It was raining when I got up, it was drizzling when I set off, it had stopped but the sky was grey when I arrived to meet the rest of the group. The clouds broke up, the sun came out and we had had six hours of almost unbroken sunshine by the time we left the site. It rained again just after I had returned home. The weather provided us with a magical window of opportunity to explore the former ash disposal site at Devil’s Dingle. (It was a bit breezy, but you cannot have everything.)
Eight of us met at the gates of the site and then made our way up to the parking spot at the eastern end of the path that borders the dams. We set out along this path:
Clearly our pace was not to everyone’s satisfaction as two disappeared, off to do their own things. The rest of us scanned the vegetation around the edge of the path and the pool that it borders looking for things of interest and enjoying the excellent view that this site and the weather afforded.
Did I mention the breeze? Well this part is pretty exposed so it was a little windblown(!) causing this moth to hang on to the top of a tube when it was released rather than risk flying:
The moth did open its wings briefly allowing us to identify it as a Shaded broad-bar. Nearby we found a web of a Labyrinth spider.
A common sight at this time of the year are large rugby ball shaped galls on thistles that accommodate the larvae of the “picture-wing” fly Urophora cardui. It is curious that we do not find the adult fly more often.
At the end of the first pool is an area of shingle which has been created to encourage nesting Little ringed plover. To the best of my knowledge these birds have never nested in this area but the shingle is maintained and cleared each year by the Wrekin Forest Volunteers during their sessions at Devil’s Dingle. As you can see a little maintenance will be required this winter:
From here you have a good view of the pool to the east:
the pool to the west:
and The Wrekin to the north:
There were some
This area does resemble the beach at some of our popular seaside resorts so we had coffee here which turned a few minutes later into lunch, where we were joined by one of the itinerant members.
We spent time exploring the grassland between the pools, well, some of us did, two went off in a different direction and one other decided a moment of solitude was needed.
Somehow we all (but one) joined up as we made our way along the edge of the pool towards the western edge of the site. Along the shoreline we found evidence of freshwater mussels:
What had been eating them? Our suspicions fell on ...
At the end of the pool is an area of wet grassland which is part of the overflow system. We arrived mid-afternoon. It was fairly sheltered, it was very warm and several species of butterflies put on a show. Our remaining itinerant joined us as we sat on the bank (avoiding the wasps’ nest) to take in the entertainment that nature was providing.
Re-assembled as a group we made our way back to the cars. On the way I could not resist taking yet another photograph of the cooling towers reminding us of how this haven had come into existence. (I have not been in the area long enough to know what was there before it became an ash disposal site.)
We were not done. We stopped at the entrance to the site for a look at the bank that borders the lane. Here we were treated to some late rarities (for Shropshire). Denticulate Leatherbug and the large hoverfly, Volucella inanis put the icing on the day’s cake.
What lies in store for the site when the power station closes at the end of the year is unknown to us. Let us hope that the powers that be reach a sensible decision that is satisfactory to all parties allowing it to be maintained and remain accessible.
My thanks to E.on for permitting access and allowing us to spend the day doing what we enjoy doing.
Keith Fowler
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