Sim Elliott
Chailey Commons: Marsh Gentians and other flowers, bryophytes, fungi, lichens & insects 25.08.23
We always seem to see something special when we visit the Chailey Commons. Dave Bangs, The Land of the Brighton Line: A field guide to...
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= Sim Elliott =
Nature Writing and Photography:
records of nature journeys made by public transport
The aim of this blog is to promote engagement with nature in Sussex and its surrounding counties and promote the use of public transport to travel to nature sites. All of the nature journeys described in these posts I made by public transport from Brighton. Information about the public transport links is detailed at the beginning of each post. Individual species that I have seen are listed chronologically on my iNatutalist public page and you can see my nature tweets on Twitter @sim_nature. I have done my best to identify species correctly. If you note a mistake in identification please feel free to tell me. If you want to contact me about any aspect of this blog, email me: simeon[underscore]elliott[at]gmail[dot]com.
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Sim Elliott
- Aug 23
- 10 min
Coed Felenrhyd and Llennyrch, Maentwrog, Wales. Wild flowers, ferns, bryophytes & lichens. 15.08.23
Coed Felenrhyd & Llennyrch is a rare, Atlantic oak woodland and one of our largest woods in Wales. It sits above the Vale of Ffestiniog...
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Sim Elliott
- Aug 1
- 3 min
Nap Wood; a High Weald Ghyll Wood, East Sussex. Trees, Fungi, Bryophytes & Lichen. 31.07.23
A wonderful opportunity to walk along an ancient sunken drovers pathway through woodland. The one mile circuitous route takes the walker...
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Sim Elliott
- Jul 28
- 4 min
Botanical finds at Leonardslee Gardens. A Sussex Botanical Recording Society field meeting. 26.07.23
This trip to Leonardslee Gardens was a wonderful experience, as I learnt a great deal, and saw many new-to-me species. As a novice...
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Sim Elliott
- Jul 25
- 5 min
East Head, West Sussex. Flowering Plants, especially glassworts, Bryophytes and Lichens 24.07.23
Visit one of the last surviving pieces of natural coastline in West Sussex. East Head is an example of the nationally rare and fragile,...
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Sim Elliott
- Jul 25
- 8 min
Eerie Nature. Parasitic & insectivorous plants. Hesworth & Lavington Commons. West Sussex. 17.07.23
North West Sussex, just north of the South Downs, has an area of lowland Wealden greensand heathlands (all called commons). These heaths...
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Sim Elliott
- Jul 11
- 12 min
Heyshott, Ambersham & Graffam Commons; Sussex Lowland Heath and Climate Change. 10.07.23
North West Sussex, just north of the South Downs, has an area of lowland Wealden heathlands (all called commons). Theses heaths are on...
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Sim Elliott
- Jul 9
- 6 min
Ditchling Common. Wild flowers, lichen, bryophytes and butterflies 08.07.23
Ditchling Common is an SSSI with a remarkable range of botanical and insect diversity. I travelled to Ditchling Common Country Park by...
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Sim Elliott
- Jul 5
- 4 min
The flowers, bryophytes, lichen & birds of West Beech Nature Reserve, Littlehampton. 02.07.23
I visited West Beach Nature Reserve by chance. West Beach NR is in the Climping Beech SSSI see: Magic Map Application (defra.gov.uk) I...
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Sim Elliott
- Jul 4
- 4 min
Wildflowers, Birds & Butterflies. Southease, Itford Meadow & Beddingham Hill, South Downs. 02.07.23
I walked from Southease Station (train from Brighton to Southease; 31 minute journey; 1 train an hour) to Beddingham Hill, via Itford...
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Sim Elliott
- Jul 1
- 3 min
Fore Wood, Crowhurst, East Sussex, and its butterflies, flowers, bryophytes and ferns. 30.06.23
Fore Wood is an RSPB nature reserve just outside Crowhurst. I reached Crowhurst by train from Brighton, via St Leonards Warrior Square....
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Sim Elliott
- Jun 29
- 1 min
250+ spikes of Common Broomrape, Orebanche minor at a South Downs Site. 28.06.23
250 spikes of Common Broomrape, Orobanche minor, at one site on the South Downs; very close to where I saw 25 Spikes on 14.06.23. I...
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Sim Elliott
- Jun 28
- 11 min
Flowering plants, Butterflies & Birds; Drought & Reduced Abundance. Iping & Stedham Commons.16.06.23
Iping and Stedham Commons are lowland heaths. Iping and Stedham Common Nature Reserve is situated just west of Midhurst and is one of the...
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Sim Elliott
- Jun 27
- 3 min
Camley Street Nature Garden. London. Butterflies & Birds & 100s of spikes of Ivy Broomrape. 26.06.23
I visited Camley Street yesterday for the first time since 1989, when I used to take children there when I was a teacher Copenhagen...
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Sim Elliott
- Jun 24
- 7 min
Fairlight Glen; from the Dripping Well to the Beach. Ferns, Bryophytes and Lichen. 19.06.23
I visited Fairlight Glen again on 19.06.23. It is in the Hastings County Park, where the High Weald Wealden sandstone meet the sea. It is...
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Sim Elliott
- Jun 14
- 10 min
25 spikes of Common Broomrape, Orobanche minor, at a South Downs site. 14.06.23
46 photos of 25 spikes of Common Broomrape, Orobanche minor, at one site on the South Downs. The location of this cluster of O. elatior...
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Sim Elliott
- Jun 14
- 7 min
182 spikes of Knapweed Broomrape, Orobanche elatior, at a South Downs site. 13.06.23
46 photos of 182 spikes of Knapweed Broomrape, Orobanche elatior, at one site on the South Downs. The location of this cluster of O....
54 views0 comments
Sim Elliott
- Jun 8
- 4 min
Burnt Tip Orchids, Sussex & Man Orchids, Darland Banks, Kent. 06 & 07.06.23
I saw Burnt Tip Orchids in Sussex. I am not going to reveal where they were as last year there were some thefts of them. When I saw them...
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Sim Elliott
- Jun 6
- 4 min
Wild Flowers and a Bryophyte on the vegetated shingle of Shoreham Beach. 05.06.23
Vegetated shingle is a UK Biodiversity Action Plan Priority Habitat. Shoreham Beach is an outstanding example of vegetated shingle....
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Sim Elliott
- Jun 2
- 3 min
Castle Hill NNR Brighton. Birds, Wildflowers, Butterflies, Moths & Crickets. 03 & 04.06.23
I visited Natural England's Castle Hill National Nature Reserve, Brighton, on consecutive days; on 04.06.23 I led a Gay Birders' Club...
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Sim Elliott
- Jun 1
- 7 min
Flowering plants, including grasses, sedges and rushes, on Wolstonbury & Newtimber Hills. 30.05.23
Following attending a Sussex Botanical Recording Society Home - Sussex Botanical Recording Society (sussexflora.org.uk) field trip to St...
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Sim Elliott
- May 23
- 8 min
Lichens, inc. Bunodophoron melanocarpum, & bryophytes in a South East oceanic microclimate. 22.05.23
I made a trip to Eridge Rocks in the High Weald, yesterday; it is one of my favourite sites in Sussex. This Sussex Wildlife Trust reserve...
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Sim Elliott
- May 21
- 3 min
Butterflies, Wild Flowers, Birds, Lichens and Bryophytes. Devil's Dyke and Newtimber Hill. 20.05.23
The Devil's Dyke | Sussex | National Trust and Newtimber Hill Saddlescombe Farm and Newtimber Hill | National Trust are adjacent to each...
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Sim Elliott
- May 20
- 8 min
Scotland 6: Glen Nant. NNR; temperate rain forest. 13.05.23
I got to Glen Nant from Oban by public transport. On the way out, I took the train from Oban to Talynuit. There are only a few services a...
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Sim Elliott
- May 19
- 5 min
Scotland 5: Glasdrum Wood NNR; temperate rain forest, and Chequered Skippers. 12.05.23
I got to Glasdrum from Oban by public transport. I took the West Coast Motors bus 405 to Creagan Bridge. There are on six services from...
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Sim Elliott
- May 18
- 4 min
Scotland 4: Puffins, Razorbills, Eider, Shags & Fulmars. Staffa & the Treshnish Isles, 11.05.23
I got to Tobermory from Oban by public transport. I took the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry from Oban to Craignure, from where I got a West...
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Sim Elliott
- May 17
- 4 min
Scotland 3: The Wildlife of Mull. 10.05.23
I got to Tobermory from Oban by public transport. I took the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry from Oban to Craignure, from where I got a West...
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Sim Elliott
- May 16
- 4 min
Scotland 2: Temperate rain forest fragments around Tobermory, Mull 09.05.23 & 11.05.23
I got to Tobermory from Oban by public transport. I took the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry from Oban to Craignure, from where I got a West...
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Sim Elliott
- May 15
- 4 min
Scotland 1: Dunollie Woods, Oban; temperate rain forest. 08.05.23 & 09.05.23
I went to Oban for six days, to visit some of the west coast of Scotland's Temperate Rain Forests, and to watch birds on Mull and the...
43 views0 comments
Sim Elliott
- May 7
- 2 min
Parham Park. Tress, Lichens & Bryophytes; Geology and Needlework Nature. 01.05.23
To visit Parham House and Garden Parham House and Gardens | Elizabethan House | West Sussex : Parham House & Gardens...
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Sim Elliott
- Apr 30
- 6 min
Crowborough Warren, Ashdown Forest & Five Hundred Acre Wood. Plants, Lichen, Bryophytes. 29.04.23
Every year, more than a million people travel to Ashdown Forest to find the North Pole. Ashdown Forest is 40 miles south of London, but...
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Sim Elliott
- Apr 13
- 11 min
Lichens, Bryophytes, Fungi and Wild Flowers at Ebernoe Common. 07.04.23
Ebernoe Common is a low weald heath, ancient wood and wood pasture nature reserve managed by the Sussex Wildlife Trust reserve, north of...
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Sim Elliott
- Apr 6
- 7 min
Brede High Woods. Bryophytes, Lichen, Wild Flowers, Insects and a Brook Lamprey. 03.04.23
Brede High Woods (Woodland Trust) is a wonderful collection of ghyll woods north of Hastings Brede High Woods is home to astonishingly...
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Sim Elliott
- Mar 3
- 5 min
Crowborough Country Park & Crowborough Ghyll. Frogs, Bryophytes & Dinosaurs. 24.02.23
Crowborough Country Park was previously a clay quarry and Crowborough Ghyll is a typical High Weald ghyll wood. Both nature reserves are...
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Sim Elliott
- Feb 27
- 7 min
The Mens Nature Reserve, West Sussex: Trees, Landscape, Bryophytes, Lichens and Fungi. 20.02.23
The Mens is an extraordinary landscape; it is a nature reserve maintained by the Sussex Wildlife Trust. The unusual name ... comes from...
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Sim Elliott
- Feb 16
- 7 min
Kingley Vale: Yews, Epiphytes, Fungi and The Devil's Humps. 11.02.23
Kingley Vale is a National Nature Reserve famous for its historic Yews. I visit Kingley Vale regularly. Its yews, other trees, and short...
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Sim Elliott
- Feb 15
- 4 min
Fairlight Glen; a ghyll wood and its bryophytes. Hastings Country Park. 07 & 10.02.23
I visited Fairlight Glen twice in one week in order to explore it's bryophytes. My initial motivation was to see if I could find...
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Sim Elliott
- Jan 31
- 10 min
Lichen, Bryophytes & Fungi. Marline Valley Nature Reserve, Hastings. 31.01.22
Marline Valley is a wonderful mix of semi-natural ancient woodland, unimproved meadows and a classic Sussex ghyll stream situated on the...
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Sim Elliott
- Jan 26
- 4 min
Lichens, Bryophytes, Fungi and Birds. Waterhall Nature Reserve & The Devil's Dyke. 23.01.23
Over the weekend a local lichenologist saw a String of Sausages, Usnea aticulata, following a fellow member of the British Lichen Society...
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Sim Elliott
- Jan 21
- 3 min
Eridge Rocks: A wonderland of lichen, fungi, moss, liverworts and slime moulds. 04.01.23
This was the second time I have visited Eridge Rocks. It is easy to get to by bus from Brighton; take the 29 29 - Brighton-Tunbridge...
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Sim Elliott
- Jan 20
- 5 min
Eridge Park (SSSI) East Sussex; Lichen, Bryophytes, Fungi and Landscape. 23.12.22
Eridge Park is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, to the east of Eridge Green Rock, south of Tunbridge Wells. The landscape is shaped...
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Sim Elliott
- Dec 11, 2022
- 1 min
Winter Suite: the species and landscape of Seaford Head and Cuckmere Haven at dusk. 08.12.22
I took the 12 bus from Brighton to Seaford Library, then walked to the beach and walked over Seaford Head Seaford Head | Sussex Wildlife...
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Sim Elliott
- Dec 9, 2022
- 3 min
Markstakes Common & Chailey Commons. Tress, Fungi, Bryophytes, Lichen and Slime Molds. 06.12.22
I visited Markstakes Common, South Chailey (a Woodland Trust site) (not one of the 5 Chailey Commons) for the first time on 06.11.22, I...
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Sim Elliott
- Dec 7, 2022
- 8 min
Church Wood LNR & Marline Valley NR, Hastings. Woods, Ghylls, Fungi, Lichen & Bryophytes. 05.12.22
I reached Church Wood from Brighton by getting a train to Hasting Station and then the 20 bus to the bus stop on Tile Barn Road, close to...
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Sim Elliott
- Nov 30, 2022
- 3 min
Golden Eye Lichen, Teloschistes chrysophthalmus. Malling Down. 29.11.22
I saw this beautiful lichen today in a Hawthorne tree at Malling Down Nature Reserve, Sussex Wildlife Trust Malling Down | Sussex...
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Sim Elliott
- Nov 29, 2022
- 5 min
Hargate Forest & Tunbridge Wells Common: Rocks, Fungi, Lichen & Bryophytes 28.11.22
Hargate Forest is just south of Tunbridge Wells. I reached the forest by the 29 bus from Brighton. Alight the bus at the Broadwater Down...
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Sim Elliott
- Nov 27, 2022
- 3 min
Harrison Rocks/Birchden Wood. Fungi, Lichen, Moss, Liverworts & Slime Mold. 26.11.22
Harrison Rocks (British Mountaineering Council are the western edge of Birchden Wood (Forestry England); which is west of Eridge (East...
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Sim Elliott
- Nov 27, 2022
- 7 min
Lake Wood, Uckfield. A "Picturesque" landscape. Trees, Rocks, Lichen & Bryophytes. 22.11.22
Lake Wood, a Woodlands Trust wood Lake Wood - Visiting Woods - Woodland Trust, is a short walk from the centre of Uckfield. It is an...
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Sim Elliott
- Nov 21, 2022
- 16 min
Rocks, Trees, Fungi, Lichen, Bryophytes & Slime Molds. Eridge Rocks NR & Broadwater Warren. 19.11.22
I visited Eridge Rocks Nature Reserve (Sussex Wildlife Trust), because I knew it was a site of special scientific interest for lichen and...
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