+ Harvey finds more fungi  + Lamp Parade was a Great Success  + Coal Tub Refurbishment + Fungi Foray at Ifton Meadows+

Harvey finds more fungi

Our ranger, Harvey Morgan, had a final fungi foray of the year on November 21st. He commented on the change over the last month and with a little rain and mild weather, managed to record the following:

Lepista nuda - Wood Blewit
Hygrocybe coccinea - Scarlet Waxcap

Hygrocybe conica - Blackening Waxcap

Laccaria proxima - Scurfy Deceiver

Thelophora terrestris - Earth fan

Lactarius glycyosmus - Coconut-scented Milkcap

Lactarius rufus - Rufous Milkcap

We all look forward to his next walk when he can invite us along. I suspect 2010 !!!!

 

Lamp Parade 31st October 2009

The Lamp Parade, on a dry and bright moonlit night at Ifton Meadows, was declared a great success.

Free lantern workshops had been held during the previous week at St Martins Centre. Two sessions were held, led as usual by Mary Lewery. The workshops produced some fifty brand new lanterns. They were made entirely by the children, with a little guidance. It was noted that some of the children looked a little long in the tooth!  Additionally some older lanterns were refurbished. All were fitted with candles, lighting doors, and all were labelled for collection on the Saturday evening.

 The Saturday evening of course was Halloween and everyone met at the marquees which had been erected at the bottom meadow, by the main Colliery entrance to the meadows. Lanterns were collected, even a few spares were handed out and the lanterns were lit.  

Neil led the parade and Ifton Brass Band moved off as the path was lit by over 120 firecans, and It was a marvellous sight to see some 250 people, carrying lanterns of every size, shape and description, making their way up to the viewpoint.  There was a pause to hear a commentary on the shadow boards which depicted the history of local mining. There was the manual toil of miners in the bell pit. The second board illustrated the pit pony pulling the coal tub in the inclined shaft. The final depiction showed the might of steam power complete with the shaft winding gear.

The parade continued up the main path which was lit with firecans and the children clearly enjoyed the walk! The atmosphere was great and the view from the top was incredible. Sadly no-one at the top had a camera!

On arrival at the viewpoint, the fire eaters and jugglers entertained the children before lighting the beacon.

Efforts to release Chinese lanterns from the top failed due to the high wind, but it certainly whipped up the flames of the beacon.

On returning to the bottom meadows it was quite a social occasion. Tea and hot dogs were on offer and people were chatting away for quite some time. We discovered that we had more first time visitors than in recent years.  It was great to see them, and we do hope they will come back. As a bonus Ann and some willing helpers managed to get some Chinese lanterns airborne!

Ann sends thanks to Ifton Brass Band, Mary Lewery, the jugglers Russel KIrk and Jason Sheppard, the volunteers who made it possible, and most importantly the people who came and joined in! 

Coal Tub Refubishment

Ifton have recently aquired the photos showing the 2008 refurbishment of the Coal Tub which now stands  at the main entrance to Ifton Meadows. Our thanks go to Premier Bodies Ltd, based in the village, who supported the project and used their expertise to restore a rust bucket into the coal tub which we all see today.                                                

Fungi Foray at Ifton Meadows

Friday October 2nd saw a group of some ten local people enjoying a walk in the afternoon sunshine of a very dry autumn, looking for fungi. Fungi which love moist, damp or even wet conditions! Harvey warned us that we might have a difficult day.

Harvey Morgan is the ranger, from Shropshire Countryside Team, who is responsible for Ifton Meadows.  Luckily for us he is a local man and something of an expert in  fungi. We all learned  lot and we do thank Harvey for making the learning so enjoyable.

We actually had a really successful afternoon and found 13 different species of fungi, which we list below. We will add some more pictures when we can be sure of the correct identification.  We hope to repeat this event next year. Thanks to Alex and Neil for the photos.

      List of species

Latin Name	Common Name	Photograph
Amanita muscaria	Fly agaric
Heboloma crustuliniforme	Poison Pie
Lacarius turpis	Ugly Milk Cap
Lactarius pubescens
Collybia fusipes	Spindle-shank
Paxillus involutus	Brown Roll Rim
Calvatia excipuliformis	Pestle-shaped Puffball
Leccinum scabrum	Birch Bolete
Mycena inclinata	one of the Bonnet-Cap family
Xylaria Polymorpha	Dead man's Fingers
Ganoderma applanatum	Artist's Fungus
Amillaria mellea	Honey Fungus