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 | This web-site is dedicated to the flora of the Irwell Valley and currently illustrates over 300 species. To preserve our valuable floral heritage plants have been photographed where they grow, on odd occasions, in an effort to achieve reasonable images, cuttings have been taken from perennials and abundant garden weeds. |
An introduction to the Valley
The Irwell Valley extends from the Forest of Rossendale in North West England, through to the cities of Salford and Manchester. As a vital part of the industrial revolution the river became one of the most polluted in the whole of the UK. The many cotton mills and other industrial processes scattered along the river's banks relied heavily on the Irwell's water for both industrial processes and as one means of disposing of the resultant effluent.
Some waste products were disposed of locally; spoil from mining or alkaloids from other industrial processes. One caustic alkali, known as Leblanc-process waste - a process once used in the manufacture of washing soda for textile bleaching - was dumped on at least two sites. One at Nob End, to the south of Bolton, is now a SSI Site, another is at Lower Hinds in Bury, both sites have over the years weathered down to provided an ideal environment for a number of predominantly calcareous plants unique in an acidic area. These, along with aliens and garden escapes, have added more variety to the native and introduced plants within the valley.
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Yellow Flag
Iris pseudoacorus L.
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