Date/Time
Date(s) - 03/10/2021
10:30 - 12:30
Location
New Fancy viewpoint
Categories
Park and meet in the Car Park at New Fancy View, SO 6285 0953.
If you’re coming from Gloucester along the A48, be aware that the road from Blakeney to Parkend is closed at the Blakeney end due to a landslide; it might be easier to approach it from Cinderford on the B4226 Coleford road, turning left at Speech House. This is a walk with the author of the recent GNS publication on Myxomycetes (Slime Moulds) of the Forest of Dean, though this walk will focus more on the fungi of the area. Apart form the viewpoint, a generally level walk, may be muddy.
Leader John Holden, 07775 855807.
Formerly the site of the New Fancy coal mine, the old spoil heap now provides spectacular views across the Forest with a raised viewing area. It is an ideal place to watch birds of prey, including goshawks, soaring above the woodland. The viewpoint offers the chance to see these large birds of prey in action. In winter you can see females performing rollercoaster ‘sky dance’ display flights over the forest. (NB These birds will be the subject of a field meeting in March, DM).
Below the viewpoint is an area of ‘unimproved’, i.e. nutrient poor, grassland, rich in waxcaps (Hygrocybe spp.) and other grassland fungi, and the surrounding birch scrub plays host to boletes (Leccinum scabrum, Suillus grevillea, etc.) and other mycorrhizal fungi. Near to the old screenings yard, the common earthstar, Geastrum triplex, can be found in most years, and the surrounding scrub and plantations are rich in agarics such as Amanita rubescens,, A. spissa, A. muscaria and wood
decomposers Armillaria and Hypholoma. The DFG database holds 2882 records of just over 700 species, of which 412 have been recorded only once.
There is no need to book. Please do not attend if you have, or have recently, tested positive for Covid-19.