Arctic Alpines

Arctic-alpines make up Britain's most ancient plant communities. They are botanical relics that link us to a time of melting glaciers, mammoths and permafrost. In essence they represent one of the first pages of our island's postglacial natural history. Most of these plants have been extinct in much of the British Isles for many thousands of years. Miraculously, in a few special upland refuges a handful of these both extremely beautiful and extremely hardy plants survive; pages of a book left unturned over the millennia.

This course provides an introduction to these plants and the ecology of the communities in which they grow In addition to looking at the flowering plants we will also look at some of the less obvious, but no less interesting upland ferns, mosses, lichens and club mosses as well as any animal life we come upon.

This course is suitable for dedicated botanists (a chance to see some very rare native plants) through to the absolute beginner who is interested in seeing and learning about some of the most spectacular and rare plant communities in Britain. During stunning walks, you will have plenty of time for photography and to take in the broader aspects of the history and natural history of the upland landscape. Due to the conditions and altitudes at which the plants are found, participants MUST be able to walk for up to eight miles (12km) a day over rough and at times steep ground.

The course leader is Pete Kay, Assistant Head of Centre and senior ecologist at Rhyd-y-creuau. He is a qualified mountain leader with over 20 years of experience in taking groups into the uplands of Snowdonia. As well as active interest in the botany of upland areas, Pete is also a keen landscape photographer and hill walker.

Further Information

This course is now historical and therefore no bookings can be taken.