June 2024 ii

Last year we visited a few orchid sites in the Yorkshire Dales. We had not been there before, but it seemed a good idea to go again and take in a few sites. Orchids are not the focus this time, and I do not want to revisit where we went last year. Will keep an eye out for orchids though.

Ingleton Falls Walk 7th June 2024

This is a walk to see the falls, so it is not a casual stroll in the countryside. Fantastic scenery, but with ascents and descents over rocky paths and steps for the most part. The blurb says it should take 2.5 to 4.5 hours to complete, so we are unsure if we would be up to it and may have to return after the first three falls. As it turns out, by that point we are virtually half way around the walk so decide to complete. It turns out that that without the halt for a coffee and a bite to eat near the end we would have done it in two hours and fifty minutes. So not bad for for someone in their eight decade!
Just past the last falls on the way up I spot Early Purple Orchids gone over.

Brae Pasture 7th June 2024 (SD 7900 7410)

A nice little steeply sloping meadow with tiered limestone outcrops, but nothing to make me want to return again. Higher up there are plenty of Early Purple Orchids with a good range of colour as you can see. They would have put n a good show at their peak. Also some Common Fragrant Orchids with flowers just starting to open, but no sign of the Frog orchids that also live here allegedly.

Skipton 8th June 2024 (SD 98615 51502)

This is starting to be a bit of a cliche. We are ataying in Skipton and I see a tweet saying that Bee Orchids are growing in front of Morrisons supermarket in the centre of town. They certainly are. The little area is inaccessible which is probably why they have not been mown. I cannot see any variants though.

Southerscales 8th June 2024 (SD 74200 76900)

Another site from the Harrop book which unfortunately disappoints as much as it provides good info. Perhaps it is the ever changing nature of orchid sites and the now historical nature of the information. All we see are some going over Early Purple Orchids. A bit early perhaps, but a search of the limestone pavement there yields no sign of Dark Red Helleborines. Nice view, if a bit distant, of the Ribblesdale Viaduct.

Harlow Carr RHS garden 9th June 2024 (SE 27943 54087)

Orchids are not top of the list by any means at a RHS garden, but I keep my eyes open regardless. There are plenty of so-called wild flower areas; too many in my opinion, especially when they are all the same. These have a scattering of Common Spotted Orchids, while some of these have become more naturalised growing outside their designated areas. Then down by the library is a clump of Dactylorhiza which look like some horticultured hybrid, but quite stunning. Then in a border by the old bath house is a clump of Cypripedium hybrids, nearly as good as the clump in my front garden. Theu are well gone over though.

Grass Wood 9th June 2024 (SD 98300 65200)

I’ve come here hoping for Birds-nest Orchids, but it is another site mentioned in Harrap that fails to deliver. It is not just me. Someone else posted on social media that they saw no orchids either. The reason why I am including his little excursion is that on returning home I found 3 deer ticks on my legs. There are warning notices at the official entry points, but despite tucking jeans into socks on entry and brushing anything off on exit I still get bitten. When they first bite the ticks are tiny, less than 1mm across. Think I have escaped Lyme disease though.

Moses Gate and Nob End 1st June 2019 (SD 74370 06763SD 74592 06842)

After the disappointments of Yorkshire a decision is made. A stop over at Nob End on the way home. There were other potential sites, but Nob End is most likely to deliver.
The Southern Marsh Orchids on the slope near the playground have now given up their contest against the grasses, but there are a good number a bit further on (including a peloricc form), en route to the red bridge. together with some Common Spotteds and inevitable hybrids D. x grandis. However it is onward to Nob End. Here the Dacts come into their own. There are a good number of Early Marsh Orchids, mainly the pink flowered var incarnata, but also some red-flowered var. coccinea. There also appears to be more Southern Marsh and the occasional Northern Marsh Orchid. Hybrids abound. D. x wintonii - the Early Marsh x Southern Marsh, D. x kernerorum - Common Spotted x Early Marsh and some that look like they are a hybrid introgressed back with one of the parents. There were some Common Twayblades too, if you stopped concentrating on shades of purple in the searching.
We were told that Bee Orchids have been found here, and the Fragrant Orchids and Marsh Helleborines would appear soon. However I see no evidence of any species. What is nice about this place is that although there are Dactylorhiza hybrids in abundance; they seem to have reached a point of equilibrium with the pure species, so that they are not taking over. What does surprise me is the EMO coccineas. This is essentially a plant of coastal dunes, an ecological environment notably absent from the Bolton area. This was formerly a chemical factory site given back to nature. Was there a pile of top soil added from a coastal site?

Southern Marsh Orchids, the peloric specimen and D. x grandis