May 2024

It's interesting how plant species can hide in plain sight. When I walk along the access road to the athletics area once a month, I make a list of the plants to be seen in the adjacent hedgerow. On the 29th, it was great to see several Dog Roses in full flower and there were many also in the tree planting areas around Horse Close Wood, but this is a seasonal phenomenon. This fine native rose is actually quite inconspicous when not in flower or fruit in the winter. In my list that day I failed to note other species seen regularly at other times when they flower. One is the single Laurustinus in the hedge, which has flowered there mainly in late summer and autumn, when I ususlly spot it. This seasonality is even more pronounced for the non-woody plants that grow between the perimeter path and the bottom of the hedge. On my visit I spotted some species that can be seen year round, like the common Daisy, Perrenial Ryegrass and Annual Meadow-grass, but others die back for the winter and grow again for summer, so the Spear-leaved Orache, Wall Barley and Knotgrass weren't spotted. The Spear Thistle, that I noted in late May was just growing back. Of course, there's also a good element of chance in whether or not I happen to look in the right place. When a species is not widespread, and is growing amongst the mass of more common species, it can be missed. In late May I spotted the single Swedish Whitebeam in that hedge, but missed the equally uncommon Sycamores, Cow Parsley, Horse Raddish and Snowberry. The few Yews in the hedge are more obvious in the winter when their deciduous companions are leafless. 

For such reasons, to get a good handle on the plant composition of even a tiny area needs, not only expertise, but a thorough survey. So, it's interesting that I found 99 grassland species on the ex-golf course in recent surveys, but AELTC admit to finding only 23. The combined list is just 102 species, and certainly an underestimate, as my surveys weren't enough for such a large area. That AELTC reported 23% of the species known to be present and I found 99% has nothing to do with the expertise or professionalism of the ecologists working for AELTC, it's simply due to them not looking at the right time and not having enough time to have a good look at most of the grassland. If you don't look you don't find. Does this matter? Of course it does if you are spinning a story that the pastures back in Capability Brown's time were acid grassland and have been ruined since. You actually need to look at the evidence, and when you fail to find Bracken after a good look, you can be confident that acid soils are not widespread on that ex-golf course and never were. So, good data, and a knowledge of indicator species and history of the site, would allow a professional ecologist to reach the right conclusion. AELTC fail at the first hurdle.

The spring flowering was not over, with Elder in full flower although the Hawthorns, Lord's-and-Ladies and Wild Cherries were in fruit and flowering was just starting on the Brambles and the native and the Japanese Honeysuckles. Dandelions flower over a wide season, but the spring flush was over. There was a nice display of Yellow-flag Iris around the lake, a species that AELTC proposes to replace with big new reedbeds, so compromising the prospect.

It was distressing to see so much spraying of wildflowers "weeds" along the edges of paths, around trees and below the athletics hedges and fence lines yet again. It seems that this is done as a routine without much thought about need. Spraying was under way before the opening of the park to the public, suggesting a deliberate attempt to avoid notice. Most of these places would be nicer were the vegetation allowed to grow and flower, and strimmed a couple of times a year, so treated as natural edge vegetation. What we get instead is ugly desiccated vegetation followed by bare soil. This restricts the species to a few, quick flowering ones that can survive this attack. Strimming could well be cheaper, but would require some thought and discussion, as I'm sure that the clean and tidy brigade will have a counter argument. The same could be said of the mowing of long grass in places like the crazy golf area and the cuckoo flower verge. Here, the cuttings are left as a thatch on top of the grassland, so preventing easy regeneration of interesting species in the gaps. These places are not flower-rich meadows, but would be better with meadow management. Raking off is what is required, but it seems that there's no co-ordination between those who mow and those who may wield a rake. As I walk around noting the vegetation of these areas, users sing the praises of what wildflowers survive this treatment and credit the management for it. I don't dare explain that these flowers that they value aren't valued by the management.

Sadly, there was more tipping of shrub prunings at the edge of Horse Close Wood, this time near the western edge of the car park. Yet another reason for closing this car park and restoring the woodland that once occupied the area. Not all those using the car park are irresponsible, but almost all are able-bodied people quite capable of using a more responsible mode of transport.

Water management in the new course of the brook keeps changing. Most of the flow in May was in the new course, both upstream of the toilet block and within the Crazy Gold area. Other parts of the park were still very wet, following the recent rains. This included Horse Close Wood and an area on the western edge of the Lofthouse Glade, where the restoration by National Grid imposed a low dam across the natural flow.