The Cumbria Lichen and Bryophyte group is a self-study group for everyone interested in learning, recording, conserving or simply enjoying Cumbria’s lichens and bryophytes (regardless of experience) .
Please join us on a field trip and share your experiences with us on the Cumbria Lichens and Cumbria Bryophytes Facebook groups.
Here are our most recent blog posts:
- Lamps Moss lichen trip report – 24 August 2024
We seem to be making a habit of exploring borderlands, this time again at the Cumbria-Yorkshire boundary in the uplands to the south east of Kirkby Stephen: Lamps Moss, south of Nine Standards Rigg. It’s an interesting spot with both acidic peat hag habitat and gritstone rock adjacent to limestone pavement and sinkholes. As a… Read more: Lamps Moss lichen trip report – 24 August 2024 - Alcock Tarn lichen trip report – 16 July 2024
A slow climb to Alcock Tarn. Mid July and I feared that the central Lakes would be very busy; have no parking; experience torrential downpours and be full of biting insects. But none of these were true for our Alcock Tarn trip! In a break with tradition, we didn’t get distracted on our journey from… Read more: Alcock Tarn lichen trip report – 16 July 2024 - Carlin Gill Lichen Trip Report 15 June 2024
The forecast was wet and that’s how it turned out for this exploration of an upland valley cutting east into the Howgill Fells. At least at the start we had an hour without precipitation during which time we got about 200m from the road. Disconcertingly, we were in VC65 North Yorkshire the whole time as… Read more: Carlin Gill Lichen Trip Report 15 June 2024 - Side Wood Ennerdale Lichen Report 16 May 2024
The May meeting took place at Side Wood, on the southern shores of Ennerdale Water. Side Wood was previously part of the adjacent Ennerdale Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) but now lies within the Pillar and Ennerdale Fells SSSI. The SSSI citation states that the site exhibits one of the best examples of altitudinal… Read more: Side Wood Ennerdale Lichen Report 16 May 2024 - Little Asby Lichen Report 14 April 2024
As a Yorkshire person from Craven, used to seeing Cumbria from a distance, I am really pleased to occasionally join the Cumbria group, and they make me very welcome. Today’s visit was to Little Asby Common. A plateau of Carboniferous limestone grassland at about 320m with very thin soil, and with stretches of limestone pavement… Read more: Little Asby Lichen Report 14 April 2024