Hugh Harris: Haskayne Cutting, West Lancs.

 

HASKAYNE CUTTING, West Lancs SD 357 089, Explorer 285.

Haskayne Cutting lies 3 miles west of Ormskirk on the Lancashire coastal plain. Lancashire Wildlife Trust manages the full 1.7 miles length under licence from United Utilities. It is a disused railway line and provides an important corridor for wildlife. A surprising diversity of habitats has developed since the line was closed in 1952. Seasonal open water, marsh, acid and calcareous grassland (a rare combination in this part of Lancashire) scrub and Keuper sandstone outcrops are found on this reserve.

On Saturday 4 June 2016, a day of increasingly hot temperature, Peter Gateley led a party of 19 strong Liverpool Botanical Society members from their meeting place in Rosemary Lane; the ‘Pride of Sefton’ carpark on the banks of the Liverpool – Leeds Canal to Bridge 21A, A5147. There we ascended to the road and walked downhill to the Ship Inn and turned left and proceeded to the Haskayne Cutting footpath at the entrance to Chisnall Brook Close, a quiet residential housing development on the right-hand side of the road. This sign-posted footpath was located between the housing and Blundell’s Farm buildings which we followed across the fields to Wanisher Brook and then to Haskayne Cutting

Habitats:

Canal Towpath,

Crataegus monogyna Hawthorn, Ranunculus repens  Creeping Buttercup, Bellis perennis Daisy, Trifolium repens White Clover, Cirsium vulgare  Spear Thistle, Holcus lanatus Yorkshire Fog, Dactylis glomerata Cock’s-foot, Festuca rubra Red Fescue,  Poa sp. Meadow Grass, Plantago lanceolata Ribwort Plantain, Galium palustre Marsh Bedstraw, Geranium molle Dove’s-foot Crane’s-bill, Geranium dissectum Cut-leaved Crane’s-bill, Sonchus asper Prickly Sow-thistle, Sonchus oleraceus Smooth Sow-thistle, Poa annua Annual Meadow grass, Lamium album White Dead-nettle, Symphytum sp. Comfrey, Solanum dulcamara Bittersweet, Cerastium fontanum Common Mouse-ear, Rubus fruticosus agg. Bramble, Oenanthe crocata Hemlock Water Dropwort, Cardamine pratensis Cuckooflower, Cymbalaria muralis Ivy-leaved Toadflax, Carpinus betulus Hornbeam, Corylus avellana Hazel, Campanula sp. Bell-flower, Sedum rupestre Reflexed Stonecrop.

Public Footpath and arable fields,

Geranium robertianum Herb Robert, Myosotis arvensis Field forget-me-not, Bromus sterilis Barren Brome, Glechoma hederacea Ground Ivy, Eruca vesicaria Garden Rocket,Lamium album White Dead nettle, Galium aparine Cleavers, Rumex Dock, Taraxacum Dandelion, Alliaria petiolata Garlic Mustard, Poa trivialis Rough Meadow grass, Cornus Cornus, Silene dioica Red Campion, Rumex acetosella Sheep’s Sorrel, Cirsium palustre Marsh Thistle, Dryopteris filix-mas Male-fern, Galium Bedstraw, Hypericum androsaemum Tutsan, Acer campestre Field Maple, Euonymus europaeus Spindle, Ranunculus ficaria Lesser Celandine, Salix caprea Goat Willow, Carex pendula Pendulous Sedge,Lonicera periclymenum Honeysuckle, Iris pseudocorus Yellow Flag, Fumaria Fumitory, Matricaria chamomilla Scented Mayweed, Veronica Persicaria Field Speedwell, Viola arvensis Field Pansy, Trifolium Clover, Euphorbia helioscopia Sun Spurge, Avena fatua Wild-oat, Capsella burs-pastoris Shepherd’s Purse, Salix fragilis Crack Willow, Veronica chamaedrys Germander Speedwell, Sisymbrium officinale Hedge Mustard, Sinapis arvensis Charlock, Phalaris arundinacea Reed Canary -grass, Ranunculus sceleratus Celery-leaved Buttercup, Heracleum sphondylium Hogweed, Aesthusa cynapium Fools Watercress, Raphanus sativus Cultivated Radish, Stellaria media Chickweed, Papaver Poppy, Conopodium majus Pignut, Vicia cracca Tufted Vetch, Rumex acetosa Common Sorrel, Malus Apple, Sorbus aucuparia  Mountain Ash, Lapsana communis Nipplewort.   

Haskayne Cutting.

Alopecorus Foxtail, Anthoxanthum odoratum Sweet Vernal-grass, Vicia sepium Bush Vetch, Vicia sativa Common vetch, Salix cinerea Grey Willow, Epilobium Willowherb, Dryopteris affinis Scaly Male Fern, Solanum dulcamara Bittersweet, Cynosurus cristatus Crested Dog’s Tail, Dactylorhiza purpurella  Northern Marsh Orchid, Ranunculus acris Meadow Buttercup, Juncus tenuis Slender Rush, Juncus Common Rush, Typha latifolia Reedmace, Carex remota Remote Sedge, Cardamine pratensis Cuckooflower,  Caltha palustris Marsh Marigold, Hypericum tetrapterum Square-stalked St John’s Wort, Betula sp. Silver and Downy Birch, Juncus bulbosus Bulbous Rush,  Dactylorhiza praetermissa Southern Marsh Orchid, Tragopogon pratensis Goats Beard, Rhinanthus minor Yellow Rattle, Parentucellia viscosa Yellow Bartsia.

Butterflies:

Anthocaris cardamines Orange Tip, Lasiommata megera Wall Brown, Pararge aegeria Speckled Wood, Gonepteryx rhamni Brimstone, Pieris rapae Small White, Polyommatus Icarus Common Blue.

Management:

Lancashire Wildlife Trust Volunteers carry out a programme of scrub control in which some of the overgrown scrub invading the marsh areas is cut back and coppiced so that the marsh flowers are not enveloped by the scrub. Results of coppicing can be seen at the site of the old station. The grassland is cut regularly and grass cuttings are removed to prevent a nutrient build up and the invasion of coarse grasses with the subsequent loss of wildflower.

Sources: The Wildlife Trusts Nature Reserves Guide, and Fieldwork.

 

HHarris@LBS