Long Ashes

Today I was fortunate enough to get out into the higher reaches of Wharfedale, searching for butterflies. The sun was out and it looked like a promising day to do my Long Ashes and Low Ox Pasture transects. Unfortunately the wind was quite strong so I saw little in the way of butterflies, but at the right time both these sites have an abundance of different species. The Northern Brown Argus was the species we were most interested in. It is my first time doing a transect on Long Ashes and I thought I’d write a bit on what a fantastic site it is. There was a mass of cowslips, primroses and early purple orchids (pictured above). It is sometimes hard to avoid treading on them.

The transect we were walking is often used by the local residents of the adjacent caravan park and it occurred to me what a great place it would be to live. I was told that some of park is home to permanent residents and coincidentally Mark Hewitt’s (from the Yorkshire Dales National Park, Grassington office) parents live there. Both he and Ian Court (of the same office) walked us round the transect earlier in the month and it was interesting to hear how they plan to manage it and how they have worked with the caravan park to provide more funds for their conservation efforts. It even has it’s own pub, gymnasium and spa. Where living there might not be for everyone, with the surroundings they have, I can see the appeal.

Tim