AcerWhat a contrast to our visit last year! The conditions were cold and windy with a lot of water on the ground. On arriving at the visitors' centre eleven of us were given an introduction to the arboretum by the Director who explained that the collection was a scientific collection, trees had been brought together from all over the world (they included a fossil tree from Australia). As well as being of general interest the purpose of the arboretum was to preserve a stock of rare and endangered trees. We were given assurance that the trees were safe and advised the the conditions underfoot were wet and muddy. 
Yellow StagshornArmed with maps and leaflets we set off to explore the arboretum, walking in the woodland on the right of the reserve. We soon divided into small groups depending on interests and the ability to tolerate the cold, blustery conditions. The main group decided to explore the woodland for fungal delights. They were well pleased with their efforts and numerous species were seen and identified some new to our "mycologist experts ". Some of the species seen were:
Shaggy ParasolShaggy parasol, yellow stagshorn, dusky puffball, blushing bracket, turkey tail, fairies bonnets, lilac bonnets, pipe club fungus, sulphur tuft and fly agaric. Sue took some excellent pictures.
Three of the party decided that the conditions were rather too severe and retreated to the excellent cafe for a bowl of red pepper and buttersquash soup ! After lunch the small group set off for the straw bale hide where a group of coal tits were observed at the feeders.The group continued their walk enjoying the variety and colour of the trees, leaves and bark eventually meeting up with the fungi group descending the Cedar Vista. One or two made a more extensive exploration of the arboretum. The bird species were rather limited; a cormorant was seen flying over the lake and coal tits were seen at the feeders. We were joined on this outing by Helen ( a neighbour of Alice) and Virginia, a volunteer with Bees from Spain. We returned to Bradford in good time, Brian and Sue having shared the driving.Margaret