For peat's sake... There's a hole in my shoe

29th September 2024. A wet woodland walk around a watery world...

I really need to get a new pair of wellies. It’s a shame. I’ve had my current set for so many years now that they feel like slippers on my feet, albeit a rubbery version – and are practically vintage material. But, like the song immortalised by Nigel Planer from The Young Ones, there’s a hole in one and it’s letting in water. Which is somewhat troublesome when you want to visit a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), designated for its wetland habitat.

The SSSI designation was first authorised through a national parks and countryside act in 1949 but is now enforced by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (and been subject to several amendments since then). There are roughly 6800 in the UK and each site is selected according to the importance of its biological or geographical features. Brown Moss, the site I visited is one such example, and covers 32 hectares of marshes and pools, heathland and woodland. Part of its significance is due to the wildlife it contains – not only 200 species of wildflowers but also the rarest plant in the UK (the Floating Water Plantain) and several other wetland plants found nowhere else. There are numerous species of birds, dragonflies and newts to be found here too – and cattle wading in the water give it a somewhat exotic feel. In my opinion anyway. (I told a passerby that the waterside cattle reminded me of a Kenyan waterhole, but her startled expression suggested otherwise).

Of course, I knew little of the site’s importance at the time, wandering around with my field guide and camera, but have not entirely been surprised by my discoveries. It was a beautiful place to spend a day, and I was blessed with a large blanket of sunshine, that saturated the colours of the pools and the leaves in the trees. And though I didn’t have a decent pair of wellies, my old walking boots were just about up to scratch. There are a variety of trails leading visitors around Brown Moss, and one allows you to do a complete circuit of the main body of water. Parts of this can flood, however, and I made it as far as the place in the top photograph. Which was good enough and located near a bench where I cracked open my flask of tea and lunch box, and watched the wild world go by.

The water bodies lying around the site have ancient origins – a product of the ice sheets retreating 10,000 years ago, whilst the peaty ground has developed over millions of years, with layers and layers of decomposing plant material. Peat lends further value to the site because peat is a climate change warrior, which deals with greenhouse gases and locks away carbon dioxide. It’s quite incredible when you think about it and even more so, because this geological development is still ongoing. As an officer at Shropshire Wildlife Trust once said, one of the most exciting things about Brown Moss is that it is geology in the making. I can’t tell you how happy that makes me, to find someone who uses the word ‘exciting’ when describing a habitat and its value. It’s a word I will never tire of using when wildflower walking. Have a great week and see you next time.

Common Field-speedwell: is very 'common' throughout the British Isles and an indicator of human activity – usually found on waste ground or in cultivated and arable areas. It was first seen in the wild in 1826 but is not a native wildflower and most probably travelled here from the Caucasus’ mountains and northern parts of Iran. This is why it is also sometimes known as the Persian Speedwell – and maybe why it loves the sunshine. Although the flowers grow singularly on their stems, I found a large group sunbathing along the fields bordering the nature reserve and was very taken with their purple petals. There are four for each flower but the lowest is white and tends to be smaller than the others. It’s a handy tip for distinguishing it from Germander Speedwell, which is wholly purple. Common Field-speedwell is considered a nuisance by some because of its invasiveness but as a medicine cabinet by others – previously used to treat heart conditions and snakebites in Australia, for instance.

Heather: is perhaps one of those wildflowers that is so familiar that we forget how remarkable it is. Despite it being less common in the south and east of England, Heather is generally abundant in areas where the soil is acidic, and easily visible in heathland, moorland and peat bogs. Its presence in Highland shooting estates is important because the young shoots are a key food source for grouse, and many birds love the seeds otherwise. The heather I saw on this occasion was dressed in pink, but it can also be seen in white, which is thought to bring luck. I have seen both varieties and am delighted to imagine that luck might come my way. In the meantime, I loved the softness of this pink variety and was impressed by the number of uses that Heather has. The flowers can be used to dye tweed or flavour beer, and its woody parts have made it suitable for kindling, brushes and ropes. These uses are inferred from its common and Latin names (Ling and Calluna vulgaris). ‘Ling’ comes from an Anglo-Saxon word meaning ‘fire’ and Calluna comes from a Greek word meaning ‘to brush’.

References

BBC (2014) Shropshire. https://www.bbc.co.uk/shropshire/content/articles/2005/03/19/geological_tour_bown_moss.shtml

Neil Fletcher (2010) Pocket Nature. Wild Flowers. Dorling Kindersley Limited; London

Ronni’s 80s! (2007) [YouTube Video] Neil – Hole in My Shoe (Live, Top of The Pops). https://youtu.be/XhVyV6d7fT8?feature=shared

Sarah Raven (2011) Wild Flowers. Bloomsbury Publishing; Great Britain

Shropshire’s Great Outdoors (not dated, but I assume 2024) Brown Moss Countryside Heritage Site. https://www.shropshiresgreatoutdoors.co.uk/site/brown-moss-countryside-heritage-site/

Sophie Lake, Durwny Liley, Robert Still and Andy Swash (2020) Britain’s Habitats. A Field Guide to the Wildlife Habitats of Great Britain and Ireland. Princeton University Press; Woodstock

Wikipedia (2024) Sites of Special Scientific Interest. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Site_of_Special_Scientific_Interest#:~:text=SSSIs%20were%20originally%20set%20up,of%20Way%20Act%202000)%2C%20in

Wikipedia (2024) Veronica Persica. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veronica_persica