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The Tees to High Force
A condensed account of a fantastic trip to Teesdale exploring the wildflowers and ferns to be found near High Force.
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On the hunt for Dryopteris lacunosa
Ramblings on this week’s hunt for a particularly perplexing fern – Alpine Male-fern Dryopteris lacunosa.
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Along the Hareshaw Burn
A short account of a walk along the Hareshaw Burn in search of ferns and other woodland plants.
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Arctic-Alpine Plants in the Cheviots
A report from a spectacular trip to the Cheviots in search of a range of rare and elusive arctic-alpine plants.
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An expedition to Falcon Clints
An account of an overdue expedition to Falcon Clints in Upper Teesdale, a exquisite valley home to all manner of rare and interesting plants
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Allen Banks & Briarwood Banks
A short account of an excellent day’s botany at Northumberland Wildlife Trust’s Briarwood Banks nature reserve.
Current Fascinations
By my own admission, I am prone to falling down rabbit holes from time to time. Typically, this involves deep-diving into a particular subject and learning as much as possible before, inevitably, another topic comes along to take its place. Regardless, below you’ll find my current areas of interest…
Botanical Bits
Botany is my main interest, and whether it’s ferns, snowdrops, grasses, ancient woodland plants, or even humble pavement weeds, I try to spend as much time as possible seeking out our wild plants.
North East Botany
Here you’ll find musings on plant identification, trip reports, sightings from walks and courses and just about anything else relating to botany in North East England.
Urban Flora of Newcastle and North Tyneside
The Urban Flora of Newcastle and North Tyneside is the first comprehensive account of the wild plants growing across the Newcastle and North Tyneside conurbation, one of the largest in the UK.
Based on six years of fieldwork, the book documents more than 1,120 native and naturalised plants -around a third of Britain’s entire flora.
Meet James
Born and raised in North East England, James is a botanist, general naturalist and biological recorder with a passion for sharing the joys of North East nature with others.
He currently works as Senior Naturalist for the Natural History Society of Northumbria (NHSN) and volunteers as a vice-county recorder for the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI), both of which allow him to spend ample time outdoors leading trips, courses, surveys and guided walks.
