Newsletters

Our newsletters can all be browsed, searched and downloaded free of charge as follows:

1) Browse online: All the Shropshire Botanical Society Newsletters can be browsed online here: Newsletters  Click the button "Show Stories Inside" to browse the contents.

2) Search online: To search all newsletters at once for a search term, copy the following url into your browser window: site:issuu.com/shropshirebotany followed by your search term (for example a species or author) All our publications which contain this search term will be listed. 

3) Download a pdf: either go to the Botanical Society Dropbox folder and find the one you want.  Or if you prefer go to https://archive.org/ and type in "Shropshire Botany" as a search term.  All the newsletter pdfs, floras and other publications at both these locations are available for downloading as pdfs, free of charge.

All the newsletter articles are indexed here: 

Spring 2023, No. 46: Society News – notes from the Editor Andrew Perry, History of the Shropshire Botanical Society ‘What I left out’ Sue Dancey, BSBI VCR40 Report 2022 Mags Cousins and John Martin;  National Moss Day - October 21st 2023 Philippa Thompson and Martin Godfrey; Montgomery Canal: a waterway in trouble? Mark Duffell; Shropshire Wildlife Trust Richard Grindle CEO; Rare Plants in Shropshire John Handley; Obituary - Sylvia Kingsbury Sue Dancey; Obituary - Pirkko Lisa Higson, 1937 – 2022 Ruth Dawes;  A workshop on the genus Bryum Martin Godfrey.

Autumn 2022, No. 45 : Plants, People and Publication A look back at aspects of the development of the Shropshire Botanical Society by Sue Dancey; Plant Recording in VC40 by Mags Cousins and John Martin; A survey of Spring Coppice at Lyth Hill by John Handley; The Large-leaved Lime trees of Wenlock Edge by John Tuer; Botanists wanted! by Penny Wysome; Field Reports by the Field Meeting Leaders; Obituary - Chris Walker by Sue Dancey.

Spring 2022, No. 44: What's the Point, Penny Wysome; Aquatic Macrophytes of Newport Canal SSSI, Mags Cousins; Broomrapes in Shropshire, John Handley; Restoring Shropshire's Verges, Peter Carty; Identiplant, Sue Townsend. 

Autumn 2021, No.43 : Online Database update, John Handley; Marches Mosses BogLIFE project nears ‘completion’ at Fenn’s, Whixall, Bettisfield, Wem and Cadney Mosses SSSI/NNR, Mags Cousins; Mires of the Long Mynd: Part 2, Andrew Perry; A summer spent Shanklin surveying, Jane Ing, Margaret Markland and Pat Parker; Philip Harrison Oswald, 13th April 1933 – 5th May 2021; The Ferns – an Identification Guide: Part 4 Polystichum, Martin Godfrey.

Spring 2021, No. 42 : SBS Spring 2021 Quiz, Ruth Dawes; The Stepping Stones Project overview Charlie Bell; Cudwell Meadow - an unusual plant community for South Shropshire, Mike Carter; Recording in Date Class 7, Alex Lockton; Wishes for improving botanical conservation in Shropshire, Ian Trueman; Mires of the Long Mynd:Part1, Andrew Perry. 

Autumn 2020, No. 41 : Recording Progress, Alex Lockton; Flora of a County Garden, Chris Walker; Plants in a Pandemic, Ruth Dawes; Trees and River Restoration - Severn Rivers Trust, Lisa Barlow; Wishes for improving botanical conservation in Shropshire, Fiona Gomersall; Invasive Non-Native Species: Himalayan Balsam and rust fungus biocontrol, Kirsty Brown; The Ferns - an ID guide, Part 3 (Polypodies) Polypodium, Martin Godfrey; Caring for God's Acre, Liam Taylor; Holy Trinity Church in Coalbrookdale: Brompsis erectus and Brachypodium pinnatum, John Handley.

Spring 2020, No.40 : Marches Meadow Group, David Poynton; Caring for God's Acre, Liam Taylor; Visit to Llynclys Quarry, Dan Wrench; Root and Branch - Where is our Shropshire Botanical Society (SBS) Going?, Sue Dancey; Botanical Recording in Shropshire, Alex Lockton; Going Green, one wall at a time, Mark Duffell; DNA and field recording: kicking and screaming towards a new era, John Handley; The Ferns - an Identification Guide: Part 2 Asplenium trichomanes, Martin Godfrey. 

Autumn 2019, No.39 : The Future of Botany in Shropshire: views from Chris Walker; Update on Galeopsis angustifolia - Red Hemp-nettle, Ruth Dawes; Update on a Summer with Caring for God's Acre, Liam Taylor; The Ferns - an Identification Guide: Part 1, Martin Godfrey. 

Spring 2019, No. 38 : Oh Christmas Tree, Sue Townsend; Shropshire Farm Nature Discovery, Sue Townsend; Shropshire botany plant records, Mags Cousins; Celebrating Cemeteries, Ruth Dawes; The Beautiful Burial Ground Project, Liam Taylor; Looking for Fern Hybrids, Martin Godfrey; Growing ferns from spores, Martin Godfrey; Tilia in Shropshire, John Handley.

Autumn 2018, No. 37 : Plant records in 2018, Alex Lockton and Sarah Whild; New Guidelines on how to record for the Shropshire Flora, Alex Lockton; The Carrot Family in Shropshire, John Handley; A Memorial Meadow, Mike Ashton; Age shall not wither them, Penny Wysome; Mary Hignett, by Ruth Dawes; Brown Moss SSSI, SAC are we getting somewhere, Mags Cousins. 

Spring 2018, No. 36 : Summer field visits 2018, Dan Wrench; Benign neglect - Shropshire Botanical Society visit to Maddock's Hill Quarry, Penny Wysome; Shropshire Botanical Society - Out and about with beginners Oswestry Hill Fort and Cole Mere, Sue Townsend; Sassy Scabious, Ruth Dawes; The Marsh Gentians of Cramer Gutter, Fiona Gomersall; Evaluating the progress of habitat restoration at Prees Heath, Shropshire, Frances McCullagh.

Autumn 2017, No. 35 : Moss Balls in the North Shropshire Meres, Kirsty Brown; Obituary - Dorothy Young 1930–2017 by Mary Eminson; Conserving England’s only population of Nuphar pumila, Least Water-Lily, Mags Cousins; Thomas Cox’s Magna Britannia 1720-31, Alex Lockton ; Update on Ash Dieback (Chalara), Hymenoscyphus fraxineus in Shropshire, Mags Cousins; Looking at stomata – a simple technique, Martin Godfrey; Elegant Water-lily, a poem by Ruth Dawes; New Records, Alex Lockton and Sarah Whild; “Consider (ponder deeply) the lilies – how they grow”,  Ruth Dawes. 

Spring 2017, No. 34 : New Records in 2016, Alex Lockton and Sarah Whild; Veronica – Speedwells in Shropshire, John Handley; August Botanical Society Visit - Two helpings of Limestone?, Penny Wysome; Plants that affect the skin, Ruth Dawes; The Genus Sphagnum – a guide part 8: Section Subsecunda, Martin Godfrey; Browse Britain Blog, John Handley; River Severn Trip, Dan Wrench. 

Autumn 2016, No. 33 : Fenn’s, Whixall, Bettisfield, Wem and Cadney Mosses SSSI and Special Area of Conservation (SAC), Mags Cousins; The vulnerability of peatbogs to climate change and air pollution, Simon Caporn; Myosotis – how not to forget, Mags Cousins; Conserving England’s only population of Nuphar pumila, Least Water-lily, Mags Cousins; Watch out, Carnivores about! a poem by Ruth Dawes; Where have all the tresses gone?, Ruth Dawes; Women botanists of the past in Shropshire, Alex Lockton; Obituaries Pamela Green and Shirley Burton. 

Spring 2016, No. 32 : Cole Mere SSSI a Site Profile, Mags Cousins; Devil’s Dingle Ash Disposal Site Buildwas, Shropshire, Mary Thornton; Eardington Nature Reserve, Dan Wrench; Poisonous Plants, Ruth Dawes; Plant Records, Alex Lockton and Sarah Whild; The Mysteries of Mistletoe, Peta Sams; The Genus Sphagnum – A Guide Part 7 Sphagnum fimbriatum and S. girgensohnii; Web based botanical resources Part 2, John Handley; The Grasses Part 4.2 – the fourth and final group of the clearly- branched Panicles, Ian Trueman.

Autumn 2015, No. 31 : Plant Records, Alex Lockton and Sarah Whild; Botanical Change in Shropshire, Ian Trueman; Epilobium (Willowherbs) in Shropshire, Mags Cousins; Galeopsis angustifolia Red Hemp-nettle in Shropshire, just…, Ruth Dawes ; Ten Targets for Conservation in Shropshire - an Update, Mags Cousins; What is happening at Catherton Common, Hilary Wallace and Kate Thorne; Plant Introductions at Llynclys Quarry, Dan Wrench; The Location of Cwm Floyd, Alex Lockton.

Spring 2015, No. 30 : Plant Records, Alex Lockton and Sarah Whild; Polypodium in Shropshire, Mark Duffell; Shropshire Violets, Ruth Dawes; The Genus Sphagnum Part 6: Microscopy, Martin Godfrey; The Heathland Vegetation Communities of Catherton Common, Alex Lockton; Natural England’s Long Term Monitoring Network in Shropshire, Mark Duffell and John Handley; Web based Resources, John Handley.

Autumn 2014, No. 29 : Recorder’s Report, Alex Lockton and Sarah Whild; Granville Nature Reserve Field Visit May 2014, Penny Wysome; Plants to Look out for in Autumn, Ruth Dawes; The Grasses Part 4.1 – Clearly-branched Panicles, Ian Trueman; The Genus Sphagnum a Guide Part 5: Section Squarrosa, Martin Godfrey; Llanymynech Rocks Nature Reserve, Fiona Gomersall; How to Record Plants in Shropshire, Alex Lockton. 

Spring 2014, No. 28 : Jones’s Rough Through the Seasons, Ruth Dawes; H21 Calluna vulgaris - Vaccinium myrtillus - Sphagnum capillifolium on the Long Mynd, Tom Holland; Hybrids and Pollen Fertility, Martin Godfrey; The Genus Sphagnum a Guide Part 4: Small red Sphagna, Martin Godfrey; Using Floral Formulae, John Handley; Clarepool Moss SSSI, SAC – Site Update, Mags Cousins; The Ramblings of a Shropshire Naturalist EA Wilson, Mags Cousins. 

Autumn 2013, No. 27 : Recorder’s Report, Alex Lockton and Sarah Whild; Summary of Field Visits 2013, Penny Wysome; The Grasses Part 3 – Spike-like Panicles, Ian Trueman; Understanding Prees Heath Part 2: A Response from Butterfly Conservation, Stephen Lewis and John Davis; Crose Mere – water quality and aquatic macrophytes, Mags Cousins; Yellow Bartsia at Wood Lane, Ellesmere, Ruth Dawes; Obituary of Elizabeth Roberts, by Ruth Dawes; The Ramblings of a Shropshire Naturalist EA Wilson, Mags Cousins. 

Spring 2013, No. 26 : Obituary of Miss Beryl Davies, by Ruth Dawes; Tree Moss Climacium dendroides in Shropshire, Lisa Barlow; BSBI Threatened Plant Survey and the Green-winged Orchid, Ruth Dawes; The Genus Sphagnum a Guide Part 3: Sphagnum fallax and S. angustifolium; Aston Locks off-line reserve – a tale of change, Sarah Whild and Alex Lockton; Upland Mires, Hilary Wallace; Understanding Prees Heath, Alex Lockton; The Ramblings of a Shropshire Naturalist EA Wilson, by Mags Cousins. 

Autumn 2012, No. 25 : Stag’s-horn Clubmoss and Conifer Plantations, Tom Wall; County Records, Alex Lockton and Sarah Whild; The Genus Sphagnum a Guide Part 2: Sphagnum palustre, S.papillosum and S.magellanicum, Martin Godfrey;  Botany of the Wyre Forest, John Bingham ; The Grasses Part 2: Grasses with Spikes, Ian Trueman; Species-rich Meadow Creation, University of Wolverhampton, Alison Wilkes; Progress on the Top Ten Targets, Alex Lockton. 

Spring 2012, No. 24 : Species a Month – finding Diphasiastrum alpinum, Alpine Clubmoss, Dan Wrench; Recording report: all about clubmosses, Alex Lockton and Sarah Whild; The Whitebeams (Sorbus) of Blodwel Rocks, Tim Rich and Sarah Whild; The genus Sphagnum – a guide, Martin Godfrey; The Grasses Part 1 – Introduction and the Bents (genus Agrostis), Ian Trueman; Learn to Love Conifers, Ruth Dawes; Monitoring – the decline and fall into common parlance, John Handley; Habitat creation at Bayston Hill, Dan Wrench; The Clun Forest Landscape Project, Fiona Gomersall. 

Autumn 2011, No. 23: Obituary Joan Brown; Recorder's Report for 2011, Sarah Whild and Alex Lockton; Hope Bowdler and Caer Caradoc Spring and Flush Vegetation, Tom Holland; Deciduous Conifers, Ruth Dawes; Shropshire’s Top Ten Target Sites – A Response, Jan McKelvey and Fiona Gomersall; SSSIs and HLS Monitoring in Natural England, Frances McCullagh; Mesotrophic Grassland Restoration at Earl’s Hill, Alex Lockton, Carl Pickup and Jan McKelvey. 
Shropshire Flora Group Newsletters
Autumn 1998
Spring 1998
Autumn 1997
Spring 1997
Autumn 1996
Spring 1996
September 1995



Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)