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Saturday 2 June 2018

Withens Clough and Cragg Vale

I went to check to see if there were any surviving butterwort after the wall collapse and subsequent repairs.  Sadly I couldn't find a single star of leaves and it looks like it is lost.  Having known it at this site since a lad in the 1980s, I don't mind admitting I feel gutted about it.  Some consolation was the Jacob's Ladder nearby, which I first saw at this location in the 1980s too (the bumblebee is Bombus pascuorum).
Below Little Manshead Hill, the hay-meadows looked stunning with their displays of meadow buttercup.





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5 comments:

  1. Steve Blacksmith3 June 2018 at 21:37

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Steve Blacksmith3 June 2018 at 21:39

    It's a shame if the Butterwort has been lost I agree. It came back last time they rebuilt the wall.

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  3. Philip4 June 2018 at 09:54

    What a shame. It is a pity there is no system for passing on vital plant information when major projects are begun.

    I remember being shown this Butterwort about 1965. I was walking over from Todmorden and a botanist from Mytholmroyd was looking for it to make sure it was still there. In the 1960's no-one walked the hills anymore as the car had just been discovered locally; so the botanist was pleased to see someone he could talk to. I've an idea he was called Jack Uttley.

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  4. Peachysteve5 June 2018 at 06:24

    In the case the system was in place. Concerns were raised and assurances made. Natural England gave consent to the plans and this is what I was told.
    "The top soil will be
    reinstated behind the wall to the same height as the dry stone wall, which
    will permit groundwater to run down in front of the concrete wall and
    through the drystone wall to create the same conditions that currently
    support the plant life including the butterwort. We have been very much
    aware of the importance of the existing wall in relation to the
    biodiversity it supports and do not want to compromise this hence it has
    been very much part of the design brief.

    I hope this helps relieve some of your concerns and please contact me if
    you have any further queries."

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  5. ChrisJB11 June 2018 at 20:52

    Thanks everyone for your input. Steve your words offer some encouragement, though replicating the same conditions won't save the butterwort if all plants and corresponding propagation means have been lost. I'll continue to visit the site to see if (Un?)Natural England have got it right. Also, thanks Phil on some of the history of the butterwort. I don't suppose you have any idea on when the Jacob's ladder appeared here? I was first told about it by the late Peter Hill, from Rochdale, in the 1980s.

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