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Travellers along the Meanwood Valley Trail may notice as they pass through Adel Woods, a circular pond, surrounded by trees. It is not large – perhaps only twenty five feet across – but it is the only pond in Adel Woods and, in your correspondent’s view, it is a beautiful adornment to the woods.  Quite apart from its natural beauty, it is home to a thriving population of palmate newts.

If you do not know where it is, follow the Meanwood Valley Trail in either direction and you will surely come to the pond. Otherwise, enter the woods by the entrance on Buckstone Road, follow the path down through the kissing gate and at the bottom you will see a stream on your right, with a bridge leading to some steps heading upwards into the woods. Adel Pond lies in placid beauty at the top of the steps.

A stream trickles into the pond, bringing with it silt which each year blocks up the pond.  In addition, sticks and logs and sometimes large stones somehow find their way into it.  Friends of Adel Woods have therefore spent a morning each Autumn for several years with Steve Joul, dredging the pond and removing debris.

Today we had a good team of about a dozen, two or three litter picking around the woods, but the rest of us enjoying wet and muddy fun in the pond.  This was also the opportunity for FOAW to try out our four pairs of pond gloves for the first time.

As usual, we removed many barrow loads of mud from the pond, and many large logs.  We also found lots of pieces of china, presumably discarded from Verity’s tea room which used serve refreshments nearby.

Two hours of hard work left us tired but exhilarated, and the pond ready for another year of life in the woods!

A good turn out of about thirty five people, including many children, for a “tree walk” led by Steve Joul, senior countryside ranger with Leeds City Council.

The weather smiled on us as we walked through Alwoodley Plantation, and  through the beech wood to the hospice woodland, and Steve identified trees for us and gave us interesting information about the specimens we came across.  Your correspondent could now identify a larch with reasonable confidence!

Thanks again Steve!

At ten to seven, Judith said to me:  “I’m bringing my grandchildren, so at least there will be five of us!”

I arrived at the meeting point in Old Leo’s car park just after twenty five past seven.  Steve Joul was already there with about twenty five members of the public.  And still they kept on coming.  We introduced Steve, and still they kept on coming.  Steve began a talk about bats, and still they kept on coming.  Steve got out his nine bat detectors and still they kept on coming.  In the end we counted between seventy five and eighty nychteridaphiles (bat lovers)  of all ages.  Like true nychteridaphiles, they would not stand still long enough for us to count them, but they contributed £154.97 to FOAW’s funds from which we deduce there were about fifty adults, between twenty five and thirty children, and someone who had a lot of loose change in their pocket!

Having explained how the bat detectors work and demonstrated how to use them, Steve shared them out and we set off.  First of all we went to have a look at the seven bat boxes put up by Friends of Adel Woods.

We then walked along the bottom of the field to the north of Crag Lane.  In the southwest corner, the bat detectors spluttered out their machine gun cry for the first time:   there was a solitary bat flitting about, clearly visible against the clear sky.  Soon he or she was joined by a second and possibly a third bat. The game was on!

Excited we set off round the top of the field and up to the Hospice Woodland.  But the bats were now lying low – or flying high, as they occasionally taunted us with sightings as they gyrated around the top of the tree line, ensuring that their supersonic calls were too far away for our detectors to pick them up.

By now, like a swirling flock of starlings, our gathering had separated into three separate groups of bat hunters, before coalescing again seamlessly into a single congregation in the field where we had seen our first bat.

At nine o’clock it was almost fully dark and time for the younger explorers to go home to Bedfordshire and we wended our way back to the carpark, a cheery hum of conversation and satisfaction buzzing around the group.

A truly memorable evening.  Thank you to Steve, for your interesting and informative talk and for leading us safely around the woods.  Thank you to the committee of FOAW for organising the event.  And thank you to all you nycheridaphiles for making it such an exciting and enjoyable evening.

A varied morning.  While Mary set off litter picking (and picked up a number of bags of litter), the rest of us carried out rapid work on specific targets.

Firstly, we cut back holly on the diagonal path on the right hand side of Crag Lane (coming from King Lane).

Having widened the path, we set off to King Lane and cut back vegetation encroaching onto the footpath more or less opposite Tescos.

From there to Buck Stone Road where we cut back willow trees which were beginning to obstruct the footpath.

And finally up to the moor, where we cut back various branches hanging over the heather or beginning to obstruct the footpath around the moor.

A very satisfying morning.

Archive picture from 16th May 2015

A dedicated team helped Steve Joul to clear saplings from Adel Moor, while at least one person litter picked.

Unfortunately, your correspondent could not be there due to an unfortunate clash with the Walkabout program.  However, reports are that all who were there did a wonderful job.  Thank you to you all.

Common Spotted Orchids

Your correspondent had another look at the orchids in Adel Woods this morning, and felt moved to post the accompanying photographs.

Common Spotted Orchid: Adel Woods 11 July 2015

After clearing the Himalayan Balsam, Sylvia took me to see some orchids she had found earlier this week in a secluded meadow in the woods.

The field was well off the beaten track and was a delightful haven of peace and tranquillity in the morning sun.  The orchids were well worth seeing:  we estimated that there were a thousand, and they were all of a very good size.  Your correspondent managed by some fluke to take this photo!  Click on the photo to see a larger version.

Amid the butterflies and the wild flowers it would have been a very nice place to spend the day, lying back with a cool drink and just letting the mind  wander…

Himalayan Balsam 19 July 2015

Himalayan Balsam was introduced (impatiens glandulifera) was introduced to the UK in 1839. As its latin name suggests, it is a relative of the Busy Lizzie.  It is an annual plant which can grow up to 10 feet in height.  Between June and October it produces clusters of pink helmet-shaped flowers which are followed by seed pods that can open explosively, dispersing up to 800 seeds up to 7m when ripe!

If you are not familiar with the plant – sometimes known as the Pink Peril – you will have seen it in Adel Woods – for example at the side of Nanny Beck on Buck Stone Road.

Unfortunately, it has become a problem in the UK in that it tolerates low light levels and shades out other vegetation, so gradually impoverishing habitats by killing off other plants.  This reduces bio-diversity, and is also a problem along river banks – where Himalayan Balsam thrives – as it has very shallow roots which permit soil erosion to occur.  The plant has no natural enemies in the UK and so it is gradually progressing unchecked through the countryside.

Crag Lane – Himalayan Balsam visible to the left

On a walk through the woods, FOAW’s chair noted that there was a clump of Himalayan Balsam at the entrance to Crag Lane by King Lane carpark – and that it seemed to be isolated and therefore a suitable candidate for eradication.  Unchecked, there is little doubt that the plant will spread along Crag Lane which is mercifully reasonably clear of it at the moment.

June and July are the ideal time to clear Himalayan Balsam, before the seed pods form, because clearing the plants when the seeds are ripe can cause the pods to explode scattering the seeds yet further.

We therefore had an hour long session this morning clearing the plant from this small plot.

This was your correspondent’s first experience of HB clearing and it was a rewarding and illuminating experience.

Same scene less Himalayan Balsam

Because Himalayan Balsam has very shallow roots – the root spread of a 10 foot plant might only be the size of a man’s hand – the plants are very easy to pull up.  However, they grow to a density of probably fifty plants per square foot, which means that, if you are clearing an area thirty feet by thirty, there are very many plants to remove.

Having uprooted the plants, the question is what to do with them.  Apparently, if left in contact with the soil, the plants will re-root and so the video’s on youtube show a variety different ways of disposing of them.  The National Trust hang the uprooted plants on trees.  Others favour slashing the uprooted plants with a machete and crushing the stems.  Our team tried a selection of disposal methods:  hanging them on a tree; pulling off the roots and crushing the stalks; and laying them on the track so that the many cars passing along Crag Lane to a strongest man competition at Old Leo’s could crush them.

We pulled up many of the plants including some a good 8 feet tall, but time unfortunately ran out and we probably only managed to clear 90% of the plants.  However, it is now a much more manageable task to complete the job.

An optimistic sign was that the native UK flora like nettles were continuing to persist in the middle of the HB

Today a group of us helped Steve Joul clear saplings from Adel Bog – one of your correspondent’s favourite spots in the wood for its seclusion and tranquillity.

A pollen laden Adel Pond!

On the way we passed by Adel Pond which had a mysterious veneer over its surface. Was this pollution, or bluegreen algae?  No!  Steve explained that this is normal for the time of year and the veneer consists of pollen!

The bog was disappointingly a lot less wet this year, compared with this time last year, and it seemed notable that there were thousands of tree seedlings to remove.  Nevertheless, the bog is in a much better condition as a bog than when Friends of Adel Woods formed in 2009.

Your correspondent could only stay for about 45 minutes but the rest of the team made a huge contribution to the preservation of this special habitat.

Thank you to Dianne and Alan who opened their local small holding to the members of FOAW this afternoon. Despite appalling weather, 14 people took the opportunity to visit their land and learn about the pleasures and hazards of running a small farm on the outskirts of Leeds.

After a talk by Alan, Steve Joul carried out a brief survey of the flora in one of the meadows and found twenty seven species of plant.

A good time was had by all!