6
Some observations of plants at Walnut Tree Farm pit and Roxwell pit 1998
A couple of miles outside Chelmsford there
are quite a few gravel pits. Some of the
disused pits have been turned into fishing
pits. This seems to be good for wildlife as
the fishing clubs leave areas of thicket and
grassland.
At Walnut Tree Farm pit I have found
forty-four flowering spikes of Pyramidal
orchids and three spikes of Common
broomrape. On the grassy sloping sides of
the pit three hundred Bee orchids grow in
large groups. Common spotted orchid also
grow on the pit sides and my dad and I
located over two hundred. Other plants that
grow in good numbers include Hop trefoil
and Bird's foot trefoil.
The County Council-owned wood on the
side of the pit contains plants like Wood
spurge, Bluebell, Wood anemone and Pignut.
Wild service trees grow at the edge of the
wood.
At Roxwell pit my dad and I recorded
fourteen Pyramidal orchids and over one
hundred Bee orchids. Common blue
fleabane grows along-side a few spikes of
Yellow-wort. Perforate St. John's wort
grows well in most areas of the pit.
Common centuary and Hop trefoil grow
sparsely throughout the pit area.
Geoffrey Wilkinson (15)
---------------------------- Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 28, February- 1999-----------------------------