring your poem, song, reading, but must be less than 2 min long) 

4:00 Tea. (Coffee Lounge)

5:00 Depart

This is made possible - through the help of 

Local volunteers (who generally take part in the meal too too)

The people of St John's Methodist Church who enable us to use their facilities

Age UK, The Place (For being a base for holding forms) and Settle Hub

The guests who come and take part, 

The price has been kept to £10 (£5-00 for children) because of support from local traders and others. Last year these included  Drake and Macefield Butchers, The Naked Man Café, Booths, Trevors, and the Coop - sorry if I have missed someone. 

If people can't manage £10, then please see me Judith Allinson who attends the church and does the much of the organising - there is a bursary fund for this.

If you would like to come - please book by filling in the form obtainable from Age UK, Settle Hub or The Place or downloadable here.  Please leave money and completed forms at either at Settle Hub office or The Place both with the address Commercial Courtyard,  BD24 9RH, or the Age UK shop in the Market Square. If you would rather pay by BACS and  send emailed versions of this form contact Jo Rhodes on hub@settlecommunityandbusinesshub.org.uk and she will send BACS information

The form has a section for dietary needs.  We plan to make vegetarian and vegan options available.  It may not be possible to cater for all allergies so please check first. 

Meanwhile here are links to reports of three of the events that were held over the ten years before Covid. 

Settle Community Christmas Day meal 2014 - Pictures and videos

Many enjoy Settle Christmas Day Meal 2015 - Pictures

Settle Community Christmas Day Meal 2017

Volunteers in 2018:

Pictures from 2019 - the last time we held such a meal when we had 70 people.

(Our meal in 2025 will be a more select gathering, with 40 to 50 people.

Tea

Volunteers

Volunteers are participants in the day and pay/donate the same as guests.

Volunteers are needed to help in many ways

- with publicity before the day

- with planning, and collecting donations

- with food and present and table preparations on the morning of Christmas Eve (Wed) (peeling potatoes etc) 10-12

- with chatting to new people as they come and have coffee before the meal.

-with taking part in the activities.

-with transport

-with serving food

with collecting dishes and tidying up.

We will have a volunteers' meeting on Thursday 18 November at 6pm in the church coffee lounge. 

If you are interested in helping, please contact Judith

BLS visit to Hebden Bridge 6-10 October 2025 Lichens at IOU Hostel Mon, Tue

 Hebden Bridge lies in the Pennines, "the backbone of England" a band of hills running down from the Scottish border down to Derbyshire and dividing the north west from the north east. The Pennine Way footpath zigzags its way from south to north.. The millstone grit dome is a moorland plateau and in the Hebden Bridge area it is dissected by steep sided valleys, of the Calder and its tributaries. 

Photo by Josef of us on the first day
having ascended from Crag Vale up
through Bradhead Clough Wood

With a catchment stretching from Blacktone Edge reservoir at.. m with views down to Rochdale and the Lancashire cities to the West Manchester and Liverpool ,the Calder drains travels twice the distance to the east, joining the River Aire east of Leeds to form the Ouse and then Humber..

The geology is all gritstone/sandstone which support acid loving lichens; Oak trees grow well on the acid soils of steep valley sides

I arrive on the  Monday evening having driven across the moorland from Keighley.: along roads with with dry stone walls and sometimes footpaths, and and villages with 20mph speed limits, finally down to Hebden Bridge and up the VERY steep streets to the IOU hostel. This is next to the Birchcliffe Centre  The Birchclffe centre I later discover was a Baptist chapel opened about 1900 (the third on that site)  but is now modernised and housesvarious offices and the digital records centre.  Our hostel next to it used to be the Baptist Schoolroom (As big as a big chapel itself) and now converted into a well lit bright vegetarian Hostel by an Art-Theatre foundation (IOU). We have hired sole use of the place for four nights.

I enter to discover Graham the Field Meeting leader and the group  holding an welcoming session. We all introduce ourselves.  Then we have a fantastic supper with food brought by Eluned, Pete and Ann. 

Roast homegrown squash by Ann

On the Tuesday morning I decide  to record five lichens before breakfast - Can you guess what they are?

If you are a lichenologist have a guess before reading further.

...

...

I actually find 8 species  and Pete who is collecting records for the group for the whole week to add to the BLS data base correctly guessed the first four.

On Hawthorn:  

On Hawthorn there is Physcia tenella and Xanthoria parietina Nearby on other deciduous trees Ash - is Lecidella eleochroma and Lecanora "chalarotera sens lat"  But I do not find Arthonia radiata

I find two species of Lepraria. - Lepraria incana and Leparaia? ....then on the sandstone walls there is Porpidia tuberculosa - and Rhizocarpon reductum.

Must get one of the others to help me identify this fluffy soft Lepraria

Lepraria sens lat

View of Hostel

To remind me that I need to go back to this Caloplaca type species

Breakfast. Then we set off for Cragg Vale.  

Cragg Vale was the location of the Cragg Vale Coiners, a group of people who chipped the edges of gold coins then released the coins into circulation again.

We park our cars just south of Myrthylmroyd and set of on a walk up to YWT reserve Broadhead Clough

Acorns Acorns everywhere. It has been a fantastic year for acorsn (as for many other fruit.  A farmer in Bal, North Wales has recently lost 35 sheep due to acorn poisoning, so farmers here have been warned  to take care.

Sedge - will write more later.

Looking at Baeomyces rufus

Baeomyces rufus

Lunch

Fly agaric

Looking at the fly agaric at the exit to the reserve at the top.

View down to Cragg Vale - wall across moorland

Lichens on the wooden sign on the exposed moor.

. I expect over time more lichens will get established on it.

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In the late afternoon we went to Blackstone Edge

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View from the shelter of my car.

On the way home my phone battery runs out. I cannot find the way back to the hostel - I pass a long, long long queue of people waiting at the cinema. It is for the launch of a TV show Riot Women. I go one way  and realise it is wrong and come back again - past the same queue - and another way and back again past this queue - then two more times - but in the centre of town the street is narrow there is no-where to stop and so no-one to ask. Eventually I get off the main street, find myself in George Square where there is a public map board.. and from there I can see just across the street the correct way home  . Up Commercial Street and first left along Birchcliffe Road 

We come home, have supper sort our specimens (and in my case "Do emails" )

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