Monthly Archives: October 2017

Adel Pond, 23 October 2016

Despite dire warnings of appalling conditions in the form of Storm Brian, a team of four turned out to help Steve Joul work on Adel Pond while two more stalwarts cleared litter – in particular around Crag Lane and the Devil’s Rock.

Unfortunately, your correspondent could not be there because he was lunching in Shropshire – where the wind was fierce and the rain torrential.  We therefore don’t have any pictures of the Friends at work today, and the pictures are from our archive.

Adel Pond is a beautiful spot, and home to a colony of palmate newts and common frogs.  The nearby streams run into it and it gradually silts up with sticks and mud each year.  TheFriends have dredged mud from it with Steve Joul every Autumn since 2009, the year of our formation.  At that time it was also full of an invasive garden plant, reed sweet grass, which we have managed to clear completely.

Next time you are in the woods, why not pop by the pond and commune with nature for a few minutes!

Thank you to Steve and all the Friends who helped today.

Adel Pond, 15 November 2009

Here is a list of the species of fungi which we found on today’s fungal foray with Steve Joul.

Steve Joul giving an introduction to the world of fungi

Yellow Stagshorn (Calocera viscosa)

One of the things that makes life so interesting is that there is always more to learn and there are always more fascinating things to discover about the world we live in.  This afternoon, Steve Joul led a group of explorers on a journey of discovery around Adel Woods, and all of the photographs you will find on this post were, believe it or not, taken in Adel Woods this afternoon.

Steve began our Fungal Foray by giving us a general introduction to the life cycle of mushrooms and toadstools.  One of our number had brought with him a selection of specimens collected in Wetherby this morning, and Steve handed these round for examination, while pointing out some of the features which help us to identify the differing species.

We then set off on a walk around the woods – starting off in Alwoodley Plantation, and then heading down to the cricket pitches.  We found many interesting species, some of which you can see in the following photographs which were all taken by our member Cathy.

Beefsteak Fungus  (Fistula hepatica)

Lumpy Bracket (Trametes gibbosa)

The iconic Fly Agaric  (Amanita mascara) found in the grass verge of the track down to the cricket pavilion.

Believed to be the Stump Puffball (Lycoperdon pyriforma)

In all we recorded 28 species.  If you would like a complete list, please see our next blog entry.