A medieval deer park (Buxted Park)
Four churches & a chapel (Little Horsted, Uckfield, Five Ash Down, & Eridge Green) 08.10.24
A cemetery and church (Lindfield & Danehill) 12.10.24
Two churches (Stopham & Fittleworth) 14.10.24.
A church (Staplefield) 18.10.24
A church (Wivelsfiled)
A green (Frant) 21.10.24
A medieval deer park (Eridge Park) 21.10.24
A church (Framfield) 22.10.24
A cricket pitch (Buckhurst Park) & a church (Withyham) 26.10.24
I visited all thee locations by bus and/or train. The details of the bus and train routes and timetables is given at the end of this post
All sections of text in italics are quotations, sources given
Seeing waxcaps, and using the Waxcap Watch app, by bus and train, in Sussex, has multiple well being benefits. For a start, Waxcaps are just beautiful, and bring a great deal of visual please. Hunting for them in grassland requires sustained controlled attention, a form of mindfulness. Using the Waxcap App promotes a sense of meaning and purpose, participating in citizen science for conservation; and using the bus and train is travelling in an environmentally sustainable way.
Sites rich in grassland fungi are scarce and threatened on a world scale, and the extent of this habitat in northern Europe has declined dramatically (Veen et al., 2009). Relative to these losses, Britain retains a high number of species-rich waxcap grasslands (Newton et al., 2003; Evans, 2004; Griffith et al. 2013), for which we clearly have an international responsibility.
Grassland fungi are typically associated with unimproved and certain types of semi improved grasslands; these include meadows and pastures both in the lowlands and uplands of Britain, but also ancient lawns, cemeteries, old mineral workings and reservoir embankments. These fungi show a strong preference for undisturbed grassland that is regularly grazed or mown, and without any significant applications of artificial fertiliser or other chemical treatments (Griffith & Roderick, 2008). Guidelines for selection of biological SSSIs: Chapter 14 Non-lichenised fungi (jncc.gov.uk)
Grasslands like meadows and parks are not just home to wildflowers, they are also an important habitat for a colourful type of fungi which prefer farmland to forests – waxcaps. Every autumn one of the UK’s most colourful natural displays takes place: jewel-coloured waxcaps emerge through the grass across our countryside, cities and even some of our gardens. Let’s find them! Waxcaps are types of mushrooms known for their shiny-looking caps. Together with other types of fascinatingly named fungi called pinkgills, earthtongues, club and coral fungi – they form a group called “grassland fungi”. Waxcaps and grassland fungi come in a rainbow of different colours including vibrant violets, yellows, greens and pinks. How to Find and Identify Waxcap Fungi - Plantlife
I used the Plantlife Waxcap Watch App to record what I saw
Waxcaps are an indicator of rare, species-rich grassland. Knowing where waxcaps and other grassland fungi are thriving helps us pinpoint where fragments of ancient meadows survive, so we can protect them for the future.
Not just important for the hundreds of wildflowers they can be home to, these ancient grasslands are also crucial in the fight against climate change. Species-rich grassland can store up to a third more carbon than areas with just a few species.
You don’t need any fungi ID skills or to be a mycologist for do a waxcap survey. It’s easy for anyone in England, Scotland and Wales to take part in the Waxcap Watch – all you need is a smart phone or access to a computer! See Take part in Waxcap Watch 2024 - Plantlife to learn how to use the App
I hope these identifications are correct; but it is highly likely that I have misidentified some species. I have included a couple of interesting non-Waxcap fungi and a lichen; these have their names in brackets. I have only used English names; the scientific names are end of this post.
Buxted Deer Park
Parrot Waxcap
(Devil's Fingers AKA Octopus Stinkhorn - definitely not a Waxcap)
Little Horsted (Horsted Parva), St Michael and All Angels
Parrot Waxcap
(Dark Fieldcap)
Meadow Coral Fungus
Yellow Club
Uckfield. Holly Cross Church
Meadow Waxcap
Possibly Golden Waxcap
Five Ashes Chapel
Spangle Waxcap
St Bartholomew's, Maresfied
Possibly Golden Waxcap
Yellow Club
Probably Butter Waxcap
Probably Blackening Waxcaps
Meadow Coral Fungus
Parrot Waxcap
Butter Waxcap
Holly Trinity, Eridge Green
Golden Waxcap
Butter Waxcap
Honey Waxcap
Not a waxcap, but very beautiful: Amethyst Deceiver Laccaria amethystina
Lindfield, Walstead Cemetery
Golden Waxcap
Scarlet Waxcap
Honey Waxcap
Parrot Waxcap
All Saints, Danehill
Golden Waxcap
Meadow Waxcap
Crimson Waxcap
Snowy Waxcap
Oily Waxcap
Parrot Waxcap
St Mary the Virgin Church, Stopham
Slimy Waxcap
Vermillion Waxcap
Parrot Waxcap
Golden Waxcap
Butter Waxcap
Yellow Club
Pink Waxcap
St Mark's Church, Staplefield
Golden Waxcap
Blackening Waxcap
Scarlet Waxcap
Crimson Waxcap
Church of St. Peter & St. John The Baptist, Wivelsfield
Apricot Club
Vermillion Waxcap
Frant Green
Golden Waxcap
White Spindles
Honey Waxcap
Oily Waxcap
Yellow Club
(Fairy Ring of Fly Agarics)
(Devil's Matchtsticks lichen)
Purplegill
Eridge Park
Golden Waxcap
Butter Waxcaps
(Parasol)
Blackening Waxcap
Parrot Waxcap
(Deciever)
White Spindle
Roe Deer Skull
St Thomas à Becket Church, Framfield
Pink Waxcaps
Golden Waxcaps
Crinkled Pulp Lichen, Blennothallia crispa
Buckhurst Park, Withyham Cricket Pitch
Snowy Waxcaps
Butter Waxcaps
Pink Waxcap
St. Michael and All Angels, Withyham
Smoky Spindles
Vermillion Waxcaps
Yellow Club
Public transport details
On 08.10.24 I took the 29 bus from Brighton (Old Stein) to Little Horsted, Uckfield, Five Ashes/Maresfield and Eridge Green. The 29 goes every 30 minutes from Brighton Regency 29 - Brighton - Tunbridge Wells and Heathfield | Brighton & Hove Buses
I visited St Michael and All Angels Church, Little Horsted; Holly Cross Church, Uckfield; Five Ashes Chapel and walked to St Bartholomew's Church, Maresfield, and then back on the bus for Holly Trinity Church, Eridge Green. I chose these churches because they are on a convenient single bus route, and because I had seen abundant waxcaps at Holy Trinity Church before
It is a 45 minute journey from Brighton to Little Horsed; an 11 minute journey from Little Horsted to Uckfield High Street; a 5 minute journey from Uckfield High Street to Five Ash Down (and a 45 minute walk to Maresfield from Five Ash Down); a 25 minute journey to Eridge Green, and then a 105 minute journey back from Eridge Green to Brighton. Churchyards are one of the most important habitats for waxcaps. I have been to Holly Trinity Eridge Green, three years in a row for Waxcaps; it's always good; but St. Bartholomew's, Maresfield, was better, in abundance and diversity.
On 12.10.24 I took the 270 bus from Brighton (Old Stein) to Lindfield High Street. It is a 62 minute journey to Lindfield. The 270 goes hourly from Brighton 270 - East Grinstead - Brighton (Churchill Square) | Metrobus
I walked from Linfield High Street to Walstead Cemetery, the burial ground for Lindfield and Scaynes Hill Walstead Burial Ground – Lindfield Rural Parish Council (lindfieldrural-pc.gov.uk); a 30 minute walk. I walked back to Lindfield High Street after visiting Walstead and caught the 270 to Daneshill, a journey of 20 minutes. It takes 88 minutes to get back to Brighton.
On 15.10.24 I took the train from Brighton to Worthing (4 trains an hour, 25 minute journey times. From Worthing I got the Stagecoach 1 to Stopham Church Lane. It is a 60 minute journey. The buses run once an hour. 1 Bus Route & Timetable: Worthing - Midhurst | Stagecoach (stagecoachbus.com). I walked from Stopham to Fittleworth, but, part of this journey entails walking in the road so care has to be taken. See: The Highway Code - Rules for pedestrians (1 to 35) - Guidance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) I got the Stagecoach1 back from Fittleworth to Brighton.
I chose to visit Walstead Cemetery, Danehill, Stopham and Fittleworth because they were highly ranked in the table of abundance listed in Waxcap Grasslands in Sussex, Peter Russell, Russell04-SussexWaxcapGrasslands.pdf (aber.ac.uk)
I visited Staplefield by getting the 273 (every bus every 90 to120 minutes; journey 50 mins) 25 mins273 - Brighton (Old Steine) - Crawley | Brighton & Hove Buses bus to Handcross, and then walking though Cow Wood (Nymans Woodland) on a public path (Sussex Ouse Valley Way to Staplefield. The 271 goes directly to Staplefield: 271 - Crawley Bus Station - Royal Sussex County Hospital – Metrobus – Bus Times (bus every 90 to120 minutes; journey time 1hr, 25 mins
I reached Frant and Eridge Park (footpath from Frant) by taking the 29 bus to Tunbridge Wells (half hourly service; Journey times1hr 50 mins) Regency 29 - Brighton - Tunbridge Wells and Heathfield | Brighton & Hove Buses and then getting the 51 bus from Tunbridge Wells to Frant (approx. every 30 minutes; journey time 7 minutes) 51 - Eastbourne - Heathfield - Tunbridge Wells – Stagecoach South East – Bus Times
I arrived at Framfield by 29 bus. (one bus an hour, journey time 1 hour) 29A - Heathfield - Brighton | Brighton & Hove Buses
I got to Withyham by train and bus. I took the train from Brighton to Three Bridges, four trains an hour (26 or 32 minutes journey times); then got the 291 bus to Withyham (one bus an hour; journey time 70 minutes 291 - Tunbridge Wells - Crawley | Metrobus
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