10 members met at the top of Bransdale on a glorious, sunny summer’s day. We met some three weeks after the tremendous thunderstorm that had caused extensive flooding in Helmsley. The centre of this storm was just to the west of Bransdale but its effects could be seen on some of the hillsides where there had been small landslides and gullies were well scoured out. Tom explained that his original plan to walk up West Gill had been changed because the floods had made parts of the path impassable. The revised schedule was to spend the morning investigating the old gardens of Cockayne Lodge and the area of pasture near the cattle grid, have lunch at the church, and then climb up through the plantation to the high moor, visiting the Cammon Stone and then dropping back down into the dale. The refreshments (which were excellent) were provided by members of St. Nicholas’ Church in aid of church funds.

Our trip began in the overgrown woodland gardens of the lodge, which were probably laid out in Victorian times in a sheltered area along the east gill (Bloworth Slack). The area is now a fascinating mixture of native woodland plants and trees, exotic rhododendrons, many of them huge, and some extraordinary water-loving plants with enormous leaves. There is also a spread of pink purslane, which although very pretty is also invasive, and one hopes it does not swamp too much of the native flora. The view up the beck from the northern edge of the gardens is very attractive (left).

We then moved downstream and investigated the pasture land which includes large oaks, and the beckside. It was very obvious at the confluence of the two gills that the west gill carried far more floodwater than the eastern one. The vegetation had been stripped off to a height of ten feet or so (a geologist’s paradise – wonderful fresh sections!), and huge quantities of silt had been dumped wherever the flow had lessened, for example against a fence (below – the fence is about 4' high). Apparently the mill a little further downstream had been badly damaged, and one can see why. The beck was very benign while we were there but the force of water at the height of the storm must have been terrifying.

silt piled up against a wire fence (beck is behind some 8' below!)


beck showing flood scouring (and note large stones piled up in the bed)

Up to the Cammon Stone

After an excellent lunch the party split, with four stalwarts deciding to climb out of the dale head to the Cammon Stone. This is a curiously shaped boundary stone which bears an inscription in Hebrew (apparently this is true of several of the stones round Bransdale, the carving being done by the then vicar; presumably of Bible texts). The stone also carries an Ordnance Survey benchmark, but curiously the spot height on the map (1314') seems to be a couple of hundred yards further along the track.

The walk up through the conifer plantation was steep, and there was not much of botanical interest, though I did spot a spread of the introduced New Zealand willowherb (Epilobium brunnescens) in one of the many boggy patches – a most un-willowherb like plant (left – a bad photo unfortunately). At the top we came out onto open moorland, with the typical vegetation of the high moor of mixed heathers and bilberry, with mosses and bog cotton in the wet flushes, and occasional pine seedlings near the edge of the planted woodland. Interestingly the track running up from Rudland Rigg to the Cammon Stone must be laid on a limy roadstone, because I found quaking grass, wild thyme and autumn gentian (the last not yet in flower) along its verges. These were all dwarfed by a combination of the exposed conditions and sheep grazing. Finally we dropped down through the high intakes back into the dale (although Tom elected to walk home down the rigg!), returning along the road for the last half mile or so – which meant I could log a series of common verge plants like bush vetch and knapweed.

The Cammon Stone high above Bransdale

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Species lists

Birds
This was not a particularly good day for birds – the time of year and day combined with the hot sun meant that most birds were keeping their heads down. Tom did see a golden plover on his walk back down Rudland Rigg. We recorded: Pied Wagtail, Wren, House Martin, Treecreeper, Blue Tit, Woodpigeon, Chaffinch, Swallow, Greenfinch, Siskin, Swift, Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Meadow Pipit. (Thanks to Jim Pewtress for the list.)

Insects
There were very few insects about apart from some flies and mosquitoes in the forestry! I only saw a couple of brown butterflies (meadow brown?) all day.

Plants
I was surprised when I got home and looked at my log to find we had seen over 100 plant species (and this is probably an under-estimate as I will have missed some and certainly did not identify all the grasses and sedges we saw). This impressive total reflects the fact that we sampled several different habitats (woodland, pasture, beckside, open moor, moorland track and roadside verges).

107 spp.

Acer pseudoplatanus	Sycamore
Achillea millefolium	Yarrow
Ajuga reptans	Bugle
Alnus glutinosa	Alder
Anthoxanthum odoratum	Sweet Vernal Grass
Anthriscus sylvestris	Cow parsley
Arrhenatherum elatius	Oat, False
Athyrium filix-femina	Lady Fern
Bellis perennis	Daisy
Betula pendula	Birch, silver
Blechnum spicant	Hard Fern
Briza media	Quaking Grass
Calluna vulgaris	Heather
Cardamine flexuosa	Bittercress, wavy
Carex echinata	Star sedge
Carex flacca	Glaucous sedge
Carex remota	Remote sedge
Centaurea nigra	Knapweed, common
Cerastium fontanum	Mouse ear, common
Chrysosplenium alternifolium	Golden saxifrage, alternate leaved
Circaea lutetiana	Enchanters nightshade
Cirsium arvense	Thistle, creeping
Cirsium palustre	Thistle, marsh
Cirsium vulgare	Thistle, spear
Claytonia sibirica	Pink purslane
Corylus avellana	Hazel
Crataegus monogyna	Hawthorn
Cruciata laevipes	Crosswort
Cynosurus cristatus	Crested Dogstail
Dactylis glomerata	Cocksfoot
Digitalis purpurea	Foxglove
Epilobium brunnescens	Willowherb, New Zealand
Epilobium montanum	Willowherb, broad leaved
Erica cinerea	Bell heather
Erica tetralix	Cross leaved heath
Eriophorum angustifolium	Cottongrass, common
Eriophorum vaginatum	Cottongrass, harestail
Euphrasia officinalis agg.	Eyebright
Fagus sylvatica	Beech
Filipendula ulmaria	Meadowsweet
Fraxinus excelsior	Ash
Galium aparine	Cleavers
Galium palustre	Bedstraw, marsh
Galium saxatile	Bedstraw, heath
Gentianella amarella	Gentian, autumn
Geranium robertianum	Herb robert
Geum urbanum	Avens, wood
Glechoma hederacea	Ground ivy
Heracleum sphondylium	Hogweed
Holcus lanatus	Yorkshire Fog
Hyacinthoides non-scripta	Bluebell
Juncus articulatus	Jointed Rush
Juncus conglomeratus	Compact Rush
Juncus effusus	Soft Rush
Lapsana communis	Nipplewort
Lathyrus pratensis	Meadow vetchling
Linum catharticum	Flax, fairy
Lotus corniculatus	Birdsfoot trefoil, common
Lotus pedunculatus	Birdsfoot trefoil, greater
Lysimachia nemorum	Yellow pimpernel
Myosotis arvensis	Forgetmenot, field
Myosotis scorpioides	Forgetmenot, water
Myrrhis odorata	Sweet cicely
Nardus stricta	Mat Grass
Oxalis acetosella	Wood sorrel
Pilosella officinarum	Hawkweed, mouse eared
Poa trivialis	Meadow Grass, Rough
Polygala serpyllifolia	Milkwort, heath
Polypodium vulgare	Common Polypody
Potentilla erecta	Tormentil
Potentilla reptans	Cinquefoil, creeping
Prunella vulgaris	Self heal
Prunus avium	Wild cherry
Prunus padus	Bird cherry
Pteridium aquilinum	Bracken
Quercus sp.	Oak
Ranunculus flammula	Spearwort, lesser
Ranunculus repens	Buttercup, creeping
Rosa canina	Rose, dog
Rubus fruticosus	Bramble
Rubus idaeus	Raspberry
Rumex acetosa	Sorrel, common
Rumex acetosella	Sorrel, sheeps
Rumex obtusifolius	Dock, broad leaved
Salix caprea	Willow, goat
Salix cinerea	Willow, grey
Sambucus nigra	Elder
Senecio jacobea	Ragwort, common
Sorbus aucuparia	Rowan
Stachys sylvatica	Woundwort, hedge
Stellaria graminea	Stitchwort, lesser
Stellaria holostea	Stitchwort, greater
Stellaria media	Chickweed, common
Stellaria uliginosa	Stitchwort, bog
Thymus polytrichus	Thyme
Torilis japonica	Hedge parsley, upright
Trifolium dubium	Trefoil, lesser
Trifolium repens	Clover, white
Urtica dioica	Nettle, common
Vaccinium myrtillus	Bilberry
Valeriana officinalis	Valerian, common
Veronica arvensis	Speedwell, wall
Veronica chamaedrys	Speedwell, germander
Veronica officinalis	Speedwell, heath
Veronica serpyllifolia	Speedwell, thyme leaved
Vicia cracca	Vetch, tufted
Viola riviniana	Violet, common dog

© Ryedale Natural History Society 2005 Photos © Gill Smith 2005

Gill Smith, July 2005

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