North Walney National Nature Reserve

artyplantsman

North Walney National Nature Reserve

a1beach

Walney Island is an 11 mile x 1 mile island attached by a bridge to the town of Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria, UK. The central part of the island, around the bridge, is a large housing area built to serve the shipyard across the bridge. To the south is the older village of Biggar and to the north the village of North Scale. The southern and northern tips of the island are both managed as nature reserves. The southern one is an RSPB managed bird reserve. At the north is a reserve managed by Natural England to provide habitat for the endangered Natterjack Toad. Both reserves also have a rich flora and are especially noted for shingle beach plants such as this Sea Kale.

a3kale

The highest point on the island does not exceed 20 metres above sea level, mostly much lower and we occasionally got cut off in our village by high tides covering the main road to the bridge. Walney is also one of the windiest places in England and one of the sunniest places in the North of the country.

For gardeners the island is significant as the source of the pale pink form of Geranium sanguineum. Now known as var. striatum it was once called var. lancastriense after its Lancastrian origins (this part of Cumbria was in Lancashire until 1974). This variety is endemic to Walney and is found mixed with the normal magenta form in just a few places on the island.

a4geranium

 

Susan grew up in the centre of the island (as did her father’s family). When we married I moved to the island and we lived in the village of North Scale, just a short walk from the north end nature reserve. Consequently I grew to know the place well during the 16 years we lived there. Though we now live 50 miles away it is still a favourite place to visit and has the best secluded beach in Northern England – ideal for walking Molly – and you may recognise the location from earlier posts.

The reserve has little vehicle access and is also separated from much of the island by the airfield owned by the shipyard (seen as a triangle in the aerial photos above). Since the road access washed out in a storm surge a few years ago the vehicle access is even more restricted and it is a good two miles walk along the beach to the reserve from the nearest parking.

The reserve is especially unique because of the diversity of habitats it offers in a small area. The seaward side is dominated by dunes, dune slacks and abandoned gravel pits, now ponds with abundant wildlife. The soil here is alkaline. On the leeward side of the reserve are mudflats and areas of acidic soil that hosts an entirely different flora. There is even a tiny area of heath and raised bog with carnivorous sundew plants if you know where to look – it is off the path and not visible from it and the area is no bigger than a living room. The rare Alpine Bartsia (not pictured) also grows nearby – an almost unique occurrence down at sea level.

So now to some pretty flower pictures:

Firstly the shingle beach plants starting with various colours forms of the wild Pansy (Viola tricolor):

Sea Holly (Eryngium maritimum)

a1eryngium

Sedum acre a1sedum

 

The Sea Pea and Birdsfoot Trefoil:

a1peaa1lotus

Sea Spurge and Silene maritima:

a1spurgea1silene

Wild Thyme

a1thyme

The damper areas behind the dunes are host to a number of Orchids. Here are Dactylorhiza incarnata, D. purpurella and my favourite UK Orchid the Marsh Helleborine – Epipactis palustris:

a2dacta1dactA1helle

The more acidic areas are home to plants such as the carnivorus sundew:

a1drosera

Finally we reach my favourite area where the Geranium (both colours) grows intermingled with Burnett rose (kept very short by grazing – huge flowers on tiny stems) and the Sea Bindweed:

a2geraniuma3geraniuma1rosea2bindweeda1bindweed

I did once set about drawing a poster to illustrate these plants but have never finished it. Here is the work in progress – containing my first ever attempt at a landscape (in graphite) in the middle:

img_1188

 

 

Published by artyplantsman

Frustrated artist and plantsman from Northern England

50 Comments

  4. Wow, I loved this post. What an amazing variety of wildflowers in such a small area, and your picture is already amazing in the unfinished stage. I would love to know how Susan enjoyed growing up there…was it too secluded or just a wonderful place to live?

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    1. Thank you Jen. Much of the Lake District is overgrazed but being an island means this can be managed so that the flowers thrive here.
      Susan loves the island and her family are still there, though her parents have now both passed away. She lost her dad only last summer so she has been sorting through the family photos that came from their house. You can tell how much she misses the island and it surprised me she was willing to move away – I never asked her to.
      As a child the island culture was both comforting to her and also a little restrictive as she could not do anything without the mums network reporting back to her mother. I got a taste of this claustrophobic environment when we lived next door – as you will soon see in another Guest in Jest on Linda’s blog😀😉❤️

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      1. oh my, the mums network is great for moms, pain for kids!! I’m sorry about her parents…I dread going through that someday:( Thanks for the insight into the island!

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        1. The one consolation is that in both cases it was sudden and just as they were starting to lose their quality of life so at least they did not suffer for years. Thanks for your lovely comments as always my friend. 😊💕

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          1. oh, that is a consolation. My dad is in almost constant pain, and it is so hard to watch someone you love in pain…still, he stays in good spirits. And you are welcome friend, thanks as always for answering my chattering:)

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  6. What a wonderful post. It combines many things I like: knowing more about you, your beautiful pictures of landscape & flower, botanical informations and, lastly, your artwork. BTW, I really like the mix of graphite and colors in your drawing. Bravo! 😚

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      1. You should! As much as I like colors there is something very special about a pic or drawing in B&W. I find It has soul. But your beautiful combo gives the drawing depth and brings a very interesting element, sort of a storytelling… You should indeed do more mixed work. 💕💕💕

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    1. Thank you 🙂

      I am sure that a visit to the beach will be on the agenda for the hairy hooligan’s next visit later this month 🙂
      Apparently she was totally manic yesterday. Either the cold wind or her new food have given her some extra bounce!

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              1. That is surprising, especially with your green thumb…and hand…and body! Maybe you need some magical morning glory seeds from Roda! I think I shall send some to you!

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  14. I agree with all of the previous comments as usual! Beautiful work, and really lovely photos. I recognised a lot of plants that we have here and some that grow here too – the sundew for instance. I wonder whether ours was brought here by the British or is an indigenous species or two? Anyway, the island looks stunning and I learned something new, again. 🙂

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    1. Thank you!
      You have lots of your own sundews in Aus, including some weird miniature ones and some that die back to tubers in the hot summers. I’ve tried to grow a few and they are not easy!
      One rare Australian carnivorous plant that does do well for me is the Albany pitcher plant.

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