New Year Plant Hunt: Group Hunts

Meet at Braunton Countryside Centre. Leader: Mary Breeds (mobile: 07835097780, landline: 01271 817349, mary_breeds@hotmail.com). Please contact Mary if you'd like to join her.

Sussex Botanical Recording Society is leading a New Year Plant Hunt at Pagham Shore, where there is easy access, car parking, toilets and plenty of plants likely to be in flower; previous years’ totals have exceeded 60 species.

The car park is on rough ground at SZ 89069 97355, at the junction of Sea Lane and Beach Road. It’s usually free, but occasionally about £3 cash in a bucket is required.

Please bring a hot drink to have at a stop en route. Pagham Beach Cafe should be open for coffee/refreshments afterwards.

Meet at the junction of The Gallops and Nevill Road, Lewes, next to Lewes Prison. (What3Words: visa.folds.tests)

We will explore Mile End, Limehouse and Shadwell, finding plants in flower and contributing our results to a nationwide survey.

Meet at Mile End u/g station 11am. End point will be Shadwell Basin, which is near both Shadwell and Wapping stations. Bring lunch.

Norfolk Flora Group will be leading a New Year Plant Hunt in Sheringham.

Meet at 10.30am - meeting point and details of terrain & route to follow but please save the date now!

Attendees should bring lunch and something to drink as we’ll break part way through.

Norfolk botanists are a hardy breed, but in the event of snow, heavy rain or strong winds, we may cancel the event; telephone if you have any concerns.

Location: this New Year Plant Hunt will begin from Paxton Pits Visitor Centre, Little Paxton, Cambridgeshire

The event is open to everyone and will be led by two knowledgeable and experienced leaders. Alan Garner will be focusing on the many varieties of birds on the reserve and Ann Miles will be concentrating on the wealth of flora and fauna.

A suggested donation of £3 will go towards the Friends of Paxton Pits, to help with the upkeep of the reserve.

Our New Year Plant Hunt will be Sunday 29th December - the most people are free on that day. We meet at 10:30 to move off at 11:00, at St Giles Church, Lower St, Desborough, NN14 2NP (SP803830). There is a small car park next to the church, but probably best to find some on-street parking as it's a Sunday. There are cafes and a Co-op, but we don't know whether they will be open, so best to bring a packed lunch. We will be hunting in some urban and verge areas, and possibly a municipal park. If you would like to join us, please contact Richard Mabbutt.

Warwickshire Flora Group New Year Plant Hunt at Bidford Upon Avon, Alcester, Warwickshire.

Meet at Saxon Fields Car Park. Postcode B50 4JA. What3Words:frantic.cookies.skim

This is a meeting of the Leicester Botany group. We will meet at 11am outside Morrison's supermarket, Freeman's Common, Leicester. Postcode LE2 7LT. Grid ref SK 58809 02857.

Our Hunt will last for a maximum of 3 hours and we'll explore the urban habitats around the industrial estate. We've held New Year Plant Hunts at this location before, so it will be interesting to see how this year's results compare with previous years.

We can decide on the day if we want to 'stop the clock' midway for an hour to grab a hot drink and some cake in Morrison's cafe.  The event will go ahead unless the weather is truly awful but please phone before leaving home if you'd like to check.

Join James Common, NHSN Senior Naturalist and BSBI joint County Recorder for North Northumberland, for a morning of urban wildflowers as together, we see how many species we can find in bloom on the streets of Heaton. Wild species, garden escapes, urban invaders, we'll look for them all.

Meet outside the Canny Goat Cafe, Heaton. Grid ref: NZ 27581 65918. What three words: groom.quench.crew

Please wear decent walking boots. Do feel free to bring a hand lens or handy field guide. Together, we'll explore urban areas of Heaton and nearby Iris Brickfield Park before heading towards Heaton Park for coffee and a look at what is blooming on nearby streets. If you take any photos while attending the event, please do share them with NHSN by emailing james.common@newcastle.ac.uk.

Meet at Highland Stoneware car park.

Map ref: NC 088 227

All welcome.