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Nine happy souls departed Bradford in the searing heat destined for Brockholes Nature
Reserve near Preston. The feeling was more like going on holiday to the Mediterranean than
a day trip to Lancashire.
On arrival, the good mood increased as Alice was elated to see a Grass Vetchling in flower
right next to where we parked. For a fledgling wildlife enthusiast like myself it seemed just a
very, very small pink flower. Nevertheless, as usual the enthusiasm of others was infectious,
and I now intend to look for it again at every opportunity and pass on my newfound
knowledge to the less interested members of my family.
The Wildlife Trust site has a remarkable Visitor Village sitting in the middle of a lake. It was
explained by a welcoming member of staff in the café that the whole village is built on
hydraulics and the whole village can rise up to four metres when the area floods and sink
down to ground level during droughts, giving a quite different feeling to the visitor. It is
definitely worth a return visit just to see that, never mind the varied fauna and flora we saw.
After becoming a regular participant on the BEES weekly trips, I am now aware that a thistle
is not just a thistle. To prove the point at Brockholes we saw Creeping Thistle, Spear Thistle,
Musk Thistle, Marsh Thistle and Welted Thistle. For those who don’t know, a buttercup is not
just a buttercup either!
We hadn’t gone far in the sunshine before we were searching for shade and most of us
enjoyed a refreshingly cold ice cream which further emphasised the holiday mood.
Evidence of volunteers having valiantly tried to eradicate some of the invasive Himalayan
Balsam could be seen. We all had great sympathy with their seemingly never-ending task as
many of our group do the same at other places. We also noticed several patches of invasive
Giant Hogweed along the banks of the River Ribble. This is more challenging for volunteers
to tackle as the toxic sap of the beautiful plant can cause severe blisters, long-lasting scars
and extreme sensitivity to the sun. Unless fully decked out in protective clothing it is best to
just report this to the council, it is definitely not a good idea to wade into clumps of the plant
and start hacking away at it.
Despite spotting the dramatic Giant Hogweed we didn’t manage to spot any of the snakes
that live on the reserve and our time was pleasantly spent wandering about the easily
accessible trails admiring the lakes and meadows abundant with flowers, insects and birds.
There were also numerous grasses spotted including the wonderfully named Crested Dog’s
Tail and Cocks Foot.
Angela