Dizzard | |
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| Coordinates: 50°45′N4°37′W / 50.75°N 4.61°W | |
| Location | Cornwall, UK |
Dizzard (Cornish : Dyserth, meaning very steep) is an area, in the civil parish of St Gennys, Cornwall, containing five farms (or former farms). On the coast is Dizzard Point (grid reference SX164994 ), and the unique, dwarf oak, Dizzard Wood, which is of international importance for its lichen communities. [1] [2]
Dizzard is between the Atlantic Ocean to the north, the valley and cove of Crackington Haven to the west and the Millook woods and valley to the east. There are five named farms or (former farms); Dizzard Farm, East Dizzard, Higher Dizzard, Old Dizzard and West Dizzard. Surrounding Dizzard Point are the stunted oaks of the Dizzard Woodland. [1] There are a number of designations for the Dizzard cliffs, including part of the Widemouth to Crackington Geological Conservation Review site, within the Boscastle to Widemouth SSSI, and the Pentire Point to Widemouth, Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and Heritage Coast. [3]
The Atlantic Highway is two miles to the east and a minor road from Wainhouse Corner to Millook passes through the Dizzard. The minor road is also part of National Cycle Route 3. The South West Coast Path, which follows the coast of south-west England from Somerset to Dorset and passes above the wood and along the top of the cliff. [1]
A stunted woodland grows on a landslip from the top of the cliff (400 feet (120 m)) down to sea-level. Exposure to salt-laden winds has resulted in a tight wind-pruned canopy with trees from 1 to 8 metre high. Sessile oak ( Quercus petraea ) is the dominant species with pedunculate oak ( Q. robur ), birch (Betula spp), rowan ( Sorbus aucuparia ) and a few wild-service trees ( Sorbus torminalis ). Many of the trees are swathed in lichens and moss with 131 species of lichen recorded and there are a number of species that are largely confined to a few north Cornwall and Devon sites. One hundred and twenty flowering plants have been found including, bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta), dog's mercury ( Mercurialis perennis ), heath pearlwort ( Sagina subulata ), primrose ( Primula vulgaris ), sanicle ( Sanicula europaea ), sheep's sorrel ( Rumex acetosella ), small bristle club rush ( Isolepis setacea ), wild strawberry ( Fragaria vesca ), wood garlic ( Allium ursinum ) and wood vetch ( Vicia sylvatica ). Damp areas are dominated by bilberry ( Vaccinium myrtillus ), cow-wheat ( Melampyrum pratense ), tufted hair-grass ( Deschampsia cespitosa ) and the ferns broad buckler fern ( Dryopteris dilatata ) and royal fern ( Osmunda regalis ) are abundant. The hay-scented buckler-fern ( Dryopteris aemula ) is of interest. There was a heronry here in the first decades of the 20th-century. [2] [4] [5]
There is a rich Lobaria community including tree lungwort ( Lobaria pulmonaria ) which grow on the oaks. A number of species are confined to north Cornwall and Devon, these include Bombyliospora pachycarpa , Graphina ruziana , Lecidea carollii , Melaspilea ochrothalamia , Pannaria rubiginosa , Parmeliellia atlantica and Parmeliellia plumbea . Other notable lichens include the blue-grey Stricta limbata and the yellow-orange Pseudocyphellaria crocata . [2]
North Cornwall is an area of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is also the name of a former local government district, which was administered from Bodmin and Wadebridge 50.516°N 4.835°W. Other towns in the area are Launceston, Bude, Padstow, and Camelford.
Boscastle is a village and fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall, England, in the civil parish of Forrabury and Minster. It is 14 miles (23 km) south of Bude and 5 miles (8 km) northeast of Tintagel. The harbour is a natural inlet protected by two stone harbour walls built in 1584 by Sir Richard Grenville and is the only significant harbour for 20 miles (32 km) along the coast. The village extends up the valleys of the River Valency and River Jordan. Heavy rainfall on 16 August 2004 caused extensive damage to the village.
Killarney National Park, near the town of Killarney, County Kerry, was the first national park in Ireland, created when the Muckross Estate was donated to the Irish Free State in 1932. The park has since been substantially expanded and encompasses over 102.89 km2 of diverse ecology, including the Lakes of Killarney, oak and yew woodlands of international importance, and mountain peaks. It has the only red deer herd on mainland Ireland and the most extensive covering of native forest remaining in Ireland. The park is of high ecological value because of the quality, diversity, and extensiveness of many of its habitats and the wide variety of species that they accommodate, some of which are rare. The park was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1981. The park forms part of a Special Area of Conservation and a Special Protection Area.
NVC community W9 is one of the woodland communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system. It is one of the six communities falling in the "mixed deciduous and oak/birch woodlands" group.
Dryopteris arguta, with the common name coastal woodfern, is a species of wood fern. It is native to the west coast and western interior mountain ranges of North America, from British Columbia, throughout California, and into Arizona.
Wistman's Wood is one of three remote high-altitude oakwoods on Dartmoor in Devon, England.
Cornwall is the county that forms the tip of the southwestern peninsula of England; this area has a mild and warm climate regulated by the Gulf Stream. The mild climate allows rich plant cover, such as palm trees in the far south and west of the county and in the Isles of Scilly, due to sub-tropical conditions in the summer.
Waldridge Fell is a Site of Special Scientific Interest located immediately south-west of Chester-le-Street in the northern part of County Durham, England. It is one of the largest areas of lowland heath in County Durham and contains the only lowland valley-mire in the county. The fell is home to a number of plants and insects that are scarce to rare elsewhere in the county.
Coed Cwm Einion is a woodland to the east of the village of Furnace, in Ceredigion, west Wales. It is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest, covering 20.92 hectares. The Afon Einion river flows on the northern side of the Coed Cwm Einion woodland.
Lobaria scrobiculata, commonly known as the textured lungwort, is a large foliose, epiphytic lichen in the family Peltigeraceae.
Dendles Wood is an area of protected oak-beech woodland located on the southern edge of Dartmoor, in the English county of Devon. Forming part of the Dartmoor Special Area of Conservation, the wood is also a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and 30 hectares of it has been designated a national nature reserve. It is one of five woodlands within Dartmoor that have been protected as national nature reserves. Dendles Wood and the adjacent Hawns Wood are sometimes known collectively as Hawns and Dendles. The wood supports a variety of flora and fauna, representative of upland oakwoods. In particular, it has a rich variety of moss and lichen, and several breeding bird species.
Millook is a deep coastal valley and hamlet in the parish of Poundstock, on the north coast of Cornwall, England.
Boscastle to Widemouth is a coastal Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Cornwall, England, noted for its biological and geological characteristics. The Dizzard dwarf oak woodland is unique and of international importance for its lichen communities, with 131 species recorded.
The Hudnalls is a 94.4-hectare (233-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1972. The site is listed in the 'Forest of Dean Local Plan Review' as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS).
Minwear Wood is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in Pembrokeshire, South Wales. It has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest since January 1968 in an attempt to protect its fragile biological elements including ancient woodland of sessile oak with hazel and downy birch on the upper part of the Milford Haven estuary. The wood is structurally diverse and has scarce plants and epiphytic lichens. The site has an area of 13.69 hectares and is managed by Natural Resources Wales.
Celtic Rainforest is a colloquial term which refers to the temperate rainforest of Ireland and Great Britain. These woodlands are also variously referred to as Atlantic rainforest, Upland Oakwoods, Atlantic Oakwoods or Western Oakwoods. Today, the Celtic Rainforest exists as small fragments of the temperate rainforest that once covered much of Ireland and the west coast of Great Britain. The majority of these fragments occur on steep-sided slopes above rivers and lakes which have avoided clearance and intensive grazing pressure. There are notable examples in Scotland on the islands and shores of Loch Maree, Loch Sunart, Loch Lomond, and one of the best preserved sites on the remote Taynish Peninsula in Argyll. In Wales, they occur on steep-sided riverine gorges in Snowdonia and Mid Wales. In England, there are examples in the Lake District, and steep-sided riverine and estuarine valleys in South West England, including the Fowey valley in Cornwall, and the valley of the river Dart which flows off Dartmoor, and has rainfall in excess of 2 metres per year.
Briarwood Banks is the name given to a woodland Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in north Northumberland, North East England. Composed mainly of elm, oak and ash, the site is semi-natural and now recovering from the removal of planted conifers.
Nance Wood is a woodland Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) near Portreath, west Cornwall. The site was first notified in 1951 for its almost pure dwarf, sessile oak coppiced woodland, good bryophyte flora and Irish spurge, which is found in only two localities in Britain.
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