Earlestown

26th July 2008

Leader:  Peter Gateley

Sixteen members met at the exit to Earlestown Station, delayed slightly by a 10 minute wait for the train to arrive. However we soon moved off and looked at some typical urban situations for plants. Just across the road, on the empty plot of a demolished property tall stands of Hemp Agrimony were just starting to flower, this is a typical weed of the whole of the urban parts of St Helens. Amongst the usual mix of coarse grasses and annual weeds there were also flowering specimens of Autumn Hawkbit. We proceeded via Chemical Street into Suez Street where many plants occupied the niches provided by abandoned buildings and urban dereliction.

One wall top had strikingly silhouetted plants of Blue Fleabane and Perforate St John’s-wort, and a wall further down the street was festooned with growths of Ivy-leaved Toadflax. Hemp Agrimony had also established in this vertical display as well as various ferns and other plants noted included Oxford Ragwort, Black Nightshade, Canadian Fleabane and Eastern Rocket, part of a rich mix of native and exotic annuals and ruderal plants.

Joined by a further member, the party of seventeen moved west along Earle Street noting more plants established in the walls of the old Victorian works, but also the rich mix of species in plots where buildings had been demolished and edges kept maintained as short flower-rich verges. This section of the walk provided an ideal opportunity to compare and contrast some similar species that learner botanists can be puzzled by. We were able to study Lesser Trefoil and Black Medick, along with Hop Trefoil, pointing out the distinguishing features of these low-growing yellow-flowered legumes; just further along, Smooth Tare and Hairy Tare were growing together in some abundance, allowing the characters of the flowers and fruits to be closely compared.

From Earle Street we cut into The Dingle, where one end has been left unmanaged to allow a diverse acidic flora to develop, this probably represents relict vegetation from the former Newton Common that formerly stretched westwards from here. The sward is dominated by a mix of Purple Moor-grass, Common Bent, Red Fescue and Heath Grass, with a range of other typical acidophiles, including Heather, Tormentil, Common Rush, Mat-grass and many others.

From here we crossed into Sankey Valley Park and went to look at the now remarkably clean waters of Sankey Brook with waving strands of what looked like Water Crowfoot and pondweed species visible in the strong flow. The path through was edged with a mix of tall herb and coarse grasses, with many species typical of very damp conditions. Amongst the species picked out for extra attention was a colony of Greater Burnet-saxifrage, just coming into full flower and large flowering bushes of Burdock, with the future sticky-bobs clearly visible. Other species typical of the path under the nine-arched viaduct were Himalayan Balsam, Rosebay Willowherb, Yellow Flag, False Fox-sedge, Wild Angelica, Floating Sweet-grass, Red Bartsia, Common Fleabane, Tufted Vetch. Many of the species were in full flower and put on a bright show.

We lunched on the edge of the section of canal that is still in water, admiring the flowering patches of Yellow Waterlily, some with fruits well-formed, and entertained by passing coots, Brown Hawkers and Emperor Dragonflies. After lunch we climbed Mucky Mountains, a large mound of alkaline waste dating from the 1830s and 1840s that was formerly known for a wide range of limestone-loving plants not normally associated with the St Helens area. Despite proliferation of scrub over the last two decades, shading the ground and enriching the surface soil, much Fairy Flax and Quaking Grass was still to be seen, as well as some large patches of Mouse-ear Hawkweed and scattered Common Centaury. Along the northern edges much colour was provided by Red Clover, Knapweed and Tall Melilot.

After continuing along the canal to admire typical water plants such as Greater Duckweed, Fools Watercress, White Waterlily, Purple Loosestrife and Gipsywort we then retired to the shade of Old Hey Wood and walked back through this strip of woodland that predates the canal. Although it was late in the year for looking at woodlands there was evidence of a good population of Bluebells and the typical woodland grasses: Wood False-brome, Tufted Hair-grass and Wavy Hair-grass were all flowering well; a small population of Pill Sedge was also noted along the path edge, emphasising the acidic nature of this wooded slope. After leaving the wood we walked through Wargrave, back into Earlestown and those that could resist the temptation of the pub on this very hot day (by no means all of the party!) arrived at the station just in time for the next Liverpool train.

Suez Street	Waste Ground	Sankey Viaduct	Lunch time	Sankey canal	Mucky mountains