Sim Elliott
Low Weald ancient pasture woodland: trees and lichens at Ebernoe Common. 18.11.24
Ebernoe is dominated by old wood pasture where Commoners would have turned out their cattle or pigs to graze and browse on young trees...
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Lichen
Sim Elliott
2 days ago3 min read
Ancient Woodland in the Surrey Hills: Banstead Wood. 19.11.24
The ancient Banstead Woods were fabulously beautiful today with their array of autumn colours (even in 4ºC and pouring rain). They are...
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Sim Elliott
2 days ago7 min read
Ancient Woodland of the Surrey Low Weald: Honesland Wood and Staffhurst Wood. 16.11.24
The lure for visiting Staffhurst Wood was reading its SSSI specification which says: The old oak trees support a rich lichen flora...
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Sim Elliott
Jul 97 min read
East Head, West Wittering, West Sussex. Vascular Plants (12 Sussex RPR species), Lichens & Birds 28.05.24, 01.06.24 and 01.07.24.
East Head is one of the most captivating biological assemblages in Sussex; with fascinating geomorphological. I have visited it three...
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Sim Elliott
Jul 814 min read
Nature & architecture. Bateman's, Brightling's Follies & Dallington Forest SSSI. High Weald, East Sussex. 28.06.24
My walk through Bateman's, Brightling and Dallington Forest started at Burwash. I reached Burwash by getting the 29A bus from Brighton to...
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Sim Elliott
May 126 min read
Exploring the diversity of vascular plants, bryophytes, and lichens in Sussex Wildlife Trust's Selwyns Wood. 07.05.24
Selwyns Wood is a small nature reserve south of Cross-in-Hand, near Heathfield, East Sussex. It can be reached by the 29A Brighton & Hove...
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Sim Elliott
May 63 min read
Uncovering the secrets of Tide Mills, Newhaven: Adder's-Tongue Fern, Sedge Warblers & Reed Warblers singing, and a Cunning Fox on Thursday 03.05.24
I reached Tide Mills from by the 12 bus; which has a Tide Mills bus stop. Coaster 12 - Eastbourne - Brighton | Brighton & Hove Buses. I...
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Sim Elliott
Apr 78 min read
12 Golden-Eye Lichens on one Hawthorn. The resurgence of the once-thought-extinct Teloschistes chrysophthalmus on the South Downs. 06.04.24
Distribution map from Teloschistes chrysophthalmos | The British Lichen Society I travelled by the 29 bus to reach Lewes. I am not going...
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Sim Elliott
Apr 36 min read
Ashcombe Bottom, East Sussex. Relict ancient woodland on the South Downs. Birds, vascular plants, bryophytes, lichen & fungi. 01.04.21
Ashcombe Bottom, 4km west of Lewes, is one of the very few ancient woodlands left on the East Sussex Downs. Owen Johnson (1998) The...
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Sim Elliott
Mar 284 min read
Handsome Woollywort and other bryophytes in a High Weald ghyll wood, East Sussex, 25.03.24
This post focusses on the bryophytes of a ghyll wood in the High Weald National Landscape. Common Tamarisk-Moss; Endive Pellia and...
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Sim Elliott
Mar 44 min read
Butt's Meadow and Babylon Down, Eastbourne. 17.02.24
I reached Butt's Meadow by train and bus from Brighton. I got the train from Brighton to Polegate (4 trains and hour, 2 direct, 2 change...
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Sim Elliott
Feb 256 min read
Castle Hill Local Nature Reserve, Newhaven. 16.02.24
I reached Castle Hill by bus from Brighton. I got the 12X bus to Newhaven Lower Place (journey time ca. 30 mins; 12: bus; 40 mins; 12A...
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Sim Elliott
Feb 247 min read
The woodland of Bedelands Farm Local Nature Reserve, Burgess Hill. 09.02.24
I reached Bedelands Farm by train from Brighton. I got the train to Wivelsfield (direct trains, two an hour, journey time 18mins, or...
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Sim Elliott
Feb 35 min read
Devon Bryophytes, Lichen, Vascular Plants & Fungi: Dawlish Warren 28 & 31.02.24
I stayed in Newton Abbot for a few days to visit nature reserves in South Devon. I reachrd Newton Abbott by train from Brighton (via...
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Sim Elliott
Nov 21, 20232 min read
Tree Lungwort & Tunbridge Filmy-fern, High Weald, Sussex. 20.11.23
I am not going to reveal where we found these species as the lichen Tree Lungwort, Lobaria pulmonaria, and Tunbridge Filmy-fern,...
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Sim Elliott
Oct 27, 20234 min read
Cladonia species lichens and fungi at Broadwater Warren. 23.10.23
I reached Broadwater Warren by taking the 29 bus from Brighton to Eridge Green and walking through the Sussex Wildlife Trust's Eridge...
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Sim Elliott
Oct 14, 20236 min read
Rock Wood SSSI, Heron's Ghyll, East Sussex: Bryophytes, Lichen, Ferns & Fungi. 13.10.23
Rock Wood is an SSSI noted for its oceanic bryophytes and it can be reached by the 29 Bus from Brighton; alight at Hendall Gate Farm...
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Sim Elliott
Oct 5, 20239 min read
Wakehurst Woods SSSI, West Sussex: Lichens, Bryophytes & Ferns. 04.10.23
The Wakehurst Woods are part of a larger SSSI: The Wakehurst & Chiddingly Woods SSSI; Wakehurst Woods are to the west of Kew's Wakehurst...
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Sim Elliott
Sep 10, 20238 min read
Northpark Copse, West Sussex. Ancient Chestnut stools & their many Bryophytes 08.09.23.
Northpark Copse is an SSSI but it is not a nature reserve; however there are public footpaths which run through the copse. It is located...
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Sim Elliott
Aug 31, 202310 min read
Chailey Commons: Marsh Gentians and other flowers, bryophytes, fungi, lichens & insects 25.08.23
We always seem to see something special when we visit the Chailey Commons. Dave Bangs, The Land of the Brighton Line: A field guide to...
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Sim Elliott
Aug 23, 20239 min read
Coed Lletywalter, Coed Aber Artro, Coed Cymerau Isaf & Coed Garth 16-18.08.23
From the 16th to the 18th of August, whilst on holiday in Porthmadog, I visited four smaller Oak Woodlands. This post contains the...
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Sim Elliott
Aug 23, 202310 min read
Coed Felenrhyd and Llennyrch, Maentwrog, Wales. Wild flowers, ferns, bryophytes & lichens. 15.08.23
Coed Felenrhyd & Llennyrch is a rare, Atlantic oak woodland and one of our largest woods in Wales. It sits above the Vale of Ffestiniog...
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Sim Elliott
Aug 2, 20234 min read
A lichen that fruits like a mushroom. Lichenomphalia umbellifera at Eridge Rocks. 30.07.23
I reached Eridge Rocks by the 29 bus from Brighton. For details of how to get to Eridge Rocks by bus see: Eridge Rocks: A wonderland of...
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Sim Elliott
Jul 31, 20233 min read
Nap Wood; a High Weald Ghyll Wood, East Sussex. Trees, Fungi, Bryophytes & Lichen. 31.07.23
A wonderful opportunity to walk along an ancient sunken drovers pathway through woodland. The one mile circuitous route takes the walker...
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Sim Elliott
Jul 25, 20235 min read
East Head, West Sussex. Flowering Plants, especially glassworts, Bryophytes and Lichens 24.07.23
Visit one of the last surviving pieces of natural coastline in West Sussex. East Head is an example of the nationally rare and fragile,...
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Sim Elliott
Jul 25, 20238 min read
Eerie Nature. Parasitic & insectivorous plants. Hesworth & Lavington Commons. West Sussex. 17.07.23
North West Sussex, just north of the South Downs, has an area of lowland Wealden greensand heathlands (all called commons). These heaths...
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Sim Elliott
Jul 10, 202312 min read
Heyshott, Ambersham & Graffam Commons; Sussex Lowland Heath and Climate Change. 10.07.23
North West Sussex, just north of the South Downs, has an area of lowland Wealden heathlands (all called commons). Theses heaths are on...
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Sim Elliott
Jul 8, 20236 min read
Ditchling Common. Wild flowers, lichen, bryophytes and butterflies 08.07.23
Ditchling Common is an SSSI with a remarkable range of botanical and insect diversity. I travelled to Ditchling Common Country Park by...
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Sim Elliott
Jul 5, 20234 min read
The flowers, bryophytes, lichen & birds of West Beech Nature Reserve, Littlehampton. 02.07.23
I visited West Beach Nature Reserve by chance. West Beach NR is in the Climping Beech SSSI see: Magic Map Application (defra.gov.uk) I...
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Sim Elliott
Jun 23, 20237 min read
Fairlight Glen; from the Dripping Well to the Beach. Ferns, Bryophytes and Lichen. 19.06.23
I visited Fairlight Glen again on 19.06.23. It is in the Hastings County Park, where the High Weald Wealden sandstone meet the sea. It is...
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Sim Elliott
Jun 1, 20237 min read
Flowering plants, including grasses, sedges and rushes, on Wolstonbury & Newtimber Hills. 30.05.23
Following attending a Sussex Botanical Recording Society Home - Sussex Botanical Recording Society (sussexflora.org.uk) field trip to St...
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Sim Elliott
May 23, 20238 min read
Lichens, inc. Bunodophoron melanocarpum, & bryophytes in a South East oceanic microclimate. 22.05.23
I made a trip to Eridge Rocks in the High Weald, yesterday; it is one of my favourite sites in Sussex. This Sussex Wildlife Trust reserve...
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Sim Elliott
May 20, 20233 min read
Butterflies, Wild Flowers, Birds, Lichens and Bryophytes. Devil's Dyke and Newtimber Hill. 20.05.23
The Devil's Dyke | Sussex | National Trust and Newtimber Hill Saddlescombe Farm and Newtimber Hill | National Trust are adjacent to each...
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Sim Elliott
May 19, 20238 min read
Scotland 6: Glen Nant. NNR; temperate rain forest. 13.05.23
I got to Glen Nant from Oban by public transport. On the way out, I took the train from Oban to Talynuit. There are only a few services a...
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Sim Elliott
May 18, 20235 min read
Scotland 5: Glasdrum Wood NNR; temperate rain forest, and Chequered Skippers. 12.05.23
I got to Glasdrum from Oban by public transport. I took the West Coast Motors bus 405 to Creagan Bridge. There are on six services from...
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Sim Elliott
May 17, 20234 min read
Scotland 4: Puffins, Razorbills, Eider, Shags & Fulmars. Staffa & the Treshnish Isles, 11.05.23
I got to Tobermory from Oban by public transport. I took the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry from Oban to Craignure, from where I got a West...
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Sim Elliott
May 16, 20234 min read
Scotland 3: The Wildlife of Mull. 10.05.23
I got to Tobermory from Oban by public transport. I took the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry from Oban to Craignure, from where I got a West...
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Sim Elliott
May 15, 20234 min read
Scotland 2: Temperate rain forest fragments around Tobermory, Mull 09.05.23 & 11.05.23
I got to Tobermory from Oban by public transport. I took the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry from Oban to Craignure, from where I got a West...
262 views0 comments
Sim Elliott
May 14, 20234 min read
Scotland 1: Dunollie Woods, Oban; temperate rain forest. 08.05.23 & 09.05.23
I went to Oban for six days, to visit some of the west coast of Scotland's Temperate Rain Forests, and to watch birds on Mull and the...
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Sim Elliott
May 7, 20232 min read
Parham Park. Tress, Lichens & Bryophytes; Geology and Needlework Nature. 01.05.23
To visit Parham House and Garden Parham House and Gardens | Elizabethan House | West Sussex : Parham House & Gardens...
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Sim Elliott
Apr 29, 20236 min read
Crowborough Warren, Ashdown Forest & Five Hundred Acre Wood. Plants, Lichen, Bryophytes. 29.04.23
Every year, more than a million people travel to Ashdown Forest to find the North Pole. Ashdown Forest is 40 miles south of London, but...
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Sim Elliott
Apr 13, 202311 min read
Lichens, Bryophytes, Fungi and Wild Flowers at Ebernoe Common. 07.04.23
Ebernoe Common is a low weald heath, ancient wood and wood pasture nature reserve managed by the Sussex Wildlife Trust reserve, north of...
118 views0 comments
Sim Elliott
Apr 6, 20237 min read
Brede High Woods. Bryophytes, Lichen, Wild Flowers, Insects and a Brook Lamprey. 03.04.23
Brede High Woods (Woodland Trust) is a wonderful collection of ghyll woods north of Hastings Brede High Woods is home to astonishingly...
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Sim Elliott
Mar 3, 20235 min read
Crowborough Country Park & Crowborough Ghyll. Frogs, Bryophytes & Dinosaurs. 24.02.23
Crowborough Country Park was previously a clay quarry and Crowborough Ghyll is a typical High Weald ghyll wood. Both nature reserves are...
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Sim Elliott
Feb 26, 20237 min read
The Mens Nature Reserve, West Sussex: Trees, Landscape, Bryophytes, Lichens and Fungi. 20.02.23
The Mens is an extraordinary landscape; it is a nature reserve maintained by the Sussex Wildlife Trust. The unusual name ... comes from...
268 views0 comments
Sim Elliott
Feb 16, 20237 min read
Kingley Vale: Yews, Epiphytes, Fungi and The Devil's Humps. 11.02.23
Kingley Vale is a National Nature Reserve famous for its historic Yews. I visit Kingley Vale regularly. Its yews, other trees, and short...
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Sim Elliott
Feb 15, 20234 min read
Fairlight Glen; a ghyll wood and its bryophytes. Hastings Country Park. 07 & 10.02.23
I visited Fairlight Glen twice in one week in order to explore it's bryophytes. My initial motivation was to see if I could find...
242 views0 comments
Sim Elliott
Jan 31, 202310 min read
Lichen, Bryophytes & Fungi. Marline Valley Nature Reserve, Hastings. 31.01.22
Marline Valley is a wonderful mix of semi-natural ancient woodland, unimproved meadows and a classic Sussex ghyll stream situated on the...
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Sim Elliott
Jan 26, 20234 min read
Lichens, Bryophytes, Fungi and Birds. Waterhall Nature Reserve & The Devil's Dyke. 23.01.23
Over the weekend a local lichenologist saw a String of Sausages, Usnea aticulata, following a fellow member of the British Lichen Society...
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Sim Elliott
Jan 21, 20233 min read
Eridge Rocks: A wonderland of lichen, fungi, moss, liverworts and slime moulds. 04.01.23
This was the second time I have visited Eridge Rocks. It is easy to get to by bus from Brighton; take the 29 29 - Brighton-Tunbridge...
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