Around the Upper Solway are several very special landscapes – the Mosses, Flows or Commons – which are all raised mires, peatbogs that were formed in glaciated hollows and grew upwards over the millenia, fed only by the rain. The sphagnum mosses which helped create them are of many gloriously-coloured species; the other plants, and animals, of the Mosses are special too.
Drumburgh Moss
Drumburgh Moss
Sphagnum magellanicum and S cuspidatum
Sphagnum magellanicum and S cuspidatum
Round-leaved sundew amongst the mosses
Round-leaved sundew amongst the mosses
Bog cranberry, Bowness Common
Bog cranberry, Bowness Common
White-beaked sedge and sundew
White-beaked sedge and sundew
Bog Rosemary at Drumburgh Moss
Bog Rosemary at Drumburgh Moss
Bog myrtle at Drumburgh Moss
Bog myrtle at Drumburgh Moss
Common Lizard at Bowness Common
Common Lizard at Bowness Common
An adder at Drumburgh Moss 2019
An adder at Drumburgh Moss 2019
'Drowned kittens': fluffy Sphagnum cuspidatum
'Drowned kittens': fluffy Sphagnum cuspidatum
Sphagnum pallustra
Sphagnum pallustra
Sphagnum magellanicum
Sphagnum magellanicum
Peat builds up at the rate of about 1 centimetre per decade. By inserting a hollow rod and taking a core, the stages in the build-up of the mire can be examined. Some of the mires are 6-10 metres deep – they hold a long record, an archive, of the environment during those millenia.
Peat-corers at RSPB Campfield
Peat-corers at RSPB Campfield
Kirkconnell Flow 2016: artists, scientists & writers gather for peat-coring
Kirkconnell Flow 2016: artists, scientists & writers gather for peat-coring
Kirkconnell Flow; peat coring with Dr Lauren Parry 2016
Kirkconnell Flow; peat coring with Dr Lauren Parry 2016
Kirkconnell Flow: coring peat
Kirkconnell Flow: coring peat
Kirkconnell Flow; the corer reaches clay at 6m
Kirkconnell Flow; the corer reaches clay at 6m
Peat has been cut and dried and used as fuel for centuries, and more recently as a horticultural supplement. Many of the Mosses have been cut around the edges or entirely excavated. There are some fascinating stories about the business of hand-cutting peat for commercial purposes; the ravages of the more industrial ‘harvesting’ can also still be seen.
The restoration of Wedholme Flow, seen from the air 2018 (C) James Smith, to whom thanks.
The restoration of Wedholme Flow, seen from the air 2018 (C) James Smith, to whom thanks.
The harvested peatlands of Wedholme Flow undergoing restoration and re-wetting
The harvested peatlands of Wedholme Flow undergoing restoration and re-wetting
Patrick McGoldrick (centre), a former peat-cutter at Kirkbride Moss, with his sister Bridget
Patrick McGoldrick (centre), a former peat-cutter at Kirkbride Moss, with his sister Bridget
Stacking the peats: Thomas Holden stacks wooden blocks to demonstrate
Stacking the peats: Thomas Holden stacks wooden blocks to demonstrate
Peat-cutting tools (blades protected for H&S reasons); 'Remembering the Solway' launch
Peat-cutting tools (blades protected for H&S reasons); 'Remembering the Solway' launch
Malcolm Wilson's scale drawings of the Kirkbride peat-cutters' tools
Malcolm Wilson's scale drawings of the Kirkbride peat-cutters' tools
Mr Malcolm Wilson's scale model of Kirkbride peat-cutters' barrow and tools
Mr Malcolm Wilson's scale model of Kirkbride peat-cutters' barrow and tools
Threlkeld Mining Museum: Relics of the Lincoln locomotive that pulled peat-laden wagons at Kirkbride Moss
Threlkeld Mining Museum: Relics of the Lincoln locomotive that pulled peat-laden wagons at Kirkbride Moss
Most of the Solway’s Mosses are protected and are being restored: peat locks up carbon, so peat-bogs are very important for our attempts to mitigate climate-change.
In the 1860s the Solway Junction Railway was constructed across Bowness Moss; the story of the planning, construction and eventual demolition of the SJR and the extraordinary railway viaduct across the Solway between Bowness and Annan, is told and illustrated in Crossing the Moss, a project carried out by myself and photographer James Smith. The wet peat was drained by ditches cut right across the Moss, at a distance of 1 Chain (33 yards = 66 feet) each side of the railway embankment. Peatbogs were not valued and were merely awkward ‘waste land’ at that time (‘natural capital’ was not in the vocabulary), and it is only fairly recently that their unique character, wildlife and plants have been appreciated. Work on restoring the damage to Bowness Moss/Common has been extensive (the dramatic, entertaining and very photogenic story of the restoration is on the Crossing the Moss website too).
James Smith’s video of aerial views of the Moss, the saltmarsh and the Solway is well worth watching to understand how the three strands of the margin interact.
Bowness Moss and the line of the former railway; Campfield saltmarsh foreground (C) James Smith
Bowness Moss and the line of the former railway; Campfield saltmarsh foreground (C) James Smith
Restoration of Bowness Moss: the wetted line of the railway, looking North (C) James Smith, to whom thanks
Restoration of Bowness Moss: the wetted line of the railway, looking North (C) James Smith, to whom thanks
Drowned birches on the line of the former railway
Drowned birches on the line of the former railway
Embankment of the former Solway Junction railway (green_ and peat-drainage ditch, Bowness
Embankment of the former Solway Junction railway (green_ and peat-drainage ditch, Bowness
A longitudinal drainage ditch, Solway Junction Railway, Bowness Moss
A longitudinal drainage ditch, Solway Junction Railway, Bowness Moss
One Chain, for measuring distance (33 yards = 66 feet); with length marks
One Chain, for measuring distance (33 yards = 66 feet); with length marks
