The flowers are hopefully still in Shooterslee Wood. I got to know about them from a Bolton Museum site list maybe 15 years ago. I cannot remember exactly where I saw them, but it would have been by the brook in Shooterslee Wood. Many years ago there was no fence blocking off the wood, and there was certainly no problem with the balsam & knotweed taking over.
I used to check this area regularly for moths but with the limited access now and the overgrown vegetation I do not bother anymore.
Reliable reports of Bog Asphodel and globe flower drew me to this place in Bolton. Public access is restricted to a couple of paths that transect the upper valley going is rough. Did not find this elusive GM plant but was rewarded with Wood Sorrel, Marsh Pennywort, Marsh Willowherb lesser stitchwort, Common spotted orchids, marsh bedstraw meadowsweet, marsh thistle, and opposite leaved golden saxifrage the dreaded Balsam and Japanese Knotweed.
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Saturday 6th of July 2013 05:15:33 PM
