Despite taking botany seriously for a good few years now, I have somehow managed to avoid becoming enamoured with the ecology of mires, bogs and the uplands more broadly. I suspect that’s simply because there is so much else to see elsewhere. Still, despite my aversion to stumbling over hummocks of Sphagnum and teetering on the edge of peat hags, one place that I’ve long wanted to visit is Butterburn Flow.

Straddling the border of Cumbria and Northumberland, Butterburn Flow is an impressive expanse of blanket bog renowned for its rich and representative flora. Making the most of a trip inland with a group of local botanists, I was finally able to see it for myself this weekend.

Despite the rather bleak weather and an equally bleak first impression, like most bogs, there proved to be far more here than initially meets the eye. After hearing about some of the impressive conservation work that has taken place across the site, we set off in search of its botanical highlights.

Top of my list was Great Sundew Drosera anglica, a much larger and altogether more impressive relative of the familiar Round-leaved Sundew Drosera rotundifolia, which we had already encountered in abundance on the short walk from the car. After a little searching, one of the group finally spotted a fine colony, allowing us to admire this charismatic carnivorous plant at close quarters.

For comparison, the photographs below show the much smaller Round-leaved Sundew. In most cases, separating the two is as straightforward as comparing their size and leaf shape. As I have since learned, however, the two species do occasionally hybridise, adding a little more complexity.

Our camera chose to focus on the flowers rather than the foliage, but if you look closely, you can just about make out the leaves.

The other species I was especially pleased to see was White-beak Sedge Rhynchospora alba. Although by no means rare in the right habitat, it was one that had somehow eluded me until now. We became rather excited on finding our first patch, only to stumble across many more as we explored further across the bog.

It’s a delightful little plant, with delicate white spikes that stand out surprisingly well against the surrounding peatland vegetation. Intolerant of competition, it favours open, wet areas of bare peat where few other vascular plants can gain a foothold.

These two aside, the star of the show had to be Bog-rosemary Andromeda polifolia, another new plant for me (I really must get out more). Once much more widespread, it has declined significantly as a result of habitat loss through drainage, peat extraction and afforestation.

It’s a real beauty. The delicate, nodding, lantern-like flowers are every bit as charming as I’d hoped, while the narrow, evergreen leaves bear more than a passing resemblance to those of rosemary.

Cold, wet and doing our best not to fall over, we didn’t linger too long at Butterburn Flow. Even so, it didn’t take long to appreciate just how rich the site is. Other plants encountered along the way included Bog Asphodel Narthecium ossifragum, Deergrass Trichophorum germanicum, Cross-leaved Heath Erica tetralix and Lousewort Pedicularis sylvatica. I’ll certainly have to return for a proper rummage when time allows.

A little further south along the River Irthing, we had noticed a few banks still packed with orchids, a welcome sight at the end of July. Resolving to investigate them on our return, we were pleased to find a good number of Fragrant Orchids still in flower.

This is by no means a group I feel especially confident with, but my impression was that most were Marsh Fragrant-orchid Gymnadenia densiflora, showing horizontally spreading lateral petals and a labellum that was broader than long. A few plants also hinted at Heath Fragrant-orchid Gymnadenia borealis, though we didn’t stop to measure the finer details needed to confirm the identification. One for next time!

Amongst the Fragrant Orchids, it was also possible to pick out the fading remains of Northern Marsh-orchid Dactylorhiza purpurella, while a few Common Spotted-orchid Dactylorhiza fuchsii and Heath Spotted-orchid Dactylorhiza maculata were still identifiable. Common Twayblade Neottia ovata was also abundant throughout.

A handful of orchid hybrids were found too, although most were looking rather bedraggled by this late stage of the season. It’s certainly somewhere worth revisiting a little earlier in the year.

Before visiting Butterburn Flow, we also stopped at the traditionally managed hay meadows of Gowk Bank (an excellent name), though unfortunately most had already been cut. Even so, the areas we did explore still held plenty of interest. Grass-of-Parnassus Parnassia palustris was looking particularly fine, accompanied by an impressive selection of sedges, including Tawny Sedge Carex hostiana, Flea Sedge Carex pulicaris, Glaucous Sedge Carex flacca, Star Sedge Carex echinata, Carnation Sedge Carex panicea, Common Yellow-sedge Carex demissa and Pale Sedge Carex pallescens. Great Burnet Sanguisorba officinalis was also flowering nicely.

Of course, my ulterior motive for visiting Gowk Bank was its willows. A good rummage through the scrub produced Tea-leaved Willow Salix phylicifolia, Rusty Willow S. cinerea subsp. oleifolia, Bay Willow S. pentandra, Creeping Willow S. repens and Eared Willow S. aurita. Best of all, however, was the welcome surprise of Dark-leaved Willow Salix myrsinifolia. It’s a species that ought to be expected here, but it appeared to be absent from the species lists I’d consulted beforehand.

Despite spending much of the day thoroughly soaked, it proved to be an excellent trip and a welcome introduction to a part of the uplands I really ought to explore more often.