Lichens in the Country Park - April 2015

Last Saturday the Friends enjoyed a fascinating talk introducing the lichens of the Country Park Nature Reserve given by local naturalist, Keith Palmer. Keith’s talk introduced us to the different forms of lichen and described their life cycle in fascinating detail. He also showed us colourful examples of some of the lichens we might expect to see on our walk. So, armed with lenses and lots of enthusiasm, we set off towards Barley Lane.

Our first stop was at a small derelict stone barn whose walls were a rich hunting ground for various common stone-loving lichens. A pair of nearby iron gates with an old wooden latch quickly produced some more common examples. A wooden fence and kissing gate together with nearby trees produced several different lichens and our walk finished with close examination of some beautiful foliose lichens growing on blackthorn bushes alongside the footpath.

This was a most enjoyable and informative event and Keith proved such a popular leader that I suspect we will be booking him for a similar event next year!