IN the coming weeks people can look forward to seeing the upper Demesnes hay meadow’s wildflowers in full bloom.
The Barnard Castle beauty spot was created by a group of volunteers in 2009 and has grown increasingly abundant with flowers during the past 13 years.
The group was supported in its effort to create the field by botanists Dr Margret Bradshaw and Dr Richard Warren.
They also helped compile a leaflet that describes the species people can see, which is available from a leaflet box near the meadow.
Roger Peat who was one of those involved in the meadow’s creation said: “At the minute it is a carpet of buttercups, but if you really look at it, it is fantastic how many flowers there are.
“In the next few weeks you should see almost everything that is on the leaflet.”
Describing the types of flowers that are already in bloom, Dr Warren said: “Plantain is a really good food for cows and stock. Red clover is also very good for hay.
“There is a little nut at the bottom of the pignut, about the size of a hazel nut, which people used to harvest and eat.
“There are some orchids, but they come later on.”
Other types of flowers include common sorrel, meadow vetchling, meadow saxifrage, yellow rattle, sweet vernal grass and Yorkshire fog.
Dr Warren explained that yellow rattle stops the grass from growing too high and allows the other seeds to germinate and grow.
He added: “There has been a gradual, but significant, diversity of species.”
The meadow’s plants come into flower during April and May, and the hay is cut and baled in July.
During October the grass is grazed by sheep.
![A COUNTY councillor is backing a campaign to get a pedestrian crossing in Staindrop. Frustrated parish councillors in the village summoned their county council representative Cllr George Richardson to their latest meeting to discuss several issues, including the call for a safe way to cross the A688. Earlier this year their request for a crossing was turned down by the county council’s highways officers. Parish council chairman Jonothan Raper described the reasons for the refusal as “spurious” and called on Cllr Richardson to support their campaign. He added: “One of the arguments they made was there is no clear line of desire when they studied the village – well this isn’t a clear line of desire because there isn’t a crossing, people cross whenever they can. “When the lollipop person was there, one of the things I noticed was people would walk all the way down to the lollipop person to cross the road to go to the shop or to go to the school.” He added a problem of parking at the primary school is exacerbated because people are too afraid to walk their children across the road. Cllr Richardson said he had supported previous attempts for a crossing point with the first being made about 15 years ago. He added: “We went fairly well down the road with that and they looked into it. The only recommended place was where the bus stop is and to get the visibility splays, people on the other side of the road would lose their parking. “That didn’t go down well so it just died a death.” Cllr Raper said he suspected the real reason for the officers’ refusal was the cost of installing a crossing. He added that much of the cost could be recovered from savings made on not having to employ a lollipop patrol. Cllr Raper said: “A lollipop person only provides a benefit of crossing for three hours of the day. You are getting 21 extra hours of crossing time [with a pedestrian crossing].” Cllr Richardson said he would raise the issue with the county council’s cabinet member for highways, Cllr John Shuttleworth.](https://teesdalemercury.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/georgeR-120x86.jpg)
