Abbey Meadows

Abbey Meadows

Tuesday 20 August 2013

Pegswood Moor


Musk Mallow (Malva moschata)




Hoary Plantain (Plantago media)


Lady's Bedstraw (Galium verum)


Thousands perhaps hundreds of thousands of spent pupa cases probably of Burnet moths all over the moor.

Walking across Pegswood moor just outside Morpeth is like walking across the surface of another planet. The former opencast has a crater like centre and surrounded by spoil from the opencast with little or no top soil. Botanically it is quite interesting though with one of the best sites locally I know for Hoary Plantain (Plantago media) which is not particularly common in the county. At this time of year many plants are past their best but in this area including Pegswood bypass Lady's Bedstraw (Galium verum) has exploded in abundance this year and single clumps like the one above are lush and quite tall.

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