A lovely morning and fifteen budding ornithologists were up with the lark (well, about 6 am!) to meet for this year’s birdsong walk with Steve Joul.
After a brief introduction, Steve led us from the Village Green carpark onto Crag Lane and then into Alwoodley Plantation, which at some time in the past was planted with commercially grown trees like Scots pine.
En route, Steve spotted a geometric caterpillar, commonly known as an inchworm, on the leaf of a tree. Steve explained that these caterpillars are very well camouflaged as twigs or part of a plant. There are three hundred species of geometric caterpillars in the UK and my Apple computer has identified this one as the caterpillar of the Mottled Umber moth. They are called geometric (which means “earth measuring”) because they only have legs at the front and back of their body, which means that their body loops up when moving as if measuring what they are on. You may have heard Danny Kaye singing “Inchworm, inchworm, measuring the marigolds” in the film Hans Christian Anderson.
Steve led us up through the plantation to the farmer’s field at the top where we were fortunate to see a buzzard take off from the ground.
We then made our way westwards through the beech wood to Stair Foot Lane. We crossed Stair Foot Lane and made our way through the bike tracks before returning to the Village Green car park. In the midst of the bike tracks we found a male mallard!
It was a fantastic morning. As always, Steve was a great educator; the weather was lovely; the woods were in beautiful form, and we spotted or heard twenty six species of bird. There is a list in alphabetical order below and for a few I have attached links to the RSPB Bird Guide to whet your appetite.
Wren – recognisable by the trill in the middle of its song
Steve with some of our group at the end of a very enjoyable expedition
About Friends of Adel Woods
We hope that you have enjoyed reading about our activities and would be delighted if you would like to join us. The mental and physical health benefits of getting out in the countryside and social contact are well-known.
Friends of Adel Woods were formed in 2009 to help maintain Adel Woods and encourage people to enjoy them. We meet one weekend morning a month to carry out various jobs or ”work parties”, and we also put on educational events such as bat walks, fungal forays and birdsong walks. Our next birdsong walk is on the 17th May 2026 – and you can find details on our home page
We are a very friendly group and welcome new members who want to help preserve our special woods, enjoy fresh air, exercise in the woods, and make new friends.
If you would like to take part in our activities, keep an eye on our Home Page. You don’t need to book to come along to one of our work “parties”: just come along!
If you would like to join our email mailing list, please get in touch by leaving a comment on this website – you should be able to see a comment box at the bottom of this page.
This afternoon nineteen adults and eight children gathered in Alwoodley Village Green carpark for a Fungal Foray led by Steve Joul. This was not a foraging event for edible fungi, but an opportunity to learn about the many and varied fungi to be found in Adel Woods.
After a brief introduction to Friends of Adel Woods by our Chair, Steve led us along Crag Lane into the woods and, after passing the bungalow, into Alwoodley Plantation.
Once in the plantation, Steve explained that what we think of as fungi and mushrooms are in fact the fruiting bodies of organisms whose main body is concealed in the soil or wood in which they are growing.
There are many thousands of different fungi and mushrooms in the UK which means that it is impossible to know the names of all of them. However, Steve has a list of the two hundred or so most common species which we are likely to find in Adel Woods.
He explained that Identifying fungi involves taking into account such factors as:
where the fungus is growing – for example on or nearby a particular species of tree
its shape, colour, size, and smell
how it scatters its spores, the reproductive cells: for example, some drop spores, and some shoot them out!
In some cases it is only possible to identify a fungus with the aid of a magnifying glass or a microscope and a text book. Correct identification is essential because most fungi are inedible and many are poisonous.
Sulfur tuft mushroom
The task of identifying fungi is made more difficult because there is often more than one common name for a species and their Latin names can change as species are re-classified as more is learned about them. Impressively, Steve knows the common names and the Latin names of most of the common species.
Amethyst Deceiver (laccaria amethystina)
He explained that some fungi have a special relationship with particular species of trees whereby the fungus provides nutrients to the roots of the tree and the tree provides nutrients to the fungus.
After Steve’s introduction we made our way further into the Plantation searching for fungi on logs, trees, and in the leaf litter. Fortunately we had some very good fungi hunters in our group, especially among the future adults, and during the course of the afternoon, we found fifty species of mushroom, many of which Steve collected in his basket. You can find a complete list of the species, giving common English and formal Latin names, at the end of this post.
That’s an interesting find!
Some of the fungi have very strange common names: “turkey tail”; “hairy curtain crust”; “leafy brain”; “earpick fungus” and “ugly milkcap”. During the afternoon one of our number was heard to exclaim to Steve: “You’re making these names up: you could tell us anything and we’d believe it!”
The foray finished at 4 pm by which time we had gathered a wonderful diversity of fungi species.
Steve’s basket at the end of the walk
Once again it was a fantastic afternoon of discovery, learning and fun. Thank you to Steve and everyone who took part.
“I just wanted to thank you for a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon. We were indeed blessed with the weather. I learnt a great deal about the wonderful world of fungi and hope to continue expanding my knowledge.”
————————–
“Thank you for organising today’s excursion. We thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to future ones. Please convey our thanks to Steve as well.”
A selection of the fungi found during today’s foray
Here are photographs of some of the fungi we found this afternoon – more or less in the order we found them…
Clustered Bonnet, and Deceiver (probably – not all features visible)Angel BonnetAmethyst Deceiver viewed directly from aboveA variety of milkcap – so called because it produces a white milky substance when handledEarpick Fungus (auriscalpium vulgare) – typically found on decaying pine conesEarpick fungus (auriscalpium vulgare) viewed from belowBay Bolete (imleria badia) – a fungus which develops blue bruises when handledTwo for the price of one: a pipe club fungus lying on top of what is probably a brown rollrimAniseed Funnel (clitocybe odora), so named because it smells of aniseedYellow Brain Fungus (tremella mesenterica)Fly Agaric (amanita muscaria)
A list of all the fungi found during today’s foray
Alder Scalycap (Pholiota alnicola)
Amethyst Deceiver (Laccaria amethystina)
Aniseed Funnel (Clitocybe odora)
Bay Bolete (Imleria badia)
Beech Barkspot (Diatrype disciformis)
Beech Milkcap (Lactarius blennius)
Beech Woodwart (Hypoxylon fragiforme)
Birch Milkcap (Lactarius tabidus)
Birch Polypore (Fomitopsis betulina)
Black Bulgar (neabulgaria pura)
Blusher (amanita rubescens)
Branching Oyster (pleurotus cornucopiae)
Brown Mottlegill (panaeolina foenisecii)
Brown Rollrim (paxillus involutus)
Buttercap (collybia butyracea)
Candlesnuff Fungus (xylaria hypoxylon)
Common Bonnet (mycena galericulata)
Common Earthball (scleroderma citrinum)
Common Funnel (infundibulicybe gibba)
Common Puffball (lycoperdon perlatum)
Deceiver (laccaria laccata)
Deer Shield (pluteus cervinus)
Earpick Fungus (auriscalpium vulgare)
Fly Agaric (amanita muscaria)
Ganoderma Bracket (ganoderma sp.)
Glistening Inkcap (coprinellus micaceus)
Grisette (amanita vaginata)
Hairy Curtain Crust (stereum hirsutum)
Honey Fungus (armillaria mellea)
Hoof Fungus (fomes fomentarius)
Jelly Ear (auricularia auricula-judae)
Leafy Brain (tremella foliacea)
Oakbug Milkcap (lactarius quietus)
Ochre Brittlegill (russula ochroleuca)
Penny Bun (boletus edulis)
Pipe Club (macrotyphula fistulosa)
Purple Brittlegill (russula atropurpurea)
Red Cracking Bolete (xerocomellus chrysenteron)
Rufous Milkcap (lactarius rufus)
Russet Toughshank (gymnopus dryophilus)
Shaggy Parasol (chlorophylum rhacodes)
Shaggy Scalycap (pholiota squarrosa)
Silky Rosegill (vovariella bombycina)
Smoky Bracket (bjerkandera adusta)
Sulphur Tuft (hypholoma fasciculare)
Turkeytail (trametes versicolor)
Ugly Milkcap (lactarius turpis)
White Brain (exidia thuretiana)
Yellow Brain (tremella mesenterica)
Yellow Stagshorn (calocera viscosa)
JOIN FRIENDS OF ADEL WOODS!
We hope that you have enjoyed reading about our activities and would be delighted if you would like to join us.
Friends of Adel Woods were formed in 2009 to help maintain Adel Woods and encourage people to enjoy them. We meet one weekend morning a month to carry out various jobs or ”work parties”, and we also put on educational events such as bat walks, fungal forays and birdsong walks.
We are a very friendly group and welcome new members who want to help preserve our special woods, enjoy fresh air and exercise in the woods, and make new friends.
If you would like to take part in our activities, keep an eye on our Home Page.
You don’t need to book to come along to one of our work “parties”: just come along. Our next work party is on Saturday 22nd November 2025 when we will be working with our local ranger, Joe Craig-Jackson.
If you would like to join our email mailing list, please get in touch by leaving a comment on this website – you should be able to see a comment button at the bottom of this page.
A beautiful morning, and even though the forecast was for extremely hot sun, we still had an excellent turnout of fifteen volunteers – including four new Friends!
We met on Buckstone Avenue at 9.55 am with two tasks on the agenda: litterpicking and clearing away scrub from around the Buck Stone.
Litterpicking
Setting off from the Buck Stone to litterpick
Five people and Coco the collie chose to go litterpicking.
A group of four litterpicked as they made their way to the Village Green and around the play area and the Village Green carpark. Between them they picked up two full bags of litter including litter from Nanny Beck.
The fifth litter picker and Coco walked through the woods from the Buck Stone to the Village Green, returning to the Buck Stone by a different route. She collected one bag of litter, mainly from the Village Green.
The Buck Stone
The north face of the Buck Stone at 10.30 am
The Buck Stone is a well-known landmark in Alwoodley and the Buckstone estate is named after it. The earliest known reference to it on a map dates back to the 1770’s when the local landowners, the Lane Fox family, had the map prepared in relation to a property dispute.
The south face of the Buck Stone at 10.30 am
In the 1960’s, the Buck Stone was a popular place for children to play, but by 2012 the stone was completely obscured by an oak tree. In March of that year, Friends of Adel Woods removed the bulk of the tree and have subsequently removed the scrub – bracken, rosebay willow herb, saplings and Himalayan balsam – from around the stone several times.
Bindweed growing counter-clockwise up a bracken stem.
Today the main plants we removed were bracken, Himalayan balsam and bindweed.
The path behind Buckstone Avenue at 10.30 am
We also took the opportunity to clear the path that leads from the Buck Stone to Adel Moor along the back of the houses on Buck Stone Avenue.
The path behind Buckstone Avenue at 12 noon
Fortunately, though very warm, the weather did not live up to the inferno predicted in the press! No one called upon our supplies of cold water and sunscreen, and we all enjoyed our morning’s exercise and socialising.
The north face of the Buck Stone at 12 noonThe south face of the Buck Stone at 12 noon
Join Friends of Adel Woods
We hope that you have enjoyed reading about our activities and would be delighted if you would like to join us.
Friends of Adel Woods were formed in 2009 to help maintain Adel Woods and encourage people to enjoy them. We meet one weekend morning a month to carry out various jobs or ”work parties”, and we also put on educational events such as bat walks, fungal forays and birdsong walks.
We are a very friendly group and welcome new members who want to help preserve our special woods, enjoy fresh air and exercise in the woods, and make new friends. If you would like to take part in our activities, keep an eye on our Home Page and come along to one of our work parties. Our next work party is on the Saturday the 9th August and our local ranger will be leading a batwalk for us the evening of Thursday the 14th August.
If you would like to join our email mailing list, please get in touch by leaving a comment on this website – you should be able to see a comment button at the bottom of this page.
Another glorious Spring day, and seven of us gathered at the Slabbering Baby entrance to the woods on Buckstone Road at 10 am to litterpick and work on Adel Bog.
Litterpicking
Only one of us chose to pick up litter but in an impressive effort lasting over two hours, she picked up litter around Nanny Beck, the Village Green, along Crag Lane and around Adel Crag.
She picked up two bagfuls of litter, including a lot of bagged dog poo, plastic bottles and paper towels. There was litter in Nanny Beck but she was not able to get to it.
She also found a sunhat which she left on a bench in the hope that it would find its way to its owner.
One of the rubbish bins on Alwoodley Village Green
The two council litter bins on the green were overflowing – which is a good sign that the majority of the good folk of Alwoodley use the bins provided.
Adel Bog
Today six of us continued the work we have been doing with David Preston, our local ranger, to keep Adel Bog in good condition.
Removing a bramble
While the bog looks very dry – which is not surprising after the long period of sunny dry weather we have had in the last few weeks – there was plenty of water underfoot, and there were very many rushes springing up all over the bog.
Today we focused on removing saplings, and brambles from the northern and western edges of the bog.
Working on Adel Bog – with the dead hedge in the background
The bog is a fragile environment and we would like to keep dogs and walkers away from it, so we used the materials we removed to build up the dead hedge which we created with David Preston on the southern and western perimeter of the bog in 2023. A dead hedge is – as the name suggests – a hedge consisting of non-living plant materials.
We were delighted to find a lovely patch of well over a hundred wood anemones in flower in the central area of the bog.
Five happy Friends of Adel Woods
Friends of Adel Woods: get involved and make a difference
Friends of Adel Woods is a community-led group dedicated to protecting, preserving, and celebrating the natural beauty and biodiversity of Adel Woods, a treasured woodland area in [North Leeds. Our mission is to ensure that this vital green space remains a thriving habitat for wildlife and a peaceful retreat for local residents and visitors.
Through conservation projects, guided walks, educational events, and collaborative efforts with Leeds City Council we work to foster a deeper connection between people and nature. Whether you’re a seasoned naturalist, a weekend walker, or someone who simply enjoys the calm of the woods, there’s a place for you in the Friends of Adel Woods.
Join us in caring for this special place—together, we can ensure its legacy for generations to come.
On the 4th May, our expert naturalist, Steve Joul, will be leading a birdsong walk in the woods. Our next “work party” is on Saturday the 17th May when we will be litterpicking and path clearing.
If you would like to make a difference to your local environment, there’s a place for you here. No experience necessary—just enthusiasm and a love for the outdoors.
If you would like us to add you to our mailing list, please click on the comment button on this page.
A fine Spring morning for litterpicking and working on Adel Bog.
Today we had five litterpickers, who between them picked up four full bags of litter from Buckstone Road, around the Village Green, around the rugby ground and along Crag Lane.
Four of us worked on Adel Bog. Although the bog looks very dry in the photograph above, it was in fact quite wet.
Today we were removing brambles and using our tree popper to remove saplings from the northern/top part of the bog, and using the brambles and saplings to build up the dead hedge which we have been creating around the perimeter.
We had a very satisfying morning.
After packing up work on the bog, two of us carried out some repairs to damage to the fence running between Buckstone Road and King Lane.
ABOUT FRIENDS OF ADEL WOODS (ACCORDING TO CHAT GPT)
Friends of Adel Woods is a community group dedicated to the conservation and enhancement of Adel Woods, a picturesque woodland in North Leeds, England. Established in July 2009, the group has been instrumental in maintaining the woods and fostering community engagement.
Formation and Early Activities
The group was founded with the aim of preserving the natural beauty of Adel Woods and promoting its enjoyment among local residents. Since its inception, Friends of Adel Woods has organized monthly meetings to carry out various conservation tasks, including:
Clearing paths to improve accessibility.
Installing bird and bat boxes to support local wildlife.
Removing litter and fly-tipping to maintain the woods’ cleanliness.
These efforts have significantly contributed to the upkeep and enhancement of the woodland area.
Educational Initiatives
Beyond conservation work, the group has organized numerous educational walks and talks, enriching the community’s understanding of the local environment and its history. These events have covered a range of topics, from local flora and fauna to the historical significance of the area.
Community Impact
Friends of Adel Woods has played a pivotal role in fostering a sense of community among local residents. By actively involving individuals in conservation efforts and educational activities, the group has strengthened the bond between people and their natural surroundings. Their ongoing dedication ensures that Adel Woods remains a cherished and well-preserved space for future generations.
Be part of Friends of Adel Woods!
If you would like to be part of FOAW, please come along to one of our monthly meetings or get in touch through this website – you should find a “comment” button below.
In March 2021, Steve Joul, then a ranger with Leeds City Council, planted an orchard of ten apple and pear trees to the north of the disused rugby pitch on Crag Lane. This was part of the Council’s Woodland Creation Scheme in response to climate change. Steve’s son helped to plant the trees and helped Steve to water them over their first Summer.
Four years on the trees are doing well but rabbits and deer are nibbling at the bark which, if not prevented, will kill the trees. All the trees are showing signs of damage.
Bark damage on two of the fruit trees – and to the left a tree guard
At Steve’s suggestion, Friends of Adel Woods applied to Alwoodley 2030 for a grant to purchase ten tree guards to protect the trees and we are very grateful that the request for a grant was approved. Over the last eighteen months, Alwoodley 2030 with the help of ranger David Preston have done work to look after the trees.
This morning, yours truly and Steve went out in somewhat wet, windy, and cold weather to put the new tree guards on the trees. The tree guards are plastic mesh which wraps around the trees and which we secured with ties You can see a tree guard ready for use in the left hand side of the photograph above. We successfully protected all ten trees, just in time for lunch. Interestingly, Steve pointed out two rabbit burrows, just a few yards from the trees!
You can find out more about the planting of the trees and their varieties in our blog entry for the 18th March 2021.
See if you can spot five of the newly protected trees!
About Friends of Adel Woods (according to Chat GPT)
Friends of Adel Woods is a community group dedicated to the conservation and enhancement of Adel Woods, a picturesque woodland in North Leeds, England. Established in July 2009, the group has been instrumental in maintaining the woods and fostering community engagement.
Formation and Early Activities
The group was founded with the aim of preserving the natural beauty of Adel Woods and promoting its enjoyment among local residents. Since its inception, Friends of Adel Woods has organized monthly meetings to carry out various conservation tasks, including:
Clearing paths to improve accessibility.
Installing bird and bat boxes to support local wildlife.
Removing litter and fly-tipping to maintain the woods’ cleanliness.
These efforts have significantly contributed to the upkeep and enhancement of the woodland area.
Educational Initiatives
Beyond conservation work, the group has organized numerous educational walks and talks, enriching the community’s understanding of the local environment and its history. These events have covered a range of topics, from local flora and fauna to the historical significance of the area.
Community Impact
Friends of Adel Woods has played a pivotal role in fostering a sense of community among local residents. By actively involving individuals in conservation efforts and educational activities, the group has strengthened the bond between people and their natural surroundings. Their ongoing dedication ensures that Adel Woods remains a cherished and well-preserved space for future generations.
Be part of Friends of Adel Woods!
If you would like to be part of FOAW, please come along to one of our monthly meetings or get in touch through this website – you should find a “comment” button below.
A Spring-like day and twelve volunteers turned out to pick up litter and to work with David Preston, our local ranger, on Adel Pond.
Adel Pond
Adel Pond is near the Slabbering Baby and was constructed originally as a water supply for a flax mill. Now it is an important breeding place for newts and frogs.
Adel Pond – it can be seen that nearly half of the pond is silted up
Water flows into it from a ditch on the northern edge but the pond silts up from the mud brought in from the ditch. Each Autumn since 2010 Friends of Adel Woods have dredged mud from the pond and the ditches which feed it in order to keep sufficient depth of water in the pond for newts and frogs to breed.
Dredging the pond
It’s not just mud that finds its way into the pond. Each year we fish out a surprising number of logs – which are presumably thrown into the pond by passers-by. We also find each year, in the mud where the water flows into the pond, pieces of broken china cups, saucers and plates which must have been thrown into the pond by picnickers or patrons of Verity’s tea rooms which used to be situated nearby.
Digging out mud where water flows into the pond Clearing the ditches feeding Adel Pond
This year there is another problem with the pond: the water level has dropped.
Dropping mud onto the outflow channel of the pone in the hope it might help to raise the water level
Water flows out of the pond from a channel on the South side of the pond. The level of the water is maintained by a barrier across the channel. Upon inspection today, it seems that water is leaking out from beneath the barrier. Today we tried a temporary fix by putting mud in the area of the leak. However, this is probably not going to work and we need to find a permanent fix in 2025.
Part of the pond dredging team after a hard morning’s work
Litterpicking
At 10 am we had one litter picker who picked up litter along Buck Stone Road, around the Village Green, the playground and the Village Green carpark, along Crag Lane, around Adel Crag and in the Stairfoot Lane carpark, picking up two bags of litter.
Later on another volunteer arrived and picked up litter in the vicinity of the cricket club.
Join Friends of Adel Woods!
We hope that you have enjoyed reading about our activities and would be delighted if you would like to join in our activities in 2025. Our next planned event is on Sunday the 12th January when we will be cleaning and surveying our nest boxes. The following Saturday we will be litterpicking and path clearing, and then on Sunday the 26th we will be completing our nest box survey and clean up.
Friends of Adel Woods were formed in 2009 to help maintain Adel Woods and encourage people to enjoy them. We meet one weekend morning a month to carry out various jobs or ”work parties”, and we also put on educational events such as bat walks, fungal forays and birdsong walks.
We are a very friendly group and welcome new members who want to help preserve our special woods, enjoy fresh air and exercise in the woods, and make new friends. If you would like to take part in our activities, just come along to one of our work parties or get in touch by leaving a comment on this website – you should be able to see a comment button at the bottom of this page.
Our plan today was to litter pick and to work with Leeds City Council ranger, David Preston, on Adel Pond. However, as Robert Burns so aptly wrote:
“The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men Gang aft agley” [go awry].
Yesterday we woke up to find an inch of snow on the roads, the roofs and our gardens, with snow and sleet continuing to fall. Whilst the temperature rapidly rose to double figures during yesterday morning, the sleet turned to rain, and the snow disappeared by yesterday evening, Storm Bert brought further heavy rain overnight, with the forecast being for heavy rain which would continue until this afternoon.
Amid this weather, it was not surprising that David was not able to make it to Leeds due to flooding.
A decision was therefore made to change our plan to an hour or so’s litterpicking.
In the event, whilst Storm Bert caused havoc and mayhem elsewhere across the UK, in Alwoodley and Adel the rain had stopped by 10 am, and eight volunteers met up at the Slabbering Baby entrance to the woods – four old hands, and four newbies. It turned out to be a very pleasant morning.
We separated into two teams.
Two of our regulars set off and picked up litter from the banks of Nanny Beck (the stream running alongside Buck Stone Road), the recreation ground and the trees around it. They picked up two and a half bags of litter including a child’s wooden rattle.
The remaining six of us started by picking up litter from the path down to the Slabbering Baby – an unusual find being a fire extinguisher! We then made our way back to the cricket pavilion, taking a look at Adel Moor on the way.
Adel Moor in August 2024
From the cricket pavilion we picked up litter along the path up to Crag Lane, along Crag Lane, around Adel Crag, and in and around the Stairfoot Lane car park. Just outside the carpark we found four car number plates – no doubt discarded in the course of criminal activity.
From there we made our way back to Buck Stone Road, having collected five and a half bags of litter – making the total haul eight bags.
JOIN FRIENDS OF ADEL WOODS!
We hope that you have enjoyed reading about our activities and would be delighted if you would like to join us.
Friends of Adel Woods were formed in 2009 to help maintain Adel Woods and encourage people to enjoy them. We meet one weekend morning a month to carry out various jobs or ”work parties”, and we also put on educational events such as bat walks, fungal forays and birdsong walks.
We are a very friendly group and welcome new members who want to help preserve our special woods, enjoy fresh air and exercise in the woods, and make new friends. If you would like to take part in our activities, just come along to one of our work parties or get in touch by leaving a comment on this website – you should be able to see a comment button at the bottom of this page.
A cool but dry morning when we met at the Slabbering Baby entrance to Adel Woods on Buckstone Road. Our plans this morning were litterpicking and working on Adel Bog with David Preston, our local Parks and Countryside ranger.
Happy litter pickers
Three Friends (of Adel Woods) chose to litterpick. One of them, Steph, also went off to clear, as far as practicable with a pair of loppers, the branches of a tree which had fallen across the path down from the picnic area to the Meanwood Valley Trail.
A fallen tree, after Steph removed small branches
The work party working on Adel Bog was boosted by six strapping lads from Ahmadiyya Youth Association in Bradford who we hope will join us again. So in all we had eighteen volunteers – from memory our second largest turn out ever!
Only three more metres of brambles and saplings
The bog is a a distinctive habitat within Adel Woods and we usually include one morning a year to look after it. It needs care and attention as the surrounding trees drop thousands of seeds on it each Autumn and it is a constant battle to push the boundary back to where it was twelve years ago, so that bog plants like bog asphodel, heath spotted orchids, devil’s bit scabious, and rushes can continue to thrive.
The task today was to remove brambles and saplings from the bog and establish a clear boundary around the perimeter. On the southern edge, our plan was to mark the boundary by creating a “dead hedge”.
David Preston uses a “thumper” to drive a stake into the ground to create a dead hedge
Creating a dead hedge involves driving stakes into the ground to form a framework into which uprooted brambles and saplings, and branches can be interwoven to create a barrier. The stakes are ideally straight branches of trees or trunks of saplings. David had brought with him some stakes gathered from another site. You can find a photograph of the completed dead hedge at the end of this post.
A Friend sharpens the point of a stake using a billhook
Fortunately, apart from a heavy shower at about 11.30 this morning, the weather was dry today. However, one very positive consequence of the heavy rain we have experienced in the last month (Storm Babet in mid-October and Storm Ciarán over the last couple of days) was that Adel Bog was wetter than it has ever been. Everywhere was extremely squelchy – which was not very pleasant for people who had arrived in trainers!
Pulling up brambles!Two happy workers
This was a chance to use for the first time a tree popper which FOAW purchased with the assistance of a grant from Alwoodley Parish Council – for which we are very grateful.
As the photograph shows, a tree popper is a lever with a jaw at the bottom. You put the trunk of a sapling in the jaw, and it is then very easy to lever a sapling out of the ground in a matter of seconds.
Two more happy workers!David P with twelve Friends of Adel WoodsOur new stretch of dead hedging
Thank you David and all our volunteers!
Friends of Adel Woods were formed in 2009 to help maintain Adel Woods and encourage people to enjoy them. We meet one morning a month to carry out various jobs, and we also put on educational events. Recently, we have had a bat walk, and a fungal foray.
Our next “work party” is on Sunday the 10th December, when we will be litter picking, and carrying out path maintenance.
If you would like to take part in our activities, please get in touch by leaving a comment on our website.
A lovely Autumn afternoon for a Fungal Foray with our very own expert mycologist, Steve Joul.
We met at 2 pm in the Village Green car park on King Lane, and forty three adults and children joined us for this free event organised by the Friends of Adel Woods.
Steve gave an introductory talk, explaining that there are 16,500 species of fungi recorded in the UK. Clearly, that is a very large number! The part of the fungi which we see – and which we think of as a mushroom or fungus – is actually the fruiting body which will only appear in certain conditions or at certain times of year: much of their structure is hidden for most of the time in soil or decaying matter.
They can be identified by such factors as their shape, colour, where they are growing and by their physical structure – some times with the aid of a microscope. Steve currently has a list of 168 of the species which we are most likely to find on a fungal foray. However, even with these, the names are constantly changing as science is able to identify their characteristics with greater accuracy – particularly with advances in molecular genetics.
Having given a description of the life cycle and reproduction of a typical mushroom or fungus, Steve led us to have a look first of all at a fine specimen of a shaggy ink cap (or “lawyers wig”) he had spotted in the carpark.
A Shaggy Inkcap in the Village Green carpark, Alwoodley
After we had admired the shaggy ink cap, Steve led us into the woods and up into the Alwoodley Plantation on the north side of Crag Lane.
In the course of our foray, we found thirty eight species of fungus – not bad for about an hour and a half’s walk. This blog includes photos taken during the foray of some of the most striking to look at. There is a list of all the species found at the end of this blog post, giving their latin names too, so that you can look them up to find out more.
Cross-section of a Common Earthball
The common earthball looks like a warty potato on the ground. Steve cut this one in half to show us the flesh inside which will mature into spores which will eventually be dispersed by wind and rain when the skin on the outside bursts open.
Amethyst Deceivers
Amethyst deceivers are called “deceivers” because, as they age, their colour fades and they become harder to identify.
Yellow Stagshorn – it is easy to see why it is so namedTawny GrisetteSheathed WoodtuftBeefsteak fungus– so-called because it can look very like a slab of raw meat
Pale Tussock Caterpillar
One of our Friends found this beautiful pale tussock caterpillar in the leaf litter on the path in Alwoodley Plantation. It was able to move surprisingly fast. Steve explained that it will have come down from the trees to the ground to find somewhere to pupate. Having taken some photographs, we put the caterpillar back on the ground among the leaf litter but well away from the beaten track. The pale tussock moth is not so striking in appearance – at least not to the human eye.
Pale Tussock caterpillar
Adel Woods Ancient Monument
After the conclusion of the fungal foray, a group of us went to have a look at Adel Woods’ very own ancient monument – a celtic carving of a god or a warrior dating from Roman times.
And Finally …Two More Photographs
On our way back to the car park, we came across these two specimens of fungi we had seen earlier during the foray.
Beefsteak Fungus – partly eaten by slugsShaggy Parasol Fungus
A list of the fungi found in Adel Woods on the 8th October 2023
Friends of Adel Woods 