Clapham and Reginald Farrer

[Lawrence]

I am somewhat embarrassed to admit  I have never been to Reginald Farrer's birthplace, Clapham, North Yorkshire despite living a stones throw away😳. However is there anything there worth seeing that relates to the great man?

[David Nicholson]

He lived in Clapham but was born in Marylebone. I think a trip to Clapham would be worthwhile, plenty to find on G****e including the following:-

https://www.kew.org/blogs/library-art-and-archives/reginald-farrer-dalesman-intrepid-plant-hunter-and-gardener

[Lawrence]

Thanks David

[johnralphcarpenter]

I believe they have cleared invasive R. ponticum to reveal the original collection. You can walk through it en route for Ingleborough and Gaping Gill.

[Richard Green]

David's link is helpful, as are the books mentioned in it for the history.

I went to the area this past summer (August 2017) and stayed at Malham primarily to view one of the best areas of limestone pavement which is situated directly above Malham Cove.  The Cove is a nice walk from the village, and you can do a stiff walk up the side of the Cove and onto the moor at the top where it is possible to walk to and around Malham Tarn, and further if your legs are good.

We also went to Clapham to follow up the Farrer connection.  Ingleborough Hall is now a Council-owned Residential Centre running courses for children and the house and what little remains of the garden is private with no public access.  I walked up the main drive past the "private" sign, and the staff in the Hall were good enough to allow me to take a brief photograph of the front of the house, but they would not allow me to wander in the grounds of the house.  Many trees in the grounds seem to originate from Farrer's time, but no plants of any note could be seen in the shrubberies I passed on the way up the drive.

However, there is a formal track starting from the road to the left (west) of the village church which takes you up to the Caves and further up onto the moor with paths to Ingleborough Hill itself, and Gaping Gill.  The Caves have been open to visitors since Farrer's day, and formal guided cave tours take place regularly, in fact Farrer guided visitors round the cave when a boy.  There is an additional honesty box for this walk up to the caves through the Clapham Estate land, and in the summer season a manned ticket office with a leaflet giving minimal information about the Farrer connection.

The path to the Caves goes up a gravel road behind the church and alongside the artificial lake created by a dam.  It is just possible to make out the cliff on the east side of the lake into which Farrer says he fired shotgun cartridges of Saxifrage seeds from a boat on the lake.  Binoculars could not help me locate any remaining plants! However, the whole area is now covered with pine and sycamore saplings and trees.  Most of the rest of the walk along the lake is of no real botanical interest.

However, it is worthwhile lingering on the main track at the head of the lake at the point where the lake narrows into the river flowing down the valley from the mouth of the cave.  This valley obviously reminded Farrer of the Himalayan valleys and has been planted up (presumably by him) with a selection of Acers, Bamboos, and Rhododendrons.  These are all now large trees, and are visible from the main track, and from a very short waymarked extra path, but there are notices reminding visitors to stay on this path as the sides of the valley fall steeply and dangerously down to the river.  The area is quite small, but the trees are obvious to an experienced eye, and there was very little sign of R. ponticum when I visited.  It would have been good to visit during flowering time.

It struck me as very poignant that these acers and rhododendrons must have been planted as small bushes by Farrer, probably from his own seed collections but he never saw them as trees.  His intention must have been that that they should eventually become like the rhododendron forests he had seen in those Himalayan valleys - and they have become exactly this in the 100 years or so since they were planted.

I am not sure if any serious rhododendron enthusiasts have catalogued or identified the remaining plants, some of which are presumably from his original seed collections but this would be a useful exercise.  Happy to explain more details if you send me a personal message.  No doubt someone will add to my above basic outline of the current position.

[David Nicholson]

.... and very importantly have a couple of pints of Thwaites in the Lister Arms in Malham

[johnralphcarpenter]

Or try the New Inn in Clapham - good choice of beers!

[Lawrence]

Thanks very much Richard for such a comprehensive reply. Unfortunately we ran out time and didn't explore as much as I would have liked, but now armed with your advice  look forward to another visit in the spring. I did however take David and Johns advice on trying the local tipples😜😂

[David Nicholson]

Good

[Richard Green]

I can heartily recommend either hostelry, which we patronised almost every day whilst there for both solid and liquid sustenance .

I would very much look forward to a further update with pictures after a visit at rhododendron flowering time.