Wessex Bryology Group online
This is a new group that has been set up to record sites in Wiltshire, Dorset,
and parts of Somerset. A key aim of the group is to encourage those who are
new to the subject to become more experienced and confident at identifying
bryophytes. There is no formal membership or constitution and each person
goes out at his/her own risk. Beginners are always very welcome; the only
equipment needed is a hand lens (x10 or x20) and some paper packets for
collecting specimens. Many of the sites we plan to visit include wet and
muddy areas so boots are advisable. We will usually eat a packed lunch on
site. All meetings start at 10.30am and finish between 3pm and 4pm.
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Wessex Bryology Group contacts
For further information on the Wessex Bryology Group please contact:
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Wessex Bryology Group Field Trips 2011-12
Common Tamarisk-moss
Thuidium tamariscinum
Photo: Bryan Edwards
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Here is the programme of meetings for the coming season. We have tried to include a good range of habitats and
sites across Dorset, Wiltshire, Somerset and Hampshire. A key aim of the group is to encourage those who are new
to the subject to become more experienced and confident at identifying bryophytes, therefore beginners are most
welcome at all our meetings. There is no formal membership or constitution and each person goes out at his/her
own risk. The only equipment needed is a hand lens (x10 or x20) and some paper packets for collecting specimens.
Many of the sites we plan to visit include wet and muddy areas so boots are advisable. We will usually eat a
packed lunch on site. All meetings start at 10.30am and finish between 3pm and 4pm. Unless stated there is no
need to book, but in the event of snow/ treacherous driving conditions please call Andrew or Sharon to check the
meeting is going ahead.
Contacts:
New Forest - Mires around Holmsley Station, South Hampshire:
Sunday 30th October. Leader: Neil Sanderson.
Meet at Holmsley Lodge car park at SU 222011. A chance to explore some of the species-rich mires on the Headon Beds
in the south of the Forest. There is an old record for the rare moss Hamatocaulis vernicosus from this site.
Holford and Hodders Combe, Quantocks, South Somerset:
Saturday 19th November. Leader: Andrew Branson.
Meet at the car park in Holford at ST 154410. An interesting area of the Quantocks, with oak woodland, streams, heath
and flushed areas, providing a good range of species in this poorly recorded area.
Savernake Forest and Marlborough:
Sunday 4th December. Leader: Sharon Pilkington.
Meet in the centre of the forest at Eight Walks SU 225668. To get there take the tarmac track into the forest from the
A4 at Forest Hill at SU210683 and drive along Grand Avenue for 2km. The track is suitable for all vehicles. We shall
drive on from there to the southern part of the forest. Ancient woodland, pits, tracks and veteran trees with interesting
epiphytes and acid ground-dwellers, including a number of Wiltshire rarities. Later, if there is time and daylight, there
is the possibility of seeing the rare Grimmia dissimulata in Marlborough town centre.
Blashford Lakes Visitor Centre. Getting to grips with Sphagnum mosses:
Sunday 19th February. .
Restricted to a maximum of 8-10 people. Please book with either Sharon or Andrew. Meet at Hampshire Wildlife Trust
Education Centre at Blashford Lakes Nature Reserve at SU 151079. Joint workshop with Hants Flora Group combining a morning
at the centre looking at the basics of identifying Sphagnum mosses, followed by a field visit in the afternoon to a nearby
site in the New Forest.
Worth Matravers, Dorset:
Sunday 18th March. Leaders: Bryan Edwards and Andrew Branson.
Meet at car park near Renscombe Farm at SY 963774. Good site for a range of coastal species including the diminutive
Acaulon triquetrum, plus a sheltered valley with interesting epiphytes including Leptodon smithii.
Priddy Mineries and Stockhill:
Sunday 15th April. Leader: Sharon Pilkington.
Meet in the large free car park at Stockhill Plantation near Priddy at ST 549513. An interesting complex of woodland, poor
fen, mire, lead mine spoil, drystone walls and pools, with a wide range of species and some mine spoil. Local rarities include
Ditrichum plumbicola, Cephaloziella stellulifera and Lophozia excisa.
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Dorset Environmental Records Centre