Bits and Bobs

Earlier in the week volunteers were scouring our wild flower meadow in search of Yellow Rattle. We planted and seeded Yellow Rattle through this area last year as part of our efforts to improve the quality of the meadow. Yellow Rattle is a valuable flower to have in a meadow as it is semi-parasitic on some grasses, helping to reduce their dominance in the sward, allowing for a more diverse flora to develop.

After a short while searching, leaves of Yellow Rattle plants were found in several areas. This is a real success story and makes all of the hard work last year worthwhile.

In other floral news, the first Bluebell flowers were spotted this morning as we walked beside Risedale Beck. It will only be a matter of weeks before areas of the moorland, woodland and Hazel banks are transformed as more of these flowers bloom.

Tony has been working hard, cleaning many of the drainage pipes out. This work is very important as it helps to keep the paths free of running water and prolongs the life of the path surface. Thank you very much for your efforts in this task today.