At 2.00 pm this afternoon, about twenty of us met up with Steve Joul in Alwoodley Village Green car park for an enjoyable and educational stroll through Adel Woods. Steve is a very knowledgable local naturalist and a member of the committee of Friends of Adel Woods. He has many years of experience of working in Adel Woods and studying their flora and fauna.
This was a talk which Steve initially arranged with Alwoodley 2030 with the support of Friends of Adel Woods. Alwoodley 2030 is a community-driven initiative to make Alwoodley zero carbon, nature positive and socially just by 2030.
Having given a brief introductory talk about the ecology of the area and the variety of habitats in Adel Woods, Steve led us into Crag Lane and then to the right into Alwoodley Plantation – an area where there are a number of Scots Pine, beech and larch trees, presumably planted for commercial purposes: the main species of trees to be found elsewhere in Adel Woods are holly, birch, oak and sycamore.
Within Adel Woods there are many outcrops of rock and Steve took us to have a look at a former quarry within the plantation.
From there we went to have a look at our very own scheduled monument within Adel Woods- a Romano-British carving of a human figure on an outcrop of rock. It is in fact the only known example of Romano-British rock carving in West Yorkshire. The figure is holding a shield and spear and it is believed, from the style of the carving, to represent the Celtic deity Cocidius, a warrior god worshipped in northern England a the time of the Romans.
If you look very carefully to the right of our young explorer’s head you can see a carved head, shoulder and a shield.
From there we went to look at Alwoodley or Adel Crag.
In a 1963 interview, the sculptor Henry Moore said that the landscapes that most influenced his work were the slag heaps of Castleford and Adel Rock (ie Adel Crag). For more information, have a look at this article on the website of the Tate Art Gallery: tate.org.uk.
From Adel Crag we walked down to the orchid or cricket meadow, home for a couple of thousand common spotted orchids – though unfortunately they were difficult to see from a distance due to the height of the grass.
Steve has led Friends of Adel Woods in doing a lot of work to preserve the meadow over the last ten years – see 12th August 2023
Finally, we walked down to have a look at Adel Pond, breeding ground for many frogs and palmate newts.
In the last fourteen years, each Autumn Friends of Adel Woods have dredged the pond and cleared ditches around it, initially under Steve’s leadership, and now with our new local ranger, David Preston.
ABOUT FRIENDS OF ADEL WOODS
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. 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.
Our next events
Our next work party is on Saturday the 20th July 2024 when we will be litterpicking and clearing scrub and bracken from around the Buck Stone.
Our next educational event will be on Sunday the 21st July 2024 from 2 to 4 pm when Steve Joul will be leading a stream and pond Safari.
Further details are given on our homepage and will be sent out via our mailing list.
Friends of Adel Woods 