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2001 survey results

5. FLORA AND FAUNA

The wildlife habitats in Silsden Parish are diverse and species rich encompassing moorlands, pastures, woods, gills, streams, the River Aire and washlands and the Leeds Liverpool canal.

Silsden Beck: Silsden beck provides an attractive wildlife corridor through Silsden supporting many types of birds such as dippers, wrens, robins, kingfishers and a large mallard population as well as aquatic life. However there are significant problems.

The water quality is variable. Inappropriate discharges from storm water overflows, illegal foul water connections, farm effluents and faeces have all had an impact on water quality. Poor water quality has been detrimental to the aquatic population and in particular the brown trout that used to spawn in the ‘pool’ area behind Silsden Post Office.

The over feeding of the mallards has exacerbated the rat problem by providing the growing rat population with a constant supply of food. Wiels disease transmitted by rats and high levels of coli bacteria are potential hazards to human health.

Damage to the beck and beckside habitats has occurred due to the development of the industrial site on Belton Road. Inappropriate use of gabions and the removal of mature trees and shrubs has ‘sterilised’ the area significantly reducing its wildlife value. Future development must be more sympathetic to the beckside ecosystem and in particular the beck must not be regarded as an open drainage ditch for prospective development. Butter Burr, Himalayan Balsam and Japanese Knotweed are present in and around the beck. These invasive alien species threaten native flora upon which the beck eco system depends and therefore it is essential that these be kept under control to prevent loss of habitat quality.

Hedgerows: The long association with the manor of Skipton has helped to shape the field pattern we have today. Silsden is remarkable in that hedgerows, a feature unusual in the Pennine landscape, form many of the field boundaries. The Hooper method of dating indicates that many of the hedgerows within the parish are in excess of five hundred years old. The oldest are in the region of one thousand years of age and are probably remnants of ancient woodlands left after the clearance of land for farming. The main woody species identified in Silsden hedgerows are Alder, Ash, Blackthorn, Crab Apple, Dog Rose, Elder, Elm, Hawthorn, Hazel, Holly, Oak, Virburnum and Willow. The hedgerows around Silsden have high plant species diversity within their margins. Protected by the hedgerow from agricultural activities, grazing sheep and cattle and other human activities upwards of eighty species of wild flowers thrive under and around the hedgerows. This diversity of species encourages a rich insect population that provides food for mammals and birds.

Hedgerows are important as they provide food, nesting sites, shelter and protection for many species of mammals and birds. They provide an essential function as protective wildlife corridors preventing populations becoming isolated, genetically degraded and incapable of natural re-colonisation and possibly vulnerable to extinction.

Protection of these ancient hedgerows is essential as once lost they are impossible to replace. Hedgerows of particular remark are to be found at the top of Bradley Road and the length of Hainsworth Road. 

River Aire and Washlands: The area adjacent to the river Aire is essential as both a wildlife habitat and as an extensive natural floodplain. The area provides excellent habitats for waders and supports a variable bird population including Golden Plovers, Curlew, Redshank, Lapwings, Berwick Swans and Whooper Swans. Development will place the area at risk from pollution, fluctuations in pH and subject to surges of storm water and flooding. 

Leeds Liverpool Canal: The Canal Corridor is classed as a site scientific interest (SSI). However for much of its length through Silsden housing development and the repair of the canal banks with sheet piling have compromised the wildlife value. Further development must be more sympathetic to the needs of wildlife that occupy or utilise the canal and the canal margins.

Woods: The extent and condition of Bradford’s Woodlands is a major concern. The amount of woodland cover is approximately 4.6%, well below the national average of 9%. Silsden is fortunate in having ancient woodlands of high quality. Jacobs Wood, Alder Carr Wood, Spring Crag Wood and Swartha Wood provide immense landscape and wildlife value for the area. They consist mainly of hawthorn, holly, hazel, ash, rowan, beech, birch, wych elm, English oak, sessile oak and oak hybrids. Beneath the canopy a wide range of ferns and wild flowers such as wood anemones, wild garlic, bluebells and violets thrive. These woods support protected mammals, deer, Little Owls and Tawny Owls as well as more common bird species. 

Small gills running from the upland moor to the valley bottom with tree fringes and old remnant woodland provide important wildlife corridors and refuges between moor land, pasture and built up areas. Great Gill, Brackenhill Gill and Swartha Wood, recognised as third tier nature conservation areas by BMDC, are good examples of this habitat. The planting of twelve acres of native broadleaves has regenerated an old Gill remnant at Tomlin Cote. 

Meadows and Pasture: The meadows and pastureland around Silsden are the best grade agricultural land in the Bradford District. Many fields are rich in flower and grass species. The pastures at Banklands contain upwards of eighty species including Golden Saxifrage and Meadow Cranesbill indicating the fields are remnants of ancient meadows. Visually spring and summer flowers are a delight but more importantly they provide an ideal habitat for butterflies and moths. Bats feed regularly in this area attracted by the variety and volume of insect life and the protected roosts offered by the surrounding trees.

Conclusion: Silsden has a rich and varied ecosystem that is increasingly under threat. Changing a habitat will affect the diversity of species contained within it. The links between species and habitats are interdependent and each forms an essential part of the whole.

‘In nature there are neither rewards or punishment – there are consequences’
Robert Ingersoll

‘The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets, which it must turn over to the next generation increased and not impaired in value’ 
Theodore Roosevelt

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2001 survey results