Creating wider awareness of the botanical delights of Swaledale and Arkengarthdale has been work so far undertaken largely by two SWAAG members, our president Tim Laurie and the late Jocelyn Campbell.
Tim understood the importance of recording centuries-old trees and certain tree species, which could be identified as relicts of ancient woodlands, and which provided insights into the nature of early human activity in the Pennine uplands. His recording of more than 200 significant tree sites and individual trees in and around Swaledale formed the important Swaledale Woodland Project, more of which can be discovered by clicking the link at the foot of this page.
Tim’s interest in the natural world has not been restricted to the study of trees but extends to all forms of flora and fauna. As he walked the dales, he did not neglect to record the smaller botanical specimens that he encountered along the way. He was often accompanied by Linda Robinson, one of the recorders for the north-west Yorkshire ‘vice-county’ of the Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland (BSBI), who gave advice and made her own record of the trees, shrubs, flowers, plants, fungi, and moulds that the two of them discovered. Tim entered his own account of their combined botanical findings in records in the SWAAG database, all of which can be accessed by clicking the links below.
He has expressed regret that no-one has yet undertaken a full scientific survey of the flora of Swaledale, which would be an enlightening companion to Deborah Millward’s A Flora of Wensleydale, published by Yoredale Natural History Society in 1988.
Jocelyn Campbell combined her love for the trees and flowers of the dales with her exceptional talents as an artist to produce two published pictorial studies. More can be found by clicking the relevant link below:
Swaledale Woodland Project
Jocelyn’s Books
Flowers and Plants
Fungi and Moulds
Wildlife
Nature Connections
Links to records for photos above – Fauna – Flowers/Plants
