Park Hall Country Park: Where dinosaurs roamed...

Of the two areas I visit most often, 

Park Hall Country Park is by far the 
bigger, and more diverse in habitat. 

It extends to 135 hectares, or about 325 acres, and in practise the area available to explore is somewhat larger. An adjoining golf course shut several years ago, and the land is freely accessible; it even contains some flower meadows as good, if not better, than those of the country park itself.  

It is slightly further away from home, 1.3 miles door to border so about half an hour walk, or a touch less, but the extra distance is worth the effort. The landscape includes cliff-sided canyons and other exposed rock faces, ponds and pools, flower rich grasslands, both coniferous and deciduous woodland and heathland.

This wide range of habitats in close proximity means there is an equally diverse range of species, both flora and fauna, which can be seen there. One impressive claim made by the limited literature on the park is that all five species of British Owl have been seen there (Barn, Tawny, Little, Long-eared & Short-eared), although this is not a claim I can confirm yet, hopefully one day!

Map

A map of the Country Park area from MAGIC (DEFRA's online mapping tool) showing some detail on habitats. Approximate country park area (including the golf course) shown in red: 

• darker greens depict woodland, lighter green deciduous and darker coniferous; 
• lime green and peach are different types of grassland (there are other areas not highlighted, I think because they are not deemed to be a priority habitat); 
• purple indicates heathland, based on my experience on the ground it seems like there is more than indicated here in the North East (top right) corner; 
• also within the left hand (west) area of woodland there are a series of large ponds, other smaller ponds are scattered around the site, some of which are ephemeral (they dry up, or at least reduce significantly, in the summer).  
• The brown dot in the centre indicates the centre of the the Hulme Quarry NNR and SSSI area, specifically the exposed rock portions (see below). 

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To prevent this post becoming too long I'll post short summaries of the various different habitats in the future - for some I'll wait through until spring or early summer to be able to both show and describe them at their best. For now, a little taster of the more unusual and unique of the habitats found there. 

Rocks & 'The Grand Canyon'

The exposed cliff faces also provide nesting opportunities for 
birds, here a rather poor, and now old, shot of a Kestrel

In addition to its designation as a Country Park, portions of the site are also designated as a National Nature Reserve (NNR), the only one in Stoke-on-Trent, and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), both known as Hulme Quarry. Both these designations are due to the geological features of the site exposed during the quarrying work which ended in 1970.

These exposed portions of rock, specifically from the 'lower Triassic Bunter Pebble Beds (Cannock Chase Formation) of the Sherwood Sandstone Group' (see SSSI Designation) apart from allowing geologists a good look at the contrasting layers of sandstone and pebble conglomerate, create a rugged and, for Stoke-on-Trent, unique landscape.

The undulating topography created by basins and ridges, canyons and hollows, aside from giving your legs a good work out, mean that the vegetation alternates from exposed to shaded to never lit within yards. This results in variable and distinct flora, and almost certainly by extension invertebrate fauna, communities in a very small area. The sandstone bedrock results in a very sandy soil over much of the site, undoubtedly one of the reasons for the heathland, with its low nutrient, quick draining properties, and water rounded pebbles abound in the footpath surfaces.

As can be seen from the picture below the vegetation in these rocky areas of the park consist largely of scrub, with some birch and pine tress and an occasional oak or rowan. The gorse and broom, when in full flower, contrast spectacularly with the purple of the heather and the red sandstone cliffs to make for stunning outlooks earlier in the year. At this time of year, although we lost the purple, the birch tries its best to make up for the diminishing yellow.

Bare rock and sandy soil are both great of course for warm loving invertebrates, and during the summer around the pools dragonflies abound, while butterflies and hover flies make the most of the extremely rich nectar resource from the wide range of flowering plants.

The largest of the 'canyons' to be found at Park Hall, demonstrating the dominant feature of the country park, and the
defining feature of the NNR and SSSI.

I hope this has given you a little taste of one of the patches I get to call local. I look forward to sharing with you more in depth ventures up to Park Hall Country Park over the coming months.

Richard