Aquatic Plants (Rivers and Ponds)

Lowland freshwater habitats such as rivers and streams often support very characteristic communities of plants, many of which can be quite challenging to identify.

This course offers the chance to learn how to identify a wide range of riparian plants in the River Wylye (a small chalk river), disused gravel pits and associated wetland habitats including submerged, emergent and bankside communities of plants. Teaching techniques will focus on reliable and easily-memorable characters that can be used for much of the year. There will also be an opportunity to learn how to use a grapnel.

This workshop will be suitable for beginners and improvers alike.

The tutor

Sharon Pilkington is a nationally recognised professional botanist, bryologist and vegetation ecologist. She is the British Bryological Society’s Recorder for Mosses, a Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland Emeritus Recorder, holds two of the highly-respected Natural History Museum Identification Qualifications (IdQs) and is a Chartered Environmentalist.

What to bring

• Rugged footwear (walking/trail boots) or wellies
• Lunch, water and snacks
• Notebook
• A hand lens
• Collecting bags (optional)
• Any ID guide you are happy working with

A handout can be downloaded here, which can either be printed and brought on the day, or used as a reference guide after the course.

Schedule

10.00 Arrival and welcome

10.10 Identification of river plants

13.00 Lunch

13.30 Identification of pond, stream and wetland plants

14.45 Practical exercise

16.00 Departure

Directions

Just off the A36 Salisbury to Warminster road, follow signs for The Langfords. In Steeple Langford turn into Duck Street. Reserve entrance is on the left once you have crossed the river. Toilets are available in the reserve visitor centre.

Nearest postcode: SP3 4PA Grid Ref: SU03823692

Google Maps: click here

If using bus – use the No.265 bus service between Salisbury and Bath. Nearest bus stop is 500m away in Steeple Langford. Visit www.wiltshire.gov.uk/parkingtransportandstreets.

what3words: destroyer.bins.sloping

Please inform us of any medical requirements/conditions we should be aware of prior to the course.

In the unlikely event of extreme weather, the course will be moved to Thursday, 29th August 2024.

Adverse weather

This is an outdoor run course on an exposed site, and as such we request that participants bring suitable clothing including sunhats, sunblock, and full waterproofs & fleeces. As the climate breaks down, we do occasionally have severe weather where either it is very difficult to take notes due to prolonged heavy rain, or temperatures have reached a point where long exposure can be detrimental to health.

In these instances, we will run a condensed version of the course, where we aim to see all the species before lunch but have less time to take notes on them. We will then give attendees free access to the corresponding online course for 24 hours, which means you can take notes and look at the species in more detail in the comfort of your home. We have built a corresponding online catalogue of courses for this purpose, and we therefore feel we can offer the same training experience while looking after attendees' welfare in the field.

Therefore if you look at the forecast before the course and start panicking - don’t worry, we’ve got you!

Course certificate

This course can be used as part of your Continuing Professional Development (CPD). We invite attendees to download their own certificate and complete the numbers of hours spent on the course, as we are aware some attendees spend more time reading up about courses before the day, and writing their notes up and sitting the online course tests afterwards. The hours on your certificate should accurately reflect this time.

Feedback from previous courses

'The pace was good and the relaxed atmosphere was good for learning'

'Based in one place but walked around to see different environments, and using easy key features to ID with'

'I think Sharon is a brilliant teacher, I found her explanation easy to understand and she kept my attention the whole day.'