Not sure that “Blessed Thistle” is a term that is supposed to come to mind when thinking about the next blog I wanted to write about Thursdays grassland visit. But that’s what happened, following Thursdays visit to Foulden Burn, I was later drinking a glass of that very named beer and thought it described my thoughts of the place so well. So welcome to “Blessed Thistle” – subtitled a “A Work In Progress” – Enjoy!
Blessed Thistle – 07 September 2012 (Copyright Carol Jones)
Foulden Burn is one of those wonderful steep sided stream valleys hidden in the depths of the Berwickshire Merse. The sides are so deeply in-sized into the flat surroundings that they disappear until you are almost on top of them, as a result the valley remains, to some degree secret and undiscovered. Foulden Burn itself, runs south from the outskirts of the village of Foulden, until it meets the Whiteadder. On its way it winds through a number of rocky outcrops, in themselves famous for their fossil content. Traditionally this valley was a mix of grasslands and scrub, wet along the valley bottom, with a tall herb grassland found on the deeper soils and finer calcareous grasslands on the steeper slopes of shallower soils, mixed with these are rocky outcrops and areas of scrub and scrubby woodland.
Unfortunately due to its isolation amongst the high quality agricultural land of the Merse, the grazing on the site has diminished over the years allowing the spread of scrub, in particularly Gorse, into the areas of grass. In recent years there has been a concerted effort to open up the areas of grassland again, to recreate warm open glades amongst the scrub, where Yellow Ant hills are active, and Green Woodpeckers come to feed and the grassland species return. With all restoration work, it spends long periods of time as a work in progress. Grassland restoration is no different, there is no quick fix. Currently a number of areas of scrub have been removed over a number of years, but the return of the grassland is more slow. Currently the right mix of herb species are present, but they are still overcome by too many Thistles, especially Creeping Thistle, that are scattered liberally around the place.
A Bank of Calcareous Grassland – Before the Scrub was Removed – 07 November 2005 (Copyright Carol Jones)
Who knows whether the site looks like it always did in the past? I’ve only known the site for about seven years, during which massive changes have occurred. I do know that within only a few months of carrying out the first area of scrub clearance that the Yellow Ant hills became re-invigorated. Also that the herbs that occur amongst the tall grasses are much like those that would have been there before the spread of the scrub. Amongst these I have to say that one of my favourites, the Fragrant Agrimony occurs. This is a robust herb, that has long spikes of small yellow starry flowers, which as the grasses are browning produce a bright spots of colour.
The Same Bank of Calcareous Grassland – 06 September 2012 (Copyright Carol Jones)
As for now in late summer, the grasses are browning and the tall herbs, such as Hogweed and Wild Angelica, are setting seed, spotted with the odd patch of colour remaining flower from species such as Fragrant Agrimony, Meadowsweet, Marsh Woundwort and other herbs too tall for the reach of the sheep that currently graze the site to graze easily. Accompanied by a serious sprinkling of Creeping Thistles occur, from which our title Blessed Thistle comes – Cheers!
lostnaturalist 