2020 County Report for South-west Yorkshire
Kay McDowell
We were due to visit Magdale Fields near Holmfirth for a wildflower walk in early July for the charity River Holme Connections but we postponed the event due to COVID-19. Peter Burton and I met there instead to take photos to send to the group. We’re planning to reorganise the event when lockdown ends.
In July fours members of the Bradford Botany Group and I went to see Hypopitys monotropa found by Alan Schofield at Southern Washlands Nature Reserve near Wakefield.
We formed a small group of four on our first VC 63 trip on 26th August to Wessenden Moor. Our notable finds were D. aemula (photo) and Osmunda regalis. We plant to join up with local fern groups for meetings.
In early October Louise, Tim, my husband Neil and I made an exploratory recording trip to the southern boundary of VC 63 an area previously recorded due to its inaccessibility.
In September we had a trip to King’s Wood, south of Wakefield for four of us to get out of the house!
I went to Bradford for walks to get to know the area better. I have plans to record in the Forest of Trawdon area of VC 63 as there’s been no recording there since 1995 and also to find out whether there are more hay-scented buckler-ferns and royal ferns. I will tell Bradford Botany Group members I’m planning to record in Forest of Trawdon to gain interest and people to help me record. I hope to start a VC 63 newsletter/blog. After the Forest of Trawdon project I will start on an RRP.