Far Bank

Bradford Wildlife Area – Evaluation Against Local Wildlife Site Criteria
Site Name/ Code:  Far Bank, Addingham, BWA 069 Location:  south of Addingham
Date of Survey:  27/07/2012
Surveyor:  E. Skinner, West Yorkshire Ecology
Grid Reference:  SE076491
Site Area (Ha):  2 lengths of hedgerow plus 1.53 proposed LWS boundary (3.06 original BWA boundary)
Natural Area:  Southern Pennines
Public Access:  footpath through site, old Roman Road
NVC Communities:  B6 (Phase 1), B22 (Phase 1), MG6, MG9

Site Description

Far Bank is located about 500m to the south of Addingham. The adjacent land is mostly improved grassland fields, which are grazed by cows. There are also some wooded/ scrubby sections adjacent to the site. An old Roman trackway, named Street, runs through the site. The site follows this old track and is fairly linear, spanning about 850m in length, with an average width of about 30m.

The far western part of the site is largely covered by MG6 neutral grassland. This contains species including: frequent Lolium perenne, occasional Cynosurus cristatus, Dactylis glomerata, Holcus lantaus, Alopecurus pratensis, Ranunculus acris, Rumex acetosa and Trifolium repens.

There are old hedge-lines running down part of the western boundaries of the site. The species here are: frequent Crataegus monogyna and Ilex aquifolium, occasional Prunus spinosa, Fraxinus excelsior and Rubus fruticosus, and rare Corylus avellana, Acer pseudoplatanus, Ulex europaeus, Sambucus nigra, Rosa arvensis, Digitalis purpurea and Hedera helix.

Further to the east, the site broadens out a bit, and becomes scrubbier. There is a south-west facing bank on which the habitat is scrub (section 1). This is host to: frequent Ulex europaeus, Crataegus monogyna and Rubus fruticosus, and occasional Sambucus nigra, Urtica dioica, Poa trivialis, Holcus lanatus, Digitalis purpurea, Cirsium arvense and Dryopteris filix-mas.

There is another area of scrub, on the other side of the track-way, and this is recorded as scrub (section 2). It contains species including: frequent Crataegus monogyna, occasional Ilex aquifolium, and rare Fraxinus excelsior, Ulex europaeus, Rosa arvensis, Acer pseudoplatanus and Hedera helix.

The eastern part of the site contains more diverse neutral grassland, including B22, MG9 and MG10. The B22 is present on a south-westerly bank, and is host to: frequent Festuca rubra and Holcus lanatus, and occasional Deschampsia cespitosa, Dactylis glomerata, Agrostis stolonifera, Centaurea nigra, Plantago lanceolata, Ranunculus repens, Galium aparine, Heracleum sphondylium, Achillea millefolium, Stachys officinalis, Stellaria graminea, S. pedunculatus and Trifolium repens.

There is a hedgerow on the eastern boundary of the B22 field, and this contains: occasional Alnus glutinosa, Crataegus monogyna and Ilex aquifolium, and rare Corylus avellana, Acer pseudoplatanus, Sambucus nigraand Fraxinus excelsior.

On the other side of the hedge is a damper field, with MG9 neutral grassland and MG10 rush-pasture. There are also a couple of sections of scrub, containing Rubus fruticosus and Ulex europaeus.

The MG10 grassland is host to: frequent Holcus lanatus, occasional Lotus pedunculatus, Rumex acetosa, Cirsium palustre, Agrostis stolonifera, Stellaria graminea, Deschampsia cespitosa, Crataegus monogyna, Angelica sylvestris, Dactylohriza fuchsii, Festuca rubra and Galium aparine, locally frequent Juncus acutiflorus, Filipendula ulmaria and Urtica dioica, and rare Mentha aquatica, Salix fragilis, Galium palustre, Caltha palustre, Valeriana officinalis and Juncus effusus.

The MG9 grassland is contains: frequent Deschampsia cespitosa, occasional Dactylis glomerata, Festuca rubra, Stellaria graminea, Agrostis stolonifera, A. capillaris, Arrhenatherum elatius, Angelica sylvestris, Cirsium arvense and C. palustre, and rare Sanguisorba officinalis and Calystegia sepium.

There is a spring running through part of the MG10/ MG9 and there is a small section of Phragmites australis present.

Bordering the east of the site is a grassland section that also looked to be fairly species rich. This was therefore also surveyed, although it was not possible to access the area so species visible from the adjacent path were recorded. This section is recorded as B22 (outside current boundary). The species include: frequent Agrostis capillaris, occasional Lotus corniculatus, Pilosella officinarum, Campanula rotundifolia, Dactylis glomerata and Stachys officinalis, and locally frequent Juncus effusus and Deschampsia cespitosa.

Fauna recorded during the site visit were: blackbird (in flight) and wren (alarm call). Meadow brown, small white and red admiral butterflies were seen feeding on flowers in the B22 section within the site.

Ecological Evaluation

The site meets Criteria Gr5, as the neutral grassland (B22, MG9 and M10) scores 7 points, which is within 20% of the minimum threshold for Criteria Gr3, and the site lies within 500m of Steg Holes, another qualifying grassland site.

The B22 section currently outside the site boundary, directly east of the site, may also merit inclusion. It contains at least 5 scoring species, but as it was not possible to identify the owner for permission to access the land, it was assessed using records recorded from the footpath crossing near the margin of the field.

The old hedge-lines, that border parts of the western end of the site (old Roman Road), contain 9 woody species, and so meets Criteria Wd7, which covers hedgerows that are host to 8 or more woody species.

Woodland
Wd7	Old hedgerows	30m long	8 woody species	Pre-Enclosures Acts (1845) not to standard lengths	old hedgeline along Roman trackway - 9 woody species (including gorse) - yes	Define the boundary along the hedgerow.
Mixed habitats and structural mosaics
Mh3	Good smaller scale features for invertebrates list in Table 16	0.5ha		Needs advice or an invertebrate specialist.		5 out of 23 from features of structural importance for invertebrates table: dead wood (wet, shady), springs seepages or pools, scattered scrub, steep slopes on banks, coarse tussocky grassland
Value for appreciation of nature
Vanl1			80% of species diversity score for any habitat selection guideline and significant value for people.	Do not use in combination with other guidelines which reduce the qualiifying scores eg Gr5, Wd6, Fe6 and Sw5.		public footpath along old Roman trackway
Species
Birds
B5	Good assemblage of breeding birds for particular habitat	Listed in Table 20 with threshol ds.				Recorded during 2012 site visit: wren (alarm call), blackbird (in flight) Previous records: lapwing,
Invertebrates
INV1	Invertebrate assemblage: UK rare or EU protected score 3, NS or UK BAP score 2; Locally notable score 1		15 points or more			Recorded during 2012 site visit: red admiral, small white and meadow brown butterflies, feeding on flowers in the B22 section within the site

Far Bank, Addingham – BWA 069 – Survey Date 27/07/2012
Latin Name	Common Name	Abundances (DAFOR)/ Comments
MG6 neutral grassland
Agrostis capillaris	Common Bent	R
Alopecurus pratensis	Meadow Foxtail	O
Cardamine pratensis	Cuckooflower	R
Cerastium fontanum	Common Mouse-ear	R
Cirsium arvense	Creeping Thistle	O
Cirsium vulgare	Spear Thistle	R
Cynosurus cristatus	Crested Dog's-tail	O
Dactylis glomerata	Cock's-foot	O
Holcus lanatus	Yorkshire-fog	O
Lolium perenne	Perennial Rye-grass	F
Plantago major	Greater Plantain	R
Prunella vulgaris	Selfheal	R
Ranunculus acris	Meadow Buttercup	O
Ranunculus repens	Creeping Buttercup	R
Rumex acetosa	Common Sorrel	O
Rumex obtusifolius	Broad-leaved Dock	R
Trifolium pratense	Red Clover	R
Trifolium repens	White Clover	O
Veronica chamaedrys	Germander Speedwell	R
Old hedgeline
Acer pseudoplatanus	Sycamore	R
Corylus avellana	Hazel	R
Crataegus monogyna	Hawthorn	F
Digitalis purpurea	Foxglove	R
Fraxinus excelsior	Ash	O
Hedera helix	Ivy	R
Ilex aquifolium	Holly	F
Prunus spinosa	Blackthorn	O
Quercus petraea	Sessile Oak	O
Rosa arvensis	Field-rose	R
Rubus fruticosus agg.	Bramble	O
Sambucus nigra	Elder	R
Ulex europaeus	Gorse	R
On trodden edges of path
Plantago major	Greater Plantain	O
Poa annua	Annual Meadow-grass	O
Ranunculus repens	Creeping Buttercup	O
Trifolium repens	White Clover	O
Scrub (section 2)
Acer pseudoplatanus	Sycamore	R
Crataegus monogyna	Hawthorn	F
Fraxinus excelsior	Ash	R
Hedera helix	Ivy	R
Ilex aquifolium	Holly	O
Rosa arvensis	Field-rose	R
Sambucus nigra	Elder	R
Ulex europaeus	Gorse	R
B6 (section 1) neutral grassland, species poor
Angelica sylvestris	Wild Angelica	O
Cardamine pratensis	Cuckooflower	R
Cerastium fontanum	Common Mouse-ear	R
Cirsium arvense	Creeping Thistle	O
Cirsium palustre	Marsh Thistle	O
Dactylis glomerata	Cock's-foot	O
Holcus lanatus	Yorkshire-fog	F
Lotus pedunculatus	Greater Bird's-foot-trefoil	R
Ranunculus repens	Creeping Buttercup	F
Rumex acetosa	Common Sorrel	O
Stellaria graminea	Lesser Stitchwort	R
Stellaria alsine	Bog Stitchwort	O
Scrub (section 1)
Acer pseudoplatanus	Sycamore	R
Cirsium arvense	Creeping Thistle	O
Crataegus monogyna	Hawthorn	F
Deschampsia cespitosa	Tufted Hairgrass	R
Digitalis purpurea	Foxglove	O
Dryopteris filix-mas	Male-fern	O
Fraxinus excelsior	Ash	R
Holcus lanatus	Yorkshire-fog	O
Hyacinthoides non-scripta	Bluebell	R
Ranunculus repens	Creeping Buttercup	R
Rubus fruticosus agg.	Bramble	F
Sambucus nigra	Elder	O
Stellaria media	Common Chickweed	R
Ulex europaeus	Gorse	F
Urtica dioica	Common Nettle	O
Veronica chamaedrys	Germander Speedwell	R
Viola riviniana	Common Dog-violet	R
MG1 neutral grassland
Arrhenatherum elatius	False Oat-grass	F
Centaurea nigra	Common Knapweed	R
Cirsium arvense	Creeping Thistle	O
Dactylis glomerata	Cock’s-foot	F
Digitalis purpurea	Foxglove	R
Festuca rubra	Red Fescue	F
Holcus lanatus	Yorkshire-fog	F
Torilis japonica	Upright Hedge-parsley	R
Urtica dioica	Common Nettle	O
B6 (section 2) neutral grassland, species poor
Agrostis stolonifera	Creeping Bent	O
Alopecurus pratensis	Meadow Foxtail	O
Cirsium vulgare	Spear Thistle	R
Dactylis glomerata	Cock’s-foot	F
Elytrigia repens	Common Couch	R
Galium aparine	Cleavers	O
Holcus lanatus	Yorkshire-fog	F
Rumex obtusifolius	Broad-leaved Dock	R
Urtica dioica	Common Nettle	O
B22 semi-improved neutral grassland
Achillea millefolium	Yarrow	O
Agrostis stolonifera	Creeping Bent	O
Alopecurus pratensis	Meadow Foxtail	R
Angelica sylvestris	Wild Angelica	R
Campanula rotundifolia	Harebell	R
Centaurea nigra	Common Knapweed	O
Cerastium fontanum	Common Mouse-ear	R
Cirsium arvense	Creeping Thistle	O
Dactylis glomerata	Cock’s-foot	O
Dactylorhiza fuchsii	Common Spotted-orchid	R
Deschampsia cespitosa	Tufted Hairgrass	O
Elytrigia repens	Common Couch	R
Equisetum palustre	Marsh Horsetail	R
Festuca rubra	Red Fescue	F
Galium aparine	Cleavers	O
Heracleum sphondylium	Hogweed	O
Holcus lanatus	Yorkshire-fog	F
Juncus inflexus	Hard Rush	R
Phalaris arundinacea	Reed Canary-grass	R
Phleum pratense	Timothy	R
Plantago lanceolata	Ribwort Plantain	O
Prunella vulgaris	Selfheal	R
Ranunculus repens	Creeping Buttercup	O
Rumex acetosa	Common Sorrel	O
Senecio jacobaea	Common Ragwort	O
Sonchus asper	Prickly Sow-thistle	O
Stachys officinalis	Betony	O
Stellaria graminea	Lesser Stitchwort	O
Stellaria alsine	Bog Stitchwort	O
Trifolium pratense	Red Clover	R
Trifolium repens	White Clover	O
Hedgerow
Acer pseudoplatanus	Sycamore	R
Alnus glutinosa	Alder	O
Corylus avellana	Hazel	R
Crataegus monogyna	Hawthorn	O
Fraxinus excelsior	Ash	R
Ilex aquifolium	Holly	O
Sambucus nigra	Elder	R
MG10 rush-pasture
Agrostis stolonifera	Creeping Bent	O
Angelica sylvestris	Wild Angelica	O
Caltha palustris	Marsh-marigold	R
Cardamine pratensis	Cuckooflower	R
Cirsium arvense	Creeping Thistle	O
Cirsium palustre	Marsh Thistle	O
Crataegus monogyna	Hawthorn	O
Dactylorhiza fuchsii	Common Spotted-orchid	O
Deschampsia cespitosa	Tufted Hairgrass	O
Festuca rubra	Red Fescue	O
Filipendula ulmaria	Meadowsweet	LF
Galium aparine	Cleavers	O
Galium palustre	Marsh-bedstraw	R
Holcus lanatus	Yorkshire-fog	F
Juncus acutiflorus	Sharp-flowered Rush	LF
Juncus effusus	Soft-rush	R
Lotus pedunculatus	Greater Bird's-foot-trefoil	O
Mentha aquatica	Water Mint	R
Ranunculus repens	Creeping Buttercup	F
Rumex acetosa	Common Sorrel	O
Salix fragilis	Crack-willow	R
Stellaria graminea	Lesser Stitchwort	O
Torilis japonica	Upright Hedge-parsley	R
Urtica dioica	Common Nettle	LF
Valeriana officinalis	Common Valerian	R
MG9 neutral grassland
Agrostis capillaris	Common Bent	O
Agrostis stolonifera	Creeping Bent	O
Angelica sylvestris	Wild Angelica	O
Arrhenatherum elatius	False Oat-grass	O
Calystegia sepium	Hedge Bindweed	R
Cirsium arvense	Creeping Thistle	O
Cirsium palustre	Marsh Thistle	O
Dactylis glomerata	Cock’s-foot	O
Deschampsia cespitosa	Tufted Hairgrass	F
Festuca rubra	Red Fescue	O
Holcus lanatus	Yorkshire-fog	F
Sanguisorba officinalis	Great Burnet	R
Stellaria graminea	Lesser Stitchwort	O
B22 (just outside site boundary) semi-improved neutral grassland
Agrostis capillaris	Common Bent	F
Campanula rotundifolia	Harebell	O
Carex flacca	Glaucous Sedge	LF
Cirsium arvense	Creeping Thistle	R
Cirsium palustre	Marsh Thistle	R
Crataegus monogyna	Hawthorn	R
Dactylis glomerata	Cock's-foot	O
Deschampsia cespitosa	Tufted Hairgrass	LF
Juncus effusus	Soft-rush	LF
Lotus corniculatus	Common Bird's-foot-trefoil	O
Pilosella officinarum	Mouse-ear-hawkweed	O
Stachys officinalis	Betony	O
Urtica dioica	Common Nettle	R
Fauna
Troglodytes troglodytes	Wren
Turdus merula	Blackbird
Maniola jurtina	Meadow Brown	feeding on flowers in B22
Pieris rapae	Small White	feeding on flowers in B22
Vanessa atalanta	Red Admiral