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We should have been heading to Smardale Gill on the minibus but as the vehicle is currently out of action we were faced with either a blank day or a local outing using our own transport.
We chose the latter & ten of us met up at a car park on Jenny Lane, Baildon. This is not the Co-op CP but the one close to the Rugby Club. At 10:30 we set off north past the sports pitches & through a few gates and downwards alongside the Riding Stables to the woodlands. Our passage, however, was blocked at the first metal gate past the stables by four Valais Blacknose Sheep. They were not in the mood for budging so Stuart had to resort to shepherding skills to create a small gap for us to squeeze past them. These sheep could definitely win prizes for their adorable cuteness. Picture the Dulux dog with a black face & feet & you are almost there.
Several fields later & we were out on the open meadowland. What would normally be swathes of purple Knapweeds & Betony was after our dry summer more a patchwork with many of the flowers now in seed. Still, there were enough to create a pleasant sight. Other flowering plants including Water Pepper, Red Bartsia, Autumn Hawkbit, Devil’s Bit Scabious, Common Hemp-nettle, Bird’s foot & Greater Bird’s foot Trefoils. Apart from whites the only other butterflies on the wing were past their best, Meadow Browns, a Peacock & a freshly emerged female Common Blue (brown var).
In the trees behind the pylons, Sparrowhawks were seen & also heard calling. Other birds heard = Nuthatches & Bullfinch.
We took our lunch by the pond outside the wood. Several dragonfly species were seen; Brown Hawker, Common Darter & Common Blue Damselfly. Earlier in the summer this pond also had Black-tailed Skimmer, Broad-bodied Chaser & Emperor. Whilst four of the group retraced their steps back up the hill; the remaining six headed downwards into the wood & over the Gill Beck stepping stones via a worryingly steep & slippery slope. There were no significant mishaps! The track we followed was an undulating one (rather narrow in places). Sue was quite adept at finding various fungi. These were largely Boletes, Russulas & brackets. The brackets were Ganodermas & the purple Russulas appeared to be Atropurpurea (Purple Brittlegill). After further research it was decided that a greenish russula was most probably Green Brittlegill & an attractive bolete most likely was Scarletina Bolete. I ran the photos past Andy Woodall of the MYFG.
We were disappointed to see that the attractive woodland pond had largely dried out, leaving the water plants high & dry. These included Water Mint, Water Forget-me-not & Water Plantain. One plant that was thriving however was the utterly dominant Himalyan Balsam. This pretty much crowded out anything else growing alongside the path. When we emerged by the Denby Mills lake we saw more dragonflies; Emperor, Brown Hawker & Common Blue Damsels. Quite a few teenagers were at the lake fishing. The sun now put in an appearance and it was hot; earlier it had been muggy & overcast. We therefore plumped for going back using a shady ginnel as opposed to the meadow track which by now was in full sunlight. Many Speckled Woods patrolled this uphill hedgerow path that leads to Langley Lane. We finished just before 15:00 after making a brief visit to the splendid Community Gardens on Hall Cliffe. It transpired that our four colleagues did the very same thing!
It had been worth making the effort.
John Gavaghan. Aug 12th 2025