Orchid Study Group visit to Gait Barrows and Sandscale Haws National Nature Reserves 2010 - Sue Parker

The orchid conservation trip for 2010 was to two nature reserves in the Lake District, Gait Barrows National Nature Reserve (NNR) and Sandscale Haws NNR. Both are famed for special orchid populations but are also havens for numerous other species of plants, insects, birds and mammals. Whatever your interest in the natural world there is something to see in these two unique landscapes. The primary reason for the visit, however, was to see the work being done on the Lady's-slipper Orchid reintroduction programme at Gait Barrows, but we were to see many other lovely sites during our visit, too. The re-introduction programme at Gait Barrows is managed by Natural England, and Rob Petley-Jones from their organisation in the area kindly agreed to act as our guide to see the reintroduced plants that are now thriving in the nature reserve.

Lady's-slipper Orchid at Gait Barrows NNR - background to the reintroduction programme

This wonderful flower has become a potent symbol of how much of our wonderful wildlife heritage has been lost and continues to be lost as a result of the many pressures affecting our countryside - increasing industrialisation, commercial and housing development, intensive farming and the use of herbicides and pesticides, and water abstraction to name but a few.

The Lady's-slipper Orchid was recognised as a native European species in 1568, and the earliest record of a British plant is of a dried herbarium specimen from 1640, collected from the Ingleton area in Yorkshire. Although still widespread in some parts of Europe, the Lady's-slipper Orchid was always a rarity in Britian and consequently highly prized by plant collectors who, from the mid-18th Century, collected the plants with such ruthlessness that by 1888 great concern was being expressed at the disappearance of the Lady's-slipper Orchid from the wild. Regrettably the population continued to decline, resulting in its declared extinction by 1917.

In 1930 a single plant was discovered in Yorkshire, on a privately-owned site where visiting is strictly prohibited. As a result of close protection this plant continues to grow and is gradually increasing in vigour and flowering performance. The intense concern about the survival of this single plant led ultimately to the formation of the Cypripedium Committee, an organisation made up from members of Natural England, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and the Yorkshire Naturalists Union; their primary aim was to ensure the safety of the single surviving plant. A secondary aim has been to propagate the plant and to attempt to re-introduce it to some of its former flowering sites, so that Lady's-slipper Orchids could be visited and enjoyed by the public. Two other specimens of our native Lady's-slipper Orchid, collected from the Ingleton area of Yorkshire at the turn of the Century, were known of; these plants, which provide important genetic material, were being maintained in cultivation for possible cross-pollination with plants grown for the purposes of re-introduction. This long and difficult process received a major boost when, in 1983, a generous donation was made by Sir Robert and Lady Sainsbury, resulting in the establishment of the Sainsbury Orchid Project at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, in London.

After much work and many setbacks a reliable technique for the mass-reproduction of seedlings, and a method for weaning the seedling plants, have been determined. As a result, in the autumn of 1989 the first seedlings were planted in the wild. Today, despite the many dangers and predations that threaten these young plants, there are some thriving young Lady's- slipper Orchids in a number of sites. It will be many years, however, before a healthy population of Lady's-slipper Orchids, free from the threat of extinction, can be established.

One of the lovely plants thriving at Gait Barrows NNR

The Orchid Study Group party at Gait Barrows NNR

During the course of our visit we saw numerous large and healthy Lady's-slipper Orchid plants and heard about the triumphs and tribulations encountered during the work to establish the new plants in the wild - in particular how ten years of careful nuture of a plant can be undone overnight by slug predation!

A Heath Spotted-orchid (Dactylorhiza maculata) flowering at Gait Barrows NNR

Gait Barrows

Gait Barrows NNR has a large area of limestone pavement, which is home to a number of other orchids including the beautiful Dark-red Helleborine (Epipactis atrorubens) and the Fly Orchid (Ophrys insectifera). In other parts of the reserve there are Heath Spotted-orchids (Dactylorhiza maculata), and we also found the Northern Marsh-orchid (Dactylorhiza purpurella). It is also one of the best places in Britain to look for moths and butterflies - both the High Brown Fritillary (Argynnis adippe) and Duke of Burgundy (Hamearis lucina) can be found there at the right time of year.

The Fly Orchid (Ophrys insectifera) flowering at Gait Barrows NNR

Other notable wildflowers in this lovely nature reserve are Primula farinosa - Bird's-eye Primrose (pictured below), Polygonatum odoratum - Angular Solomon's-seal, and of course, Geranium sanguineum - Bloody Crane's-bill.

Bird's-eye Primrose - Primula farinosa

Bloody Crane's-bill - Geranium sanguineum

Sandscale Haws NNR

The second, and final, day of our visit was spent visiting Sandscale Haws NNR, which is situated on the south-west Cumbrian coast, with views across the Duddon estuary to the mountains of the Lake District. It is one of Britain's most important dune systems and home to many rare species of wildlife including amphibians (for example the Natterjack Toad), birds, orchids and other wil flowers, and invertebrates such as bees and crickets.

As far as the orchids go, Sandscale Haws is famous for its population of Coralroot Orchids (Corallorhiza trifida) in particular, and it was this notoriously difficult to find species that we hoped to see. The weather, which had been excellent for our visit to Gait Barrows the day before, took a definite turn for the worse and we trekked into the sand dunes accompanied by a howling wind and rain. Having been given excellent directions to the spot where we should concentrate our search we spent a considerable amount of time searching the willow carr in which the Coralroot Orchid grows. On the point of giving up and retreating to the warmth of our vehicles, one of our party found the first specimen - much to our delight. After that, it was almost a case of the 'Number Nine Bus' and we quickly found several more to photograph before returning to the car park to start our long drive home.

The elusive Coralroot Orchid photographed at Sandscale Haws NNR in Cumbria.