Meathop Moss, September 2026, a snapshot in time

Seed-heads of Bog Asphodel, Meathop Moss

Amongst the purple heather are flame-like seed-heads of bog asphodel.   The day is overcast with vistas unremarkable. Today, what's wondrous is  the detail at Meathop Moss. Woven through early autumn flora there are subtleties, and surprises. As the Bayeux Tapestry goes on display at the British Museum  secrets  concealed in its embroideries  may  be teased out.  Locked away for centuries in a chest in Bayeux Cathedral,   this  11th century  embroidery sheds light on those times,  it's unique, nothing like it survives.  Now scientists have identified  its original colour-scheme, to restore its vibrancy.  
Cumbria Wildlife Trust's Skiddaw Forest project includes researching  the secrets of deep peat,  to determine its flora back in time, long before the Battle of Hastings.  I wonder how Meathop Moss looked then. 
Foulshaw and Meathop Moss are raised mires overlooking Morecambe Bay. They're geographically close, but this month their flora shows differences.  So,  today is a snapshot in time at Meathop Moss.  This drought year should endure as a marker in the peat. 
The starry yellow flowers of bog asphodel are soon over, but in early autumn its bright seed-heads are even more striking.   They'll gradually fade to a straw colour during the winter,  and they endure.   Skeletal fruit-bodies from the previous year are amongst  those now so bright. I love the subtlety of autumn colours hidden in the moss and bog asphodel is stunning. 

With days of light showers after sequential heat-waves and drought there's something of a floral resurgence.  Bog rosemary flowers show fresh and pale pink in sphagnum moss.  Cross-leaved heath has some pink flowers amongst seed-heads in a palette of autumn colour.
Seeking cranberries, I look for micro-habitat  where  heather gives way to saturated sphagnum moss with trailing leaf-stems of cranberry with tiny opposite leaves of green or red.   Cranberries deep purple, red or greenish brown are cushioned in moss. See one, look closely and there'll be more. Sphagnum moss comes in bright green, in gold and sometimes in a deep burgundy.   A speck of blood red might be carnivorous sundew.   I've rarely seen so much bog rosemary and its flowers are fresh and delicate.

There are damselflies, dragonflies, and small tortoiseshell settle on the boardwalk and we glimpse lizard. The walkway is raised above the moss, protecting its flora and fauna from trampling feet and keeping us clear of ticks, of adder and of hidden trenches cut deep into the peat.
Osprey, reads a road sign, when the birds are here through the breeding season.  Yes, they're a main attraction but there's so much more to Foulshaw and Meathop Moss. I love this transition of late summer into autumn.  Autumn colour isn't only found in woodland, it's wondrous in the mosses.