Park Wood, Hellingly

Field meeting reports
Picture of Information board, Park Wood
Information board, Park Wood

Meeting date: 16 May 2018

(Leader: Helen Proctor)

The first meeting of the year won the Guinness Book of Records for the lowest attendance. Just two members, one on her first field trip braved the mud to explore Park Wood at Hellingly. The object of the meeting was to provide up-to-date records for the Friends of Park Wood. This group was in negotiation with the Environment Agency who, at the time of writing, was planning to sell the wood. The wood was previously recorded by Tony Whitbread, who carried out an ecological survey identifying the NVC types. It is a good example of ancient, semi-natural woodland. Plentiful Lysimachia nemorum (Wood Pimpernel), Lamiastrum galeobdolon (Yellow Archangel) and Orchis mascula (Early-purple Orchid) were seen. Other interest included very large bracket fungi on an ash stump, Daldinia concentrica on a fallen ash log, red beetles and a turquoise damselfly.