The River Avon is a river in the southwest of England. To distinguish it from a number of other rivers of the same name, it is often called the Bristol Avon. The name 'Avon' is a cognate of the Welsh word afon, meaning 'river'.
Cheddar Gorge is a limestone gorge in the Mendip Hills, near the village of Cheddar, Somerset, England. The gorge is the site of the Cheddar show caves, where Britain's oldest complete human skeleton, Cheddar Man, estimated to be 9,000 years old, was found in 1903. Older remains from the Upper Late Palaeolithic era have been found. The caves, produced by the activity of an underground river, contain stalactites and stalagmites. The gorge is part of a Site of Special Scientific Interest called Cheddar Complex.
The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature collections, and publishes academic journals and books on plant and animal biology. The society also awards a number of prestigious medals and prizes.
The Downs are an area of public open limestone downland in Bristol, England. They consist of Durdham Down to the north and east and Clifton Down to the south, separated by Stoke Road.
The Avon Gorge is a 1.5-mile (2.5-kilometre) long gorge on the River Avon in Bristol, England. The gorge runs south to north through a limestone ridge 1.5 miles (2.4 km) west of Bristol city centre, and about 3 miles (5 km) from the mouth of the river at Avonmouth. The gorge forms the boundary between the unitary authorities of North Somerset and Bristol, with the boundary running along the south bank. As Bristol was an important port, the gorge formed a defensive gateway to the city.
Leigh Woods is a 2-square-kilometre (0.77 sq mi) area of woodland on the south-west side of the Avon Gorge, close to the Clifton Suspension Bridge, within North Somerset opposite the English city of Bristol and north of the Ashton Court estate, of which it formed a part. Stokeleigh Camp, a hillfort thought to have been occupied from the third century BC to the first century AD and possibly also in the Middle Ages, lies within the reserve on the edge of the Nightingale Valley. On the bank of the Avon, within the reserve, are quarries for limestone and celestine which were worked in the 18th and 19th centuries are now derelict.
Horseshoe Bend, Shirehampton is an 11 acre biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Bristol, England, on the north bank of a lower, tidal stretch of the River Avon, 1.9 miles downstream from the Avon Gorge, and just east of the village of Shirehampton. It was notified as an SSSI in 1999.
Hedlundia anglica, the English whitebeam, is a species of whitebeam tree in the family Rosaceae. It is uncommonly found in Ireland and the United Kingdom, with an entire British population estimated at about 600 individuals.
Karpatiosorbus bristoliensis is a species of flowering plant in the family Rosaceae. It is known commonly as the Bristol whitebeam. It is endemic to Great Britain, growing wild only in the Avon Gorge and in the Leigh Woods area of Bristol. There are around 300 individuals as of 2016, and the population is thought to be increasing.
Aria wilmottiana, commonly known as Willmott's whitebeam, is a species of whitebeam in the family Rosaceae. It is endemic to England, and is found in the Avon Gorge, in Somerset and Gloucestershire. It is threatened by habitat loss.
Karpatiosorbus admonitor, previously classified as Sorbus admonitor and also called the no parking whitebeam, is a species of whitebeam tree found in Devon, United Kingdom. It is known only from the Watersmeet Valley at Lynton, with two stray plants growing on the coast above Sillery Sands, Countisbury.
Alfred Edmund Hudd was a native of Clifton, Bristol, England. An accountant as a young man, his means were such that he was able to pursue his interests as a naturalist and antiquarian. He was a member of a number of societies, often assuming leadership positions. Hudd is perhaps best known for his roles as author of Catalogue of the Lepidoptera of the Bristol District, editor of the Proceedings of the Clifton Antiquarian Club, supervisor of the excavations undertaken by the Caerwent Exploration Fund, and author of "Richard Ameryk and the name America."
Upper Wye Gorge is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), noted for its biological and geological characteristics, around Symonds Yat in the Wye Valley on the Wales–England border. The site is listed in the 'Forest of Dean Local Plan Review' as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS).
Karpatiosorbus houstoniae, or Houston's whitebeam, is a hybrid of two deciduous trees: the common whitebeam and the Bristol whitebeam. Only a single example of the hybrid is known to exist, at the Avon Gorge in Bristol, England. The only specimen grows on a cliff below Stokeleigh Camp at Leigh Woods in North Somerset and cannot be accessed without ropes.
Michael Charles Faraday Proctor PhD was an English botanist and plant ecologist, lecturer, scientific author based at the University of Exeter. He retired from his post as Reader in Plant Ecology at Exeter University in 1994.
Eleanor Vachell (1879–1948) was a Welsh botanist who is remembered especially for her work identifying and studying the flora of Glamorgan and her connection with the National Museum of Wales where she was the first woman to be a member of its Council and Court of Governors. The museum now holds her botanical diary, notes, books, records and specimens.
Aria porrigentiformis, commonly known as the grey-leafed whitebeam, is a species of whitebeam endemic to England and Wales.
Aria leighensis, commonly known as Leigh Woods whitebeam, is a rare species of whitebeam, a flowering plant in the|rose family Rosaceae.
Margaret Bradshaw MBE is a long term advocate and recorder of the exceptional flora of Upper Teesdale in County Durham, UK. Her first book was published when she was 97.
