It is only 6 miles from us so we went to explore. What we found was a fascinating area, rich in geological features and diverse in its wildlife habitats.
Photographs can't do justice to the real thing but here's a taster of an area which is not well known outside the region but is well worth a visit.
Limestone is a perfect for these orchids..
And the one twayblade we managed to find..
But we were surprised to find violets still in flower
Damsel flies and birdsong in abundance..
And the scale of the rock face could only be appreciated by one of us standing at the base..
This is Shelter Rock, so called as the quarry men used it to shelter from the explosive blasts
And it is here against the backdrop of the quarry
This track with its sheer rock face, was presumably cut out to transport stone to the nearby railway
You can read more about the reserve here
Wow! Those Dactylorhiza orchids look interesting. The leaflet only mentions Common Spotted, but the leaves on none of yours are spotted. The genus is tricky to identify to species level, because it is very variable in itself, plus is known to hybridise with other Dactylorhiza sp and even with the Fragrant Orchids Gymnadenia sp (which I see from your photos are there).
ReplyDeleteSusan thank you for your comment. I wasn't able to identify the orchids with any degree of confidence, I'm afraid. x
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