Hutton Roof Crags is a fantastic nature reserve for limestone pavements of a variety of types. Some are shallow and broken up while others have deep grikes, several metres deep, between large clints. These pavements support an incredibly rich flora of limestone pavement species. You will likely stumble upon species like angular Soloman’s seal (Polygonatum odoratum) or lesser meadow rue (Thalictrum minus) and many visit the reserve to see the rare dark red helleborine (Epipactis atrorubens). Everywhere you look you will see rigid buckler fern (Dryopteris submontana) sticking out of the grikes, making you forget how rare the plant is in the UK.

Cumbria Wildlife Trust own and manage Burton Fell and Lancelot Clark Storth, which make up a large part of the reserve. These areas have some of the best pavements and the presence of all the specialist species shows the impact of management by the Trust. Last month I had the pleasure of joining Scott Petrek and Joe Murphy on Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s monthly podcast. The episode dives into the history of limestone pavements and the challenges of managing them today as well as taking a tour round the site to find some specialist species. I was very pleased to be able to talk about my scrub management experiments and discuss with Scott and Joe how these will inform their continued work on the site.

Thanks again to Scott and Joe for having me on the podcast and to Liz Andrew for the impressive recording – especially considering how windy it was on top of the hill! You can listen to the episode in the link here or on Spotify and Amazon Music. But don’t stop after the limestone pavements episode! There are many others to enjoy covering Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s work and the wildlife in the county, including red squirrels, ospreys, and dragonflies.

You can check out the Cumbria Wildlife Trust podcast on Podbean.

Related Blogs

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  Summer at the pavements

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  Our Second Limestone Pavement Partnership Conference

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  Some cold fieldwork!

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