Grasses, Sedges and Rushes - 2 day course

A 2-day course giving participants:

• the skills and confidence to identify a wide range of grasses, sedges and rushes.
• a simple way to identify grass species
• an understanding of grasses as indicator species
• a crib sheet listing the key features of the 90 most common species
• a chance to see a wide range of lowland habitat types

These training days will give participants the confidence to identify a wide range of grasses and sedges (using largely non-flowering features) commonly encountered in a range of habitats.

The first day focuses on grasslands and calcareous habitats, looking at common species, as well as more specialised indicator species of meadows and unimproved grassland.

The second day will look at the species to be found in damp and acidic habitats, including heathlands, acid grasslands, bogs and mires.

Each day will cover roughly 30 species and will be run on the basis of people having no previous knowledge. In general, the mornings will involve teaching the species and the afternoons will involve revising and being tested on them.

The workshops will be carried out in several locations from the stunning New Forest to the hill-forts surrounding Salisbury, and provide the opportunity to discuss some of the conservation management issues of these habitats, as well as the difficulties of identifying grasses in grazed and mown habitats.

Lifts available from Salisbury on request - see Directions section below.

All proceeds from the course will go to supporting our endangered species conservation work.

Dominic Price is a highly regarded botanical tutor and has been running courses for all levels of ecologists since 2007. He is director of The Species Recovery Trust and specialises in the conservation of endangered species. He is the author of A Field Guide to Grasses, Sedges and Rushes and co-author of The Photographic Guide to Winter Trees and Shrubs.

What to bring

• Notebook/clipboard
• Hand lens (there will be some to purchase on the day)
• Packed lunch for both days
• £4 for parking at Old Sarum (contactless payment available)
• Sturdy clothing for all weathers, and footwear appropriate for bogs on the second day
• Plenty of liquids

At the time of writing, there appears to be a move by Forestry England to charge at its car parks in the New Forest which up until now has not been the case. This may or may not be in place at the time of this course. Therefore, please be prepared to pay for parking, payment will be via the RingGo app so please have this downloaded and set up in advance, it could be around £8 for over 4 hours.

The recommended text for the course is 'A Field Guide to Grasses, Sedges and Rushes' by Dominic Price. Available to purchase on the day, as an 'add-on' on the ticket options, or in advance here.

Please visit our training resources page before the course and take the Buzzfeed grasses quiz, and Buzzfeed rushes and sedges quiz to test your knowledge prior to attending the course.

There are loos at Old Sarum on Day 1, as well as a small kiosk selling hot drinks and ice creams (and swords, just in case you have sword requirements).

On Day 2 there is a toilet and an all important ice cream van.

Please inform us of any relevant medical requirements/conditions we should be aware of prior to the course.

Lifts available from Salisbury station on request.

Day 1 Old Sarum

We apologise that the site does not open until 10am, so please do not attempt to enter the site before 10:05am as it very quickly blocks the access track if there is a delay in site opening. If you are coming from far we appreciate it is hard to time this, but there is a pull-in just to the south of the site (opposite the Harvester) where you can wait, or a small Co-op or large Waitrose further south on the edge of town.

• 10:05 Arrive on site
• 10:15 Tutorial starts
• 12:30 Lunch break
• 15:45 Departure (or earier if weather poor)

Day 2 Whitefield Moor

• 09:45 Meet at Whitefield Moor car park
• 10.00 Course starts
• 12:30. Lunch break
• 15:45 Course ends

Any problems on the day please call Dominic Price on (07968) 786390

To reduce our carbon footprint and reduce the car park spaces we use at training sites, if you can travel by train to Salisbury Train Station, or if you are staying in central Salisbury overnight, we are happy to provide you with a lift to and from the training site. Please message us before you buy your ticket/accommodation to arrange.

Directions

Day 1: Old Sarum is signed off the A345 2 miles north of Salisbury. Meet in the main car park (where there are loos). Address: Castle Road, Salisbury, Wiltshire - SP1 3SD. There is a £4 charge for parking (contactless payment available).

Google maps - click here

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Day 2: Meet in Whitefield Moor car park, Rhinefield Road (on the way out of Brockenhurst) where ther are loos, and if we are lucky, an ice cream van.

Google maps - click here

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This is an outdoor run course on an exposed site, and as such we request that participants bring suitable clothing including sunhats, sunblock, and full waterproofs & fleeces. As the climate breaks down, we do occasionally have severe weather where either it is very difficult to take notes due to prolonged heavy rain, or temperatures have reached a point where long exposure can be detrimental to health.

In these instances, we will run a condensed version of the course, where we aim to see all the species before lunch but have less time to take notes on them. We will then give attendees free access to the corresponding online course for 24 hours, which means you can take notes and look at the species in more detail in the comfort of your home. We have built a corresponding online catalogue of courses for this purpose, and we therefore feel we can offer the same training experience while looking after attendees' welfare in the field.

Therefore if you look at the forecast before the course and start panicking - don’t worry, we’ve got you!

This course can be used as part of your Continuing Professional Development (CPD). We invite attendees to download their own certificate and complete the numbers of hours spent on the course, as we are aware some attendees spend more time reading up about courses before the day, and writing their notes up and sitting the online course tests afterwards. The hours on your certificate should accurately reflect this time.

‘Excellent course. The teacher was very good indeed, and I thoroughly enjoyed the course ‘I learnt some brilliant identification tips to take away with me and it was good to learn about where you are likely to find species and which ones are indicators of good habitat/NVC communities’‘Really enjoyable course, felt like I learnt a lot which has really stuck since using it out in the field on my own. Not too many species that make it overwhelming.’ ‘Excellent course, thank you! I will definitely recommend this course to others.’‘Genuinely spot on, tutor was incredibly attentive to individual knowledge levels’

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Host or Publisher The Species Recovery Trust