Brayton Barff Through the Seasons.
Set in the Vale of York, South West of the market town of Selby and between the villages of Thorpe Willoughby and Brayton, lies Brayton Barff, a sandstone Hill approximately one hundred and fifty feet in height which was formed by glacial movement during the last Ice Age. It is a significant landmark in an otherwise flat landscape.
Today the site is primarily owned by Yorkshire Water with Selby District Council owning a small patch of the land adjacent to the A63 Selby bypass. A large underground reservoir occupies the centre of the site which delivers water to around 4.7 million customers throughout Yorkshire.
Within the Barff woodland over 40% of the trees are Sessile Oak which are generally found in semi natural woodlands in the north of the country. These trees are so called because its acorns are not held on stalks, like those of the English Oak (Pedunculate), but attached directly to the outer twigs. There are also several English Oak trees as well as some cross-hybrid oaks. These trees are known to support many species of flora and fauna, invertebrates, mosses, lichen and fungi.
During the Victorian times it is thought that the shipbuilders on the east coast would come over to the Barff for selected cuts of timber to build their sea going vessels.
The Barff also has a variety of other trees including Silver Birch, Beech, Sycamore, Holly, Rowan, Scots Pine, Alder, Hawthorne and European Larch. There are also several Yew, Willow, Hazel, Horse Chestnut and Wych Elm. As with similar woodlands there are a variety of bushes, including Honeysuckle, Elderberry, Gorse, Broom and Buddleia.
The history of Brayton Barff is quite vague, apparently during 1803 a beacon was lit on the Barff when the country was threatened with an invasion by Napoleon. In May 1935, to celebrate King George V's Silver Jubilee, a Bonfire was lit on the Barff as part of the celebrations.
Early issues of Ordnance Survey Maps dated 1903 clearly show a rifle range on the Barff, extending out to Mill Lane. During the 
Second World War 1939-1945 a Prisoner of War Camp was built on the site. Today, nothing is left of these buildings less some areas to the South and West of the Barff where some of the brick foundations may be seen.
Between 2001 – 2004 the A63 Selby bypass, 10km twin lane single carriageway was constructed which severed the South West corner of the Barff, adjacent to Selby Golf Course and resulted in a slight redesign of several holes on the golf course. Wooden fencing was erected as a result of this new road running alongside of the Barff and a footbridge constructed over the ‘new road’ following the line of the Bridal way which extends from Mill Lane. Around 2005/2006 a definite 2metre wide limestone aggregate footpath was laid forming a circular path around the outer edges of the woodland. This footpath is approximately 1.2 miles in length and takes about 30 minutes to circumnavigate at a leisurely pace.
In 2012 the Barff was declared an Ancient Oak Woodland and as such throughout 2012 and 2013 significant work had been carried out by the relevant agencies to cut and remove large swathes of non-native trees, creating at that time huge scars on the landscape. Some three years later the planting of the native trees have become well established and are flourishing. Ongoing maintenance work on the footpath around the bottom of the Barff was completed during the Summer of 2016.
A second phase of woodland maintenance commenced during the Autumn of 2019 with the removal of many old and diseased trees and the cutting back of the Gorse and Broom bushes, especially adjacent to the ‘bypass trail’, this work continued through till March 2020 with re planting continuing into April 2020.
Brayton Barff is a popular site for walkers and bird watchers alike and a path circling the outer perimeter of the Barff makes a pleasant thirty minute walk, giving views looking over towards Selby and the village of Brayton as well as the power stations of Drax and Eggborough..jpg)
For the early risers it is a great place to see some stunning sunrises over the villages of Brayton looking towards Drax Power Station, the same with the Sunsets looking over towards Eggborough and Monk Fryston.
The Barff changes with the Seasons and every visit can reveal something new, the woodland is a haven for wildlife. Records show that since 1982 one hundred and twelve species of bird have been seen in the woodland and at least 40 of those have bred here, including Tawny Owl, Buzzard, Green Woodpecker, Spotted Flycatcher, Goldcrest and Nuthatch to name just a few. On average over 70 species of bird are recorded each year. Further details of the bird life on the Barff can be found on the Brayton Barff Group Facebook page, especially the posts from Derek Cooper. Today ‘The Friends of Brayton Barff group’ led by Derek and a small team of volunteers help keep and maintain the cleanliness of the site as well as recording the wildlife and bird sightings.
The Barff is also home to fifteen different species of mammals, including Muntjac Deer, Pipistrelle Bat, Fox, and Field Vole.
Over eighty species of plant and wildflowers have been recorded, included Bee Orchid, Northern Marsh Orchid, Wood Anemone, Marsh Ragwort, Bluebell, White Bluebell, Bittersweet and Purple and White Foxgloves. Over twenty species of Butterfly have been recorded, including Marbled White, Brown Angus, Speckled Wood, Comma and Brimstone.
During the Autumnal months fungi thrives in this woodland environment, species including Fly Agaric, Beefsteak Tree Fungi, Chicken of the Wood, Sulphur Tufts, Stinkhorn, Ink cap, Puffballs and Hoof Bracket are just some of the many varieties that can be found here.
Click on the galleries shown below to expand the albums.
June 2021
June is a beautiful month on Brayton Barff, the Bluebells have long finished and have been outgrown with freshly sprouting ferns, nettles and brambles, but the wildflowers are coming into their own, even the honeysuckle is in flower and filling the air with its lovely, sweet scent, especially on the higher slopes around the top of Tap Hill.
The first week of the month was extremely pleasant, I managed to leave the house and get onto the Barff for about 6.00am most mornings with Meg & Gracie. The sun was shining, the early morning dew made sure that if you walked off track you could and I often did, get a good soaking. The sun was already quite high above Brayton church, the sunrises at the beginning of June at about 4.30am/4.45am, a little to early for me to witness. The temperature was a pleasant 12c -14C most mornings, though on Thursday 10th and Friday 11th June it was quite humid, the temperature at 6.00am a barmy 18C.
Bird song is much quieter than it was earlier in the year, though always pleasant to listen to whilst on the Barff. Garden Warblers and Chiffchaff, Robin and Blackcaps are very vocal, as are the Dunnock, Chaffinch and Blackbird. Robin, Chaffinch and Bluetits always tend to follow us on our walk, often accompanied by Grey Squirrels which seem to spend half their time chasing each other up and down the tree trunks, the rest of the time they spend foraging and sleeping, fortunately Meg and Gracie show no interest in them.
The weather for the second week in June continued much the same as last week, I actually found one of the Marsh Orchids on the Barff this week, I keep reading on social media that visitors are seeing the Bee Orchids but unfortunately no matter how hard I look I look I still haven’t found any yet. Wildflowers are continuing to flourish, Ox Eyed Daisies, Campion, Meadow Buttercup and Foxgloves, the Foxgloves have shot up this past couple of weeks and another week or so will be over 6ft tall.
We had a couple of days away mid-month travelling up to Otterburn with some friends, we left Meg and Gracie in the care of our local kennels, so they had lots of friends to play with.
It always amazes me when ever I have some time away from the Barff, on my return, be it after a week or fortnight, how much the Barff changes within that time. The weather has gradually got warmer as the month progresses with temperatures reaching the mid 20c’s mid-afternoon, phew. I don’t usually walk the Barff during the afternoons this time of year, for that reason, Meg & Gracie prefer the cold and wet rather than the heat of the past few days. I had a couple of walks during the afternoon during the last week of June and was amazed at the ammount of Butterflies and moths feeding on all the fauna, lots of Spotted Burnets feeding on the Ragwort, Meadow Brown and Large Whites, both feeding on nettle florets.
Nuthatches are still quite vocal around the Barff, along with Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Goldcrest and Blue Tits,
I still haven’t been up early enough to see the sunrise. Summer Solstice this year was on Monday 21st, the sun rose at 4.20am apparently, I am told the sunrise didn’t materialise into anything colourful like it has been of late, I don’t feel guilty about not getting up early enough to watch it.
Towards the end of the month the morning walks were quite humid, damp and miserable with persistent light drizzle, the tracks started to get a little muddy in places, the fungi started to grow at an alarming rate in places, be it Sulphur tuft or Horse mushrooms along the Bypass trail.
As the month draws to a close, I still haven’t heard or seen any Green Woodpeckers on the Barff, I often use to hear their ‘laughing call’ when disturbed in the undergrowth around by the old farm shop, nor have I heard the Cuckoo, which is a little alarming as it is about this time that they start to head down south to the warmer climes to overwinter in Africa.
The wet damp weather has forced the Foxgloves through the roof so to speak, with many over 6ft in height and in full flower with lovely purple trumpet shaped florets, the bees love them, Nettles and Ferns have grown too again many over 6ft in height too. Alas the invasive Himalayan Balsam has thrived, although the bees love them they can be a nuisance especially when the florets have dried out, the seed cases explode sending thousands of tiny seeds over quite an area and lay dormant till the following year, fortunately over the past few weeks Dereck and a team of volunteers have been meeting up on a Monday evening to target areas on the Barff to pull this plant up in an effort to prevent its spread. On a more pleasant note, the Honeysuckle is still in full flower around the woodland, filling the air with its wonderful scent.
Lets hope July brings some warmer weather, dryer weather.
|
