Being a Botanist

I first met my next guest poster on my many trips into Hathern, while delivering my youngest child to band practice at the band hut on Pasture Lane, and at many Hathern Band concerts. This wonderful post, from a retired engineer, covers everything wildflower - from Richard Pulteney to Andrew Bloxham, from our Lammas Meadows (a designated Coronation Meadow in 2012), to mistletoe, from the Hathern Wildlife Group to the RSPB and is accompanied by some stunning photos! Read on to find out more from Dave ...

Being a Botanist

Dave Neville

Greater Burnet

“Are you all right, can we help?” I’m lying on the ground and a passerby is concerned. I haven’t fallen over – I’m down there examining a plant. For my sins, I am an amateur botanist, and I’m sure most botanists have had an experience like this at some time.

I’ve been interested in plants since I was young. I grew up in the 1950s in a Northumbrian country village and we knew most of the names of wild flowers we came across while playing in the meadows. Added to that we were taught “Nature Study” at school which reinforced our knowledge. We were required to make pressed wild flower collections – something that would be frowned upon today. None of this seemed at all unusual at the time and we competed to have the largest collection – a bit like collecting Pokemon cards today. For the plants we didn’t know, we had the Observer’s Book of Wild Flowers as a reference [1]. Does anyone remember this? First published in 1937, it was pocket sized and at five shillings, was the only reference book within our pocket money budget. It was excellent, though frustrating in that only alternate pages were in colour which could be a challenge if the flower you were trying to identify was a line drawing. And of course, not all wild flowers were in there meaning we sometimes had to seek help from elsewhere.

Meadow Cranesbill

Knowledge of wild plants has gone downhill since then. The Plantlife charity has 15,000 members whereas the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds boasts 1.2 million, that says a lot. Botanists are few and far between. So too are the ancient hay meadows I played in when I was young. However, Loughborough has a marvellous ancient meadow – Loughborough Big Meadow. It is a Lammas meadow of which there are only 20 left in the country [2]. These meadows were divided into plots with each owner entitled to cut the hay from their plot. If they didn’t want the hay, it was put up for auction – this year was the 140th auction at Loughborough. After cutting, the grass was allowed to grow until Lammas Day (1 August) when the plot owners could allow their stock to graze on the whole meadow. 

Lammas Meadow to the left of the River Soar, looking over the road bridge on Meadow Lane. Taken 1 August 2023

Lammas Meadow on 1 August 2023, looking towards the hill at Stanford-on-Soar

Lammas Meadow from Meadow Lane looking towards Dishley, taken 1 August 2023

Cows grazing on the Lammas Meadow, looking towards Dishley, taken 19 August 2020

The Big Meadow is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, managed by Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust (LRWT). In 1965 there were 20 plot owners, but over the years the Trust has bought up more land so that today there are only six. The meadow is home to a range of interesting plants including the rare narrow-leaved water-dropwort at its only site in Leicestershire, first recorded there in 1830 by Rev. Andrew Bloxam [3]. He was for many years Rector of Twycross and his arrival gave considerable impetus to the study of botany in Leicestershire.

Narrow-leaved water-dropwort

Before Andrew Bloxam there was Richard Pulteney (1730-1801) [4], who can justly be described as the father of Leicestershire botany. He was born in Mountsorrel and educated in Loughborough. At the age of 15 he was apprenticed to a Loughborough apothecary. While still a young man, between 1747 and 1752, he produced three manuscripts describing over 600 plants in the county, many of which have now been lost. He corresponded with prominent botanists of the time such as George Deering and John Blackstone and his manuscripts provide clues to early landscape features in the county before the enclosure of common land and subsequent changes in agriculture.

Common Knapweed

Mistletoe was first recorded in Leicestershire by Richard Pulteney, though no doubt it had been around long before that. These days it can be found all over town. Mistletoe is what’s called a hemiparasite – it has chlorophyll so can produce its own food, but it relies on its host tree for water, nutrients and support. It is also unusual in that it is dioecious, meaning that it has separate male and female plants, and only the female plants produce berries.

Mistletoe

When I first became interested in Loughborough’s mistletoe, there was a theory that it emanated from old orchards in Thorpe Acre. However, looking at past records and talking to longtime residents, it appears there was some around, but it had expanded greatly in the last thirty years. Moreover, this wasn’t just a Loughborough phenomenon. Studies in other parts of the country have shown similar results. Why should this be?  It appears that it is linked to the rise in the number of overwintering blackcaps. The blackcap is a type of warbler we see during the summer, however in the last thirty years many are preferring Britain to their normal winter home in Africa because of our milder winters and available food such as mistletoe berries. Blackcaps love them; they eat the flesh and then wipe the sticky seed onto tree trunks. Thrushes and other birds eat the whole berry then deposit the seeds with their droppings, the blackcap way means that mistletoe gets around faster.

The Hathern Wildlife Group has been recording the locations of trees with mistletoe in Loughborough and beyond for the last two years. This isn’t the easiest of tasks as it’s really only possible to spot mistletoe when the trees aren’t in leaf. However, that’s the more difficult time for identifying tree species so mistletoe recording, while mostly in the winter, also sometimes needs summer visits to confirm the tree species. There’s another complication. As mistletoe has separate male and female plants, determining which is which is not an easy task if the plant has no berries. Close inspection is needed, which is usually difficult unless you do a bit of climbing. So, a plant without berries could be male, or it could be female which has been stripped of berries by the blackcaps and their pals. This means that recording is best done early in the winter before berries disappear.

Well over 100 trees with mistletoe have been recorded so far in Loughborough, Hathern and Shepshed and a survey of the trees on the university campus is planned for this winter.  So, instead of lying on the ground, no doubt I’ll now have concerned passersby trying to get me down from a tree. It’s fun being a botanist!

The author would like to thank Chris Hill, Conservation Officer with the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust for the information about Loughborough Big Meadow.

Dave Neville, left, Chris Hill of the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust, right

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Biography

Dave Neville is a retired professional engineer who moved to Loughborough in 1993. Now living in Hathern, Dave was a parish councillor for many years and is now involved in conservation projects as part of the Hathern Wildlife Group.

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Editor's Notes

[1] Oh yes, I remember pressing wild flowers! I've still got the foolscap ring binder full of what are now completely unrecognisable straw-coloured plants! I also thought I used to use the Observer's Books, but when I came to look at my collection I seemed to be missing the one on wild flowers, but I do remember using the Collins book!

A pressed flower from Editor's collection

[2] I touched upon Loughborough's Lammas Meadow in a post from one of my lockdown walks, and there is also an entry in 'A-Z of Loughborough'. Incidentally, there is a newish road in Hathern, off the Shepshed Road, which is called Lammas Drive - I wonder why ...?

[3] The Reverend Andrew Bloxham contributed the botanical information to Thomas Rossell Potter's 'The History and Antiquities of Charnwood Forest'

Title page

[4] Richard Pulteney is mentioned in my blogpost about the Loughborough Grammar School, and wildflowers he noted were found in the field opposite what is now the Bull-in-the-Hollow. This field is now covered in houses. Pulteney is also an entry in 'A-Z of Loughborough'.

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Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

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Leicestershire County Show

This weekend we've popped along to the Leicestershire County Show. Well, we didn't exactly pop: we walked to Loughborough railway station, caught a train to Market Harborough, and walked to the new Leicestershire County Showground. We were going to walk along the canal at Harborough, but sadly part of the footpath was closed so we ended up walking along the roadside.

I've always been a bit of a fan of county shows, and very well remember as a child going along to the Abergavenny and Border Counties Show. To a small child, it seemed enormous: a huge arena with all sorts of displays going on (I particularly liked the scrambling bike displays), vast fields to walk through, various side arenas, loads of little stalls selling all sort of things, a huge marquee housing the entries for the handicraft competitions, an equally huge one for the entries in the flowers, fruit and veg competitions, and a smaller one for the baking entries. And not forgetting the humungous food and drinks tent! 

So when the Leicestershire County Show came to Loughborough - well, Dishley, to be precise - I just had to go along. I remember one time we went we drove, and queued for what seemed like hours along Warwick Way! Anyway, this was quite some years ago now, and the show has since been to Melton Mowbray, before moving to its current place. Some of the things I loved about the show when it was at Dishley, was the variety of events, stalls, and demonstrations, the animals ...

Photos from the May 2005 event at Dishley:

Photos from the May 2003 event at Dishley:

In its new location at Market Harborough, there was certainly plenty of space for the arenas, for the stalls, for food outlets, the craft tent, a fairground, vintage vehicles and pens for the animals. Considering the weather that we've had for most of the summer, it was a little overcast and a tad chilly, but it was a good day out. 

Sadly, I missed these as sheep day was predominantly on Sunday.

But I did manage to spot the longwools, and the New Dishley Society in a marquee.

You are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follow:

Dyer, Lynne (2018). Leicestershire County Show. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2018/08/leicestershire-county-show.html [Accessed 26 August 2018]

Take down policy:

I post no pictures that are not my own, unless I have express permission so to do. All text is my own, and not copied from any other information sources, printed or electronic, unless identified and credited as such. If you find I have posted something in contravention of these statements, or if there are photographs of you which you would prefer not to be here, please contact me at the address listed on the About Me page, and I will remove these.

Thank you for reading this blog. 

Lynne

            

So who was … Robert Bakewell?

The Dishley Millennium mosaic.

In short, a pioneering, 18^th century Leicestershire gentleman farmer! Interested to know more? Read on!

A couple of weeks ago, I went on a walk, led by a friend of mine, around the farm where Robert Bakewell did much of his pioneering farming. The estate is privately owned, and arrangements had been made with the tenant farmers to allow a group of interested folk to come and visit the estate that had been so important in the early days of the agricultural revolution. The weather started off looking promising, but much of the walk took place in heavy rain, although this in no way dampened the spirits of the enthusiasts who had turned out for this exciting walk! 

So, Robert Bakewell (1725-1795) was the son of Robert Bakewell, the grandson of Robert Bakewell, and, if the sources I have consulted are correct, the great-grandson and great-great-grandson of Robert Bakewell!

As Wikipedia might put it, here's some disambiguation:

• Robert Bakewell (agriculturalist - pioneering English farmer) 1725-1795 *

• Robert Bakewell (ironsmith – English wrought ironsmith) 1682–1752 **

• Robert Bakewell (geologist - English) 1768–1843

Sign at the entrance to Dishley Grange

Our Robert Bakewell inherited Dishley Grange (formerly the Grange to Garendon Abbey), a farm of about 440 acres, a quarter of which was arable land, from his father when the latter died in 1760. The farm was owned by Sir Ambrose Phillips, and the Bakewells were tenant farmers, being granted a 3-generation lease, as was common practice at the time. Before taking over the running of the farm from his father, Bakewell had been travelling around England, Europe and the Low Countries learning about farming methods, and absorbing everything he saw, before serving an apprenticeship with his father from about 1855, and finally taking over the running of the farm when his father died.

At the time when Bakewell inherited the farm, things were changing in Britain. Until the time of the Enclosures Act (around 1750) people were able to graze their own animals and grow their own crops on land where they lived, but this was not an efficient way of providing for what was a growing population. More food was needed, so farming methods began to change in order for the farmers to farm more efficiently. Also, animals had previously been an integral part of the family, and people worked and slept with their animals.  

There seem to have been several aspects of farming that Robert was interested in, and developed:

• Animal breeding: Cows, sheep and horses

• Crop management techniques: Land irrigation and crop rotation

• Manuring techniques: Double floors for manure collection

Animal breeding

Prior to Bakewell’s time, male and female animals were kept in the same fields and allowed to breed naturally. On his travels, Bakewell had observed that it was possible to change inherited characteristics of animals, if their breeding was controlled. So, he began by separating out his males from his females, keeping them in different fields and allowing the male to breed with specific females only, so as to accentuate certain characteristics.

To help feed a growing population, Bakewell was interested in producing animals with more meat. Up until this time, sheep, for example, had been reared predominantly for their wool, but Bakewell used his breeding “in and in” techniques to produce the New Leicester (or Dishley) sheep, that, although delicately boned, were big, with fatty forequarters, and good quality, long, coarse wool. From accounts I’ve read, it appears that Bakewell crossed Old Lincolnshire sheep (possibly the Lincoln Longwool) with the best Leicester or Ryland sheep. Apparently, the New Leicesters produced 2lbs of meat where there had previously only been 1lb and the average dead weight of sheep increased from 12.7kg in 1710 to 36kg in 1795.

Bakewell also applied his breeding principles to cattle, and managed to produce a much larger cow, although its meat was somewhat fattier, and its milk was poorer. He apparently used Longhorns (possibly from Warwickshire) to breed with Lancashire (possibly Westmoreland) bulls.

As if this were not enough, Bakewell also improved the draught horse, the Black Carthorse, or Leicestershire Black, which was the forerunner of the Shire horse. These horses were bred for their strength, and it is widely reported that where other farmers needed between for and seven horses to pull their ploughs, Bakewell only needed to use two. 

Some of the sources I read also made mention of pig rearing, but I have not found any evidence of this, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this was also something Bakewell was involved in.

Some of Bakewell’s famous animals are Twopenny the Bull, Twopounder the Ram, and the Black Horse called “K”, and the horse called “G”, which was a favourite of George III. 

In 1783 Bakewell formed the Dishley Society to protect the purity of his stock, and to help other farmers improve their livestock.

Bakewell was also one of the first farmers to hire out his male animals – stallions, bulls and rams - for mating. Often, rams were hired out for a whole season, and while in 1760 the cost was simply a few shillings per season, by 1770 this had been raised to 25 Guineas, and Twopounder for £1200.   

In the early days of his work, Bakewell would preserve skeletons and pickle carcasses of various specimens of his animals in order to better study them and assess their characteristics. He was initially also quite secretive about his work, presumably because in-breeding was frowned upon by the church. 

Crop management techniques

The land that Bakewell inherited was very wet, and sloped down towards the river. He took advantage of this, diverting the brook and creating canals, which meant that he could improve the quality of his grasslands by allowing them to be slightly flooded, which in turn meant that he was able to cut his grass four times a year – the extra one being in the Spring, which meant that his cattle could be grazed, and therefore fattened earlier in the year - rather than the three cuts which was more usual. He also set up different parcels of land to experiment with different manuring techniques and with different levels of flooding.

The canals also served a mill, and were also used to transport livestock feed, in the form of turnips, which were thrown into the canal at the high end and they floated down to the end of the route, where they were stopped by a grating, being collected clean and ready to be stored and used later to feed the animals.

Bakewell also sowed his seeds using the seed drill system (as pioneered by Jethro Tull) rather than the dispersal system which was the most common, but most unreliable way, and used a horse hoe to keep the ground clean. Taking advantage of the wet ground, Bakewell planted many willow trees, which were trimmed about every seven years, and were used to make things like rake handles, and sack bottoms were made from the willow tree trimmings. Bakewell also had a pond which he kept filled with fish, and water that drained from the yard of the house were channelled into the brook to help with the irrigation.

Manuring techniques

In his efforts to improve the efficiency of his farm through his land, his animals and his techniques, Bakewell created animal stalls with double stalls, which meant that he was able to collect manure from his animals, and watered it down to make a liquid manure to improve the quality of his land.

Bakewell and religion

Bakewell was a Unitarian, and a trustee of the Unitarian Church in Loughborough (which was somewhere along Warner’s Lane) and in Mountsorrel. Unitarians were a non-conformist group and, as such, were not widely accepted until after the Act of Toleration in 1689. This meant that although they became recognised and allowed to build their own chapels, there were many restrictions on them. So, for example, Unitarians were not allowed to go to university, nor to be JPs or hold any state or civic office.

The effect of this was that Unitarians often worked and socialised with other Unitarians and often a Unitarian married another Unitarian. At one time (and I’m not sure if this is still the case) Unitarians could only be buried in Church of England burial grounds. In the grounds of Dishley Grange is the remains of Dishley Church, which fell out of use in about 1854 when the Thorp Acre Church was built. In about 1882 the church was mostly dismantled, but some restoration work appears to have been undertaken in about 1919.   

Unfortunately, despite his success with animal breeding and new farming techniques, Bakewell was not particularly wealthy, and was indeed at one time bankrupt. There may perhaps be a number of reasons for this: He entertained lavishly, and probably beyond his means; his experimentation was expensive; there were often times when others did not pay the amount due for the lease of his rams; wool was at one point selling for a fraction of its highest costs, and war with America had reduced the value of some produce.

Bakewell today

In 1974, the Robert Bakewell School was built in Loughborough, and was extended in 1980. This is a popular primary school situated in Barsby Drive, an area which was once part of the parish of Thorpe Acre, of which I believe Dishley was a chapelry.

I don’t know when the original Dishley Society was disbanded, but the New Dishley Society was formed in 1994, to ensure that the bicentenary in 1995 was recognised. The New Dishley Society aims:

The blue plaque on Warner’s Lane

“to promote the memory of Robert Bakewell of Dishley Grange (1725-1795), and of his contemporaries and students of his methods. It aims to disseminate knowledge of his work and appreciation of his pioneering legacy in the breeding of improved farm livestock and better crop management. It supports research into the revolutionary agricultural techniques of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries and into the men who developed these techniques.”

On Wednesday 29th October, 2008, a blue plaque, commemorating “Robert Bakewell, Livestock Breeder”, was placed, by the borough council, on a building in Warner’s Lane, Loughborough, that building being closest to the site of the Unitarian Chapel of which Bakewell (and his father before him) was a trustee.

2009 saw the completion of the Robert Bakewell halls of residence at Loughborough University, and in 2012, Brooksby Melton College honoured the memory of Robert Bakewell, after whom one of their halls was already named, by unveiling a plaque and storyboard outside the aforementioned hall.

In Loughborough itself, the Belton Road industrial estate is notable for naming its roads after local firms (for example, Cotton Way and Messenger Close) but there is indeed also a Bakewell Road. 

Mother and calves at Oakley Grange March 2014.

Up at Oakley Grange, between Hathern and Shepshed, the traditional of Longhorn breeding is carrying on as descendants of Bakewell’s Longhorn cattle are still being bred, and Leicester Longwool sheep are still bred in Yorkshire, as well as other parts of the UK, there also being an association specifically focussed on them.     

That’s all for now, but do call back to lynneaboutloughborough next week for a photographic walk through Dishely Grange Farm.

* Over in Norfolk, Robert Bakewell’s work was known to one Thomas William Coke (1754-1842, first Earl of Leicester, seventh creation) who had a large estate. He is remembered mostly as an agricultural reformer, who was influenced by Bakewell’s work, rather than for his work as an MP.

 

** Coincidentally, Robert Bakewell, ironsmith, also had connections with one Thomas Coke (1674-1727), this particular Thomas Coke being the owner of Melbourne Hall, in south Derbyshire, an architect and an MP for Derbyshire. The “birdcage” in the gardens of Melbourne Hall were created by this Robert Bakewell.

Local lambs and calves at Oakley Grange, Hathern!

Proud mum!

I read somewhere recently, that Calke Abbey was no longer rearing sheep in quite such large quantities and so they wouldn’t have the big marquee of lambs that they normally have during the early spring. So, I went in search of sheep elsewhere, and I was lucky enough to happen upon a ewe who had given birth to triplets, not three hours earlier!

Going a little way out of Loughborough, I regularly drive to the village of Hathern to take my son to play in the Hathern Senior Band, and I have had occasion to hunt around the cemetery looking for some specific graves, but I had not as yet found anywhere to have a cup of coffee and a cake, until someone mentioned a great place to me, and now was the time to check it out.

Driving up the Shepshed Road I found a sign to Oakley Grange OrganicFarm on the right, and swiftly pulled onto the narrow winding track. Narrow and winding it might have been, but there was a really good view to my left, over the village and across to the power station. I drove carefully along the little road, and imagine my delight when I encountered a beautifully restored barn with window to roof windows and a lovely little patio area in front. And sheep!!! In the fields, lots of sheep!

Coffee and cake!

I went into the barn for a little light refreshment: There was so much to choose from, including savouries, sandwiches, main meals, any manner of hot drink, soft drink, beer and wine. Oh, and cake! I plumped for a cafetiere of coffee, with soya milk, and a piece of coffee and walnut cake – an enormous piece of cake it was too! All this was nicely served, with a sugar basin of sugar cubes!

While parking my car, I’d noticed there was a large barn next to the café barn from where I could head various animal noises, so replete from my refreshments, I walked towards the barn for a bit of a nose around!

Inside was a real treat – lots of little calves, some of them as young as a day, and three little lambs who’d been born only three hours earlier! Glad that I’d brought my camera (but frustrated because the batteries were low so many of my close-up shots didn’t work!) I began to take a few pictures.


Inquisitive calf

Tired calf

Hungry calves

The big brown bull

As I was doing this, the farmer came along and we started chatting about the cows, and the calves. I was really thrilled to learn that the little tan coloured calves with the white stripe down their backs were Longhorns!

The big brown animal was actually a bull, although when he was lying in certain positions he looked a bit like a brown bear! Many of the cows were pregnant, and the farmer was saying they’d had about 10 calves born over the last 10 days.

It's cold out here - let’s cuddle up!

By far and away the most exciting thing was the ewe with her three little lambs. I think it’s quite early for lambs to be born and so she and her new family had been brought into the barn to keep them a little cosier.

So, coffee, cake, cows and sheep, as well as plenty of fresh produce, bread, groceries and gifts, this turned out to be a perfect afternoon. I also spotted an interesting little book of walks around the village of Hathern, but had to resist buying it as I spotted it being bought by my companion - probably for a forthcoming birthday!! 

Mother and baby

 

My aim of promoting Loughborough as a place to visit means that I often blog about current events, but I’m hoping to get back to some historical stuff soon! Thanks for stopping by.