A Gift of the Moors

4 4 1 1 0 7 0 7 2 2 1 1 N N 1 1 M M U U T T U U E E A A U U S S S S I I ) ) A A S S M M Y Y N N R R ( ( N N O O I I O O T T A A I I C C O O O O S S S S A A S S R R M M O O O O M M E E E E R R I I H H H H S S K K R T R T O O Y Y H H F F T T R R O O N N O O E E ◆ H H BOTANY – HEDGEROW FRUITS T T ◆ F F NATIONAL PARK FACING SERIOUS CHALLENGES E E O O ◆ THE BIRDS IN YOUR GARDEN: THE MAGPIE E E ◆ N N TRIBUTE TO JIM BULL C C I I Z Z I ◆ I CORNFIELD FLOWERS PROJECT A A G G ◆ A BAY BUILDING OF NOTE A A ◆ LEWIS HUNTON (1814 –1838) O M O M E E ◆ CROSSWORD H H V T V T ◆ HAWKMOTH – NATURE NOTES NYMA – TO PROTECT AND ENHANCE THE CHARACTERISTIC BEAUTY OF THE NORTH YORKSHIRE MOORS FOR PRESENT AND FUTURE GENERATIONS BOTANY HEDGEROW FRUITS HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT some of our wild fruits, including berries soaked in vinegar make it wonderful as a salad dressing or to sooth blackberries, in previous Voice articles, but there are many winter sore, phlegmy throats. others that we often do not notice as much. Some are not as I common while others are surprisingly so but grow hidden in CRAB APPLE hedges or waste places that are overlooked or viciously cut-back so early or The next fruit, the crab apple, Malus sylvestris , is also in the Rosaceae family frequently that the plants have no time to blossom let alone fruit. and though if left naturally is a tree, it is often little more than a bush in hedges and very much overlooked as here it rarely has chance to flower or GOOSEBERRY set fruit. The true wild crab apple is a small deciduous tree with a dense One that is very common near where I live is the gooseberry, Ribes uva- and rounded crown, rough, scaly or spiny bark and twigs that are reddish crispa , a member of the Grossulariaceae family. Like its more often and spiny baring short stalked, oval, pointed, toothed, smooth, shiny encountered relative, the cultivated gooseberry, it is a small, spiny, leaves. The flowers are white to pink, in clusters and are followed by small deciduous bush with many branches. The leaves are small, lobed and green to yellow fruits, sometimes flushed with red, that remain on the tree blunt-toothed. The red tinged green flowers mature to small fruits, well into winter and it is these, still on the trees or on the ground nearby, turning yellow, green or red when ripe. It is surprisingly frequent and that are often the only indication that the trees are there. widespread in older woods and hedgerows, often rather inconspicuous It is a tree of old woodland, hedges, old path-sides, green lanes and field except when it bursts into light green leaf about two weeks before other boundaries, and can be a conspicuous landscape feature when fully grown. hedgerow shrubs. The fruits can be surprisingly sweet, even when green, It likes well-drained soils with little competition, is usually solitary but can and can be eaten raw or cooked. In the past, a decoction of the leaves was form groups if it suckers or self seeds in ancient woodland glades. In more used to reduce swellings and inflammations, or internally for bladder and recent hedges there are often ‘wilding’ apples grown from the pips of kidney disorders as well as the ripe raw fruit used for curing stomach ache. discarded cultivated ones. The crab apple has been used since early times, found in Bronze Age RED CURRANT burial tombs and Celtic stories where the apple is identified with love and Another member of this family is the red currant, Ribes rubrum , which is fertility. It is mentioned in Anglo-Saxon poems as one of the herbs given frequently found in damp ancient deciduous woodland, usually by to the world as a healing plant by the god Woden. streams where willow and alder thrive, in sheltered, undisturbed valleys. Although crab apples vary in their taste, they are usually dry and sour Again, like its garden counterpart it is a (crabby = bitter) and in the past the fruits were deciduous, perennial bush about one metre tall used only after the first frost and either roasted with lobed, blunt-toothed leaves and clusters of or dried to intensify any natural sugars, or purple to green flowers which form the small fermented as ‘verjuice’. Roasted they were used round white to red fruits. Although acidic, to accompany game or in hot ‘punches’, as in these are cool and refreshing, quenching thirst Shakespeare’s ‘crabs hiss in the bowl’. They do and were once used to soothe fevers and not have high levels of vitamins but are very high sharpen the appetite as well as an effective in pectin, malic and citric acids, potassium, laxative and treatment for jaundice. magnesium, phosphorous, iron, sulphur and manganese. The high pectin content makes RASPBERRY them ideal for jams, jellies, ‘cheeses’ and Similarly often overlooked though quite ‘leathers’, on their own or with other fruits, as common is the wild raspberry, Rubus idaeus , in well as for pressing and making cider. As a the Roseaceae family. It also grows on old bonus, the pectin also lowers blood cholesterol woodland edges, by riversides, waste places and levels and helps prevent heart and arterial wayside verges but on damp, lighter and well- diseases and it is a general tonic and body drained soils. It is a perennial with suckering cleansing agent as it ‘soaks up’ toxins. biennial stems or canes up to two metres tall that The fresh juice is high in antibacterial die back after fruiting. It has small tender properties and the raw fruit is astringent for prickles and bright green, lobed, toothed leaves diarrhoea and dysentery, as a skin cleanser and that are white felted on the under surfaces. The refresher or as a poultice for inflammations and clustered flowers are small and white-petalled sore eyes. The baked fruit is soothing for the producing red, many seeded fruits. These fruits are mentioned in early Irish stomach and sore throats and cooling for fevers. So even the crab apple legends as the wild fruit of warriors and they are certainly very juicy and may keep the doctor away! intense in flavour, best eaten ‘in situ’ rather than collected. But they can be These are just four more of our native fruits and what a wonderful, healthy used to make jams, jellies, pies, ices etc. as well as wines and vinegars. bounty we could harvest from our hedgerows, waste places and undisturbed However, those old warriors were wise, as the fruits are packed with woodland edges if only they were left uncut, untidy and unimproved for readily assimilated minerals, especially iron, making them a good tonic longer. Already the hedges are being cut into dreary brown blocks and rough and nervine for extra energy. They also contain an anti-cancer agent, but edges tidied for winter. How sad and depressing to lose the wild autumn the use of this and many other medicinal properties of wild raspberries, harvest and the flaming autumn colours, leaving swathes of just dull brown seem to have been lost in the process of cultivation. Once considered one for over half the year until spring comes again. Depressing for us, but cruelly of the most potent herbs, although it was the leaves and not the fruits that devastating for our native wildlife, insects, birds and small mammals. These were used. These contain ‘fragrine’ which has a strengthening, toning and fruits are all in areas of ancient woodland, hedges or pathways, they are part stimulating effect on the female reproductive system aiding all aspects of of our heritage as much as our old buildings and a hugely important gene- birth and menstruation. The leave are astringent and have been used also pool that we may have to call upon one day. Lets hope they can survive a little as a tonic for the digestive system, for diarrhoea, as a gargle for sore throats longer. This winter look out for those golden crab apples still clinging to the and for coughs, for soothing fevers and reducing aches and pains; toning trees and in the spring mark where the gooseberry bushes first break into leaf all tissues. The leaves make a good tea substitute if wrapped fresh in a wet so that they can be found later and the wild fruit enjoyed as an August treat. towel and allowed to ferment for a day or two before drying while the Anne Press 2 VOICE OF THE MOORS – AUTUMN 2014 CONTENTS BOTANY PAGE 2 HEDGEROW FRUITS PAGE 4 CHAIRMAN’S FOREWORD NYMA PAGE 5 NATIONAL PARK FACING SERIOUS CHALLENGES Founded 1985 Registered Charity No. 517639 THE BIRDS IN YOUR GARDEN PAGE 6 Officers of the Association THE MAGPIE Vice Presidents Professor Allan Patmore TRIBUTE TO JIM BULL Ron Foster MBE PAGE 7 A LOYAL WORK COLLEAGUE AND FRIEND Chairman Tom Chadwick CORNFIELD FLOWERS PROJECT Vice Chairman PAGE 8 David Moore SAVING RARE ARABLE FLORA FROM EXTINCTION Council Members Ruth Chambers HERITAGE - BAY MUSEUM Janet Cochrane PAGE 9 Albert Elliot A BAY BUILDING OF NOTE Anne Glass Shirley Learoyd GEOLOGY Colin Speakman PAGE 11 George Winn-Darley LEWIS HUNTON (1814 –1838) Elaine Wisdom Association Treasurer PAGE 12 WHITBY ESK ENERGY AUTUMN UPDATE Brian Pearce 4 Normanby Road Ormesby, Middlesbrough TS7 9NS EVENTS PAGE 13 [email protected] THE ESK VALLEY WALK – SUMMER 2014 Temporary Secretary Sue Chadwick AMANUENSIS 4 Station Road PAGE 14 Castleton, Whitby YO21 2EG CRYPTIC CROSSWORD N o 66 Tel.

Load more