With the May Bank Holiday this walk was deferred to 3rd June where nine of us went for four miles around Hatfield Peat Moor.
Trees and woodlands are a very topical subject in the UK as they are an important habitat for multiple species but on peatland such as Hatfield Moor, where we walked today, the opposite is true as often trees are invasive and damaging to the site and its natural species. 80% of the UK’s peatland have been historically drained and many are severely degraded allowing trees such as silver birch to thrive but peatland needs to be kept waterlogged and in an anaerobic state. Did you know that peatland covers 3% of total land surface but accounts for 30% of carbon storage.
Anyway, back to the walk. Whilst being a little chilly to start with it soon warmed up but that brought out the “mozzies” around the lake. Geese, ducks and swans appeared to be hiding a lot more than usual as were the deer but birdsong was prevalent among the trees.
It’s the time of year for adders to be coming out of hibernation and they do live on the moor but it will take a more avid snake watcher than our group to see them today.
The peatland area specifically was awash with clouds of cotton grass and we saw evidence of sphagnum moss when we took the trail over to the Polish War Memorial where four airmen perished from a crashed airplane during WW2.
We also passed by a replica of a neolithic walkway whereby trunks of silver birch are laid crossways over the pathway and bedded in.
There are no facilities on site but some of the group went to the adjacent Boston Park Farm for a bite to eat and they appear to be doing very well with their plethora of farm animals.