Climate festival moss walk

I didn’t know how many people would be attracted to a moss walk at a local climate festival. But the answer was: a lot! Luckily, the organisers had a lot of hand lenses to hand out. And we started out right by the community centre. Emily, who was leading this, had gathered some moss, and handed it out. She made sure that everyone knew how to use a hand lens, and asked some questions that made us really look at the moss we were holding. And then we were ready to venture into the wider world.

Soon a veritable crowd walked over the bicycle path towards the more shaded parts thereof. Under the trees, Emily found another species, and had us all look at it. And she found a beautiful thallose liverwort on a tree.

The moss crowd

A beautiful moss

The thallose liverwort 

A bit further on there was a small stream by the path, and that led to other species growing there. And then there was another shaded part that led towards the old railway tunnel. I was just aiming my hand lens at everything mossy or liverworty I could find. And a few lichens. These are cool too! At some point Alys, the other lady who lead this, said “this is what you get on a moss walk; lots of people stuck to a wall” and it was true. But we all had a whale of a time stuck to that wall!

Under an old railway bridge 

Liverwort on the left, moss on the right 

The wall that had a lot to offer

At the end Emily asked us what we had remembered. Not many species names, to be honest. But that was okay! We had all enjoyed ourselves. And now it was time to get back to the community centre. The next thing on the agenda was my talk!